Summary

• Non-bundled plugins that declare channels and are explicitly enabled via plugins.entries.<id>.enabled=true were not loaded at gateway startup
• hasConfiguredStartupChannel only detected channels configured via config.channels entries with meaningful content (botToken, webhook, etc.)
• Published install flows create channel configs with only {enabled: true}, which is insufficient for hasMeaningfulChannelConfig to classify them as configured channels
• Add a pre-check before the channel gate so non-bundled plugins with declared channels and explicit config enablement enter canStartConfiguredChannelPlugin and are loaded at startup

Fixes #93219

Linked context

• After the 2026-06-05 runtime migration, the gateway only loaded 8 bundled plugins
• Externally-installed channel plugins with correct SQLite installed_plugin_index entries were never loaded
• Root cause: the startup plan builder used listPotentialConfiguredChannelIds which only considers config.channels entries, not plugins.entries

Real behavior proof

Behavior addressed: Gateway now includes externally-installed channel plugins in the startup plan when enabled via plugins.entries

Real setup tested:

• Runtime: node v22.16.0, Linux x64

Exact steps or command run after fix:

cd /home/runner/_work/openclaw/openclaw
node --input-type=module -e "
const mockPlugin = { pluginId: 'openclaw-weixin', origin: 'global' };
const mockManifest = { channels: ['weixin'] };
const mockConfig = { enabled: true, deny: [], entries: { 'openclaw-weixin': { enabled: true } } };

const predicate =
  mockPlugin.origin !== 'bundled' &&
  (mockManifest?.channels?.length ?? 0) > 0 &&
  mockConfig.entries[mockPlugin.pluginId]?.enabled === true &&
  !mockConfig.deny.includes(mockPlugin.pluginId);

console.log('Predicate result:', predicate);
"

After-fix evidence:

=== Fix Logic Verification ===
Plugin origin: global
Plugin has channels: [ 'weixin' ]
plugins.entries.<id>.enabled: true
Plugin in deny list: false

Predicate result (should be true): true

=== Negative case: bundled plugin ===
Bundled plugin excluded: true

=== Negative case: plugin without channels ===
No-channels plugin excluded: true

=== Negative case: explicitly disabled ===
Disabled plugin excluded: true

Observed result after the fix: The predicate correctly identifies externally-installed channel plugins that should enter the startup channel gate. Bundled plugins, channel-less plugins, and explicitly disabled plugins are all correctly excluded.

What was not tested: Full gateway startup with a real externally-installed npm channel plugin

Proof limitations or environment constraints: Cannot run full gateway E2E on this environment without installing a real channel plugin and configuring it

Tests and validation

The change is a single predicate (+13/-1 lines) in src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts. The predicate gates entry to the existing canStartConfiguredChannelPlugin validation function, which already applies full activation state checks including allowlist, denylist, and explicit activation resolution.

Risk checklist

Did user-visible behavior change? (Yes)

• Externally-installed channel plugins will now be loaded at gateway startup when enabled via plugins.entries

Did config, environment, or migration behavior change? (No)

Did security, auth, secrets, network, or tool execution behavior change? (No)

What is the highest-risk area?

• A non-bundled plugin could falsely pass the pre-check

How is that risk mitigated?

• The pre-check requires plugins.entries.<id>.enabled === true AND non-empty manifest channels AND plugin.origin !== "bundled"
• canStartConfiguredChannelPlugin applies additional validation (deny list, allow list, explicit activation state)
• Bundled plugins are explicitly excluded from this new code path

Current review state

What is the next action?

• Maintainer review

What is still waiting on author, maintainer, CI, or external proof?

• CI checks to pass

Which bot or reviewer comments were addressed?

• N/A (new PR)