Best possible solution:

Keep this in the session/transcript SQLite migration stack, settle the base accessor PR, document the bulk helpers as maintenance-only, refresh conflicts, and add real gateway/TUI or CLI session proof before merge.

Do we have a high-confidence way to reproduce the issue?

Not applicable. This is an internal refactor/migration slice rather than a bug report with a current-main reproduction path; the relevant evidence is source inspection, focused tests, and real behavior proof before merge.

Is this the best way to solve the issue?

Unclear as merge-ready. The branch-by-abstraction direction matches #88838, but this draft still needs the maintenance-only helper doc fix, conflict refresh, and real behavior proof before it can be judged the best landable slice.

Full review comments:

• [P3] Mark bulk lifecycle helpers as maintenance-only — src/config/sessions/session-entry-lifecycle.ts:105
  The before-land comment says patchSessionEntries and deleteSessionEntries are full-scan predicate operations meant for maintenance callers, but the exported comments still present them as general lifecycle APIs. Because this seam is intended to survive the SQLite flip, please document the maintenance-only constraint so hot paths do not adopt broad scans that future storage must preserve.
  Confidence: 0.86

Overall correctness: patch is correct
Overall confidence: 0.78

AGENTS.md: found and applied where relevant.

Codex review notes: model internal, reasoning high; reviewed against 231b5a14d5d7.

Label justifications:

• P2: This is a normal-priority internal migration slice with limited immediate user-facing effect before merge but meaningful session-state review cost.
• merge-risk: 🚨 compatibility: The PR changes internal session lifecycle/accessor contracts that future SQLite storage and existing gateway/TUI/plugin callers must remain compatible with.
• merge-risk: 🚨 session-state: The diff routes persisted session entry patch/delete paths through new helpers, so mistakes can lose or mis-associate durable session/plugin state.
• rating: 🧂 unranked krab: Overall readiness is 🧂 unranked krab; proof is 🧂 unranked krab and patch quality is 🐚 platinum hermit.
• status: 📣 needs proof: The PR needs real behavior proof before ClawSweeper can clear the contributor ask. Needs real behavior proof before merge: The PR body lists tests, lint, typecheck, and autoreview, but no redacted real OpenClaw workflow proof for lifecycle patch/delete behavior; terminal output, logs, screenshots, recordings, or linked artifacts should redact private details before posting. After adding proof, update the PR body; ClawSweeper should re-review automatically. If it does not, the PR author or someone with repository write access can comment @clawsweeper re-review.

PR surface:

Source +1071, Tests +928, Config +6, Generated 0, Other +146. Total +2151 across 30 files.

What I checked:

• Live PR state: Live GitHub metadata reports this PR as draft, mergeable=CONFLICTING, mergeStateStatus=DIRTY, with protected maintainer and session-state/compatibility merge-risk labels. (703abed79c6b)
• Current main lacks lifecycle seam: A current-main search found no patchSessionLifecycleEntry, patchSessionEntries, deleteSessionEntries, session-entry-lifecycle, patchGatewaySessionEntry, or applySessionsPatchProjection symbols, so the central change is not already implemented on main. (231b5a14d5d7)
• Lifecycle seam surface: The PR adds single-entry patch, bulk patch, and bulk delete lifecycle helpers; the bulk helper comments still present the full-scan operations as general lifecycle APIs. (src/config/sessions/session-entry-lifecycle.ts:105, 703abed79c6b)
• Delete metadata follow-up mostly addressed: The delete result's removedSessionFiles map is populated by sessionId with the sessionFile as value, and the focused test expects a sessionId-keyed map. (src/config/sessions/session-entry-lifecycle.test.ts:185, 703abed79c6b)
• Gateway/TUI patch projection: patchGatewaySessionEntry now projects sessions.patch changes inside updateSessionStore and writes the projected entry back to the primary key, making session metadata write semantics central to the PR. (src/gateway/sessions-patch.ts:681, 703abed79c6b)
• Related canonical work: The canonical tracker remains open and lists this PR as the 3.1b entry lifecycle mutation slice; the base accessor PR is also open and mergeable, not merged.

Likely related people:

• vincentkoc: Recent current-main history includes broad session/gateway/task touches across the same files, and blame on the current session store/gateway patch surfaces points to Vincent Koc in this shallow checkout. (role: recent area contributor; confidence: high; commits: 2d4a9eb40538, 8c802aa68351, f630e8d44037; files: src/config/sessions/store.ts, src/gateway/sessions-patch.ts, src/commands/tasks.ts)
• steipete: Peter Steinberger has repeated recent commits in the session store, gateway patch, plugin state, and maintenance surfaces and authored the earlier SQLite session metadata PR that the tracker discusses as the reverted path. (role: primary adjacent area contributor; confidence: high; commits: cb3fbe7e50a2, b3ecabbbb722, 538d36eaaaa6; files: src/config/sessions/store.ts, src/gateway/sessions-patch.ts, src/plugins/host-hook-state.ts)
• shakkernerd: History around session-store loader/maintenance and cron cleanup includes Shakker's refactors adjacent to this PR's delete/reaper lifecycle path. (role: session maintenance contributor; confidence: medium; commits: 192f880a0ba4, c2e93c76bd43, 73073a91bb15; files: src/config/sessions/store.ts, src/cron/session-reaper.ts)
• jalehman: Josh Lehman owns the open tracker and stacked accessor/lifecycle PRs, and prior current-main history includes session-store cache fixes beyond this PR alone. (role: migration-stack owner and prior session-store contributor; confidence: medium; commits: 175c77017115, 1212328c8da1, 703abed79c6b; files: src/config/sessions/store.ts, src/config/sessions/session-entry-lifecycle.ts, src/gateway/sessions-patch.ts)

• 🦀 challenger crab: rare, exceptional readiness with strong proof, clean implementation, and convincing validation.
• 🦞 diamond lobster: very strong readiness with only minor maintainer review expected.
• 🐚 platinum hermit: good normal PR, likely mergeable with ordinary maintainer review.
• 🦐 gold shrimp: useful signal, but proof or patch confidence is still limited.
• 🦪 silver shellfish: thin signal; proof, validation, or implementation needs work.
• 🧂 unranked krab: not merge-ready because proof is missing/unusable or there are serious correctness or safety concerns.
• 🌊 off-meta tidepool: rating does not apply to this item.

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