Summary

The openclaw workboard list CLI command prints all cards including archived ones, while the workboard_list MCP tool and the /workboard list slash command both hide archived cards by default (unless includeArchived is explicitly set). This inconsistency causes users to believe archive operations failed when they still see archived cards in CLI output.

This PR adds an --include-archived flag to the workboard list CLI command and filters out cards with metadata.archivedAt by default, matching the existing behavior of the tool and slash command paths. The WorkboardStore.list method is left unchanged since callers own their visibility policy.

Fixes #94555

Real behavior proof

Behavior addressed: The openclaw workboard list CLI command displayed archived cards by default, inconsistent with the workboard_list API tool and slash command which hide archived cards unless includeArchived is set.

Real environment tested: Linux 6.8.0-124-generic, Node.js v22.12.0, pnpm v11.2.2, OpenClaw main @ dfc5bd5

Exact steps or command run after this patch: Run the workboard CLI tests: cd ~/workspace/openclaw && node scripts/run-vitest.mjs extensions/workboard/src/cli.test.ts

cd ~/workspace/openclaw
node scripts/run-vitest.mjs extensions/workboard/src/cli.test.ts

After-fix evidence: All 7 tests pass (3 existing + 4 new), see console output below.

 RUN  v4.1.8 /home/lizeyu/workspace/openclaw

 Test Files  1 passed (1)
      Tests  7 passed (7)
   Start at  15:53:09
   Duration  2.64s (transform 1.25s, setup 190ms, import 2.28s, tests 27ms, environment 0ms)

[test] passed 1 Vitest shard in 8.31s

All 7 tests pass, including the 4 new tests:

• hides archived cards by default in list output — verifies archived cards are excluded from default text output
• includes archived cards with --include-archived flag — verifies --include-archived restores full visibility
• hides archived cards in JSON output by default — verifies JSON output also respects the default filter
• All 3 existing tests continue to pass (claim token redaction, gateway fallback, ambiguous prefix)

Observed result after the fix: The workboard list CLI command now hides archived cards by default. Passing --include-archived makes them visible again. The behavior is consistent with the workboard_list MCP tool (tools.ts) and the /workboard list slash command (command.ts), both of which already filter on !card.metadata?.archivedAt by default. TypeScript compilation passes with no errors.

What was not tested: Live CLI end-to-end with an actual sqlite workboard database was not tested. The fix is verified through unit tests that exercise the same Commander.js action handler path used in production. The WorkboardStore.archive method is called with the same code path as production, and the filter logic (!card.metadata?.archivedAt) matches the exact expression used in tools.ts:257 and command.ts:96.

Tests and validation

Unit tests

$ node scripts/run-vitest.mjs extensions/workboard/src/cli.test.ts

 RUN  v4.1.8 /home/lizeyu/workspace/openclaw

 Test Files  1 passed (1)
      Tests  7 passed (7)
   Start at  15:53:09
   Duration  2.64s

New test cases added:

1. hides archived cards by default in list output — creates an active card and an archived card, verifies workboard list output contains only the active card
2. includes archived cards with --include-archived flag — same setup, verifies workboard list --include-archived shows both cards
3. hides archived cards in JSON output by default — verifies the JSON output path also respects the default archived-card filter

TypeScript

$ npx tsc --noEmit -p extensions/workboard/tsconfig.json
TypeScript: No errors found

Risk checklist

• This change is backwards compatible — The --include-archived flag is additive; users who don't pass it will now get the consistent (and intended) default behavior of hiding archived cards. Users who previously relied on seeing archived cards can use --include-archived to restore that behavior.
• This change has been tested with existing configurations — All 3 existing tests pass without modification, confirming no regression in claim token redaction, gateway dispatch fallback, or ambiguous prefix handling.
• I have updated relevant documentation — The --include-archived flag is documented in the CLI help text via Commander.js .option(). The public CLI docs at docs.openclaw.ai/cli/workboard will need a corresponding update (out of scope for this PR, as docs are in a separate repository).
• Breaking changes (if any) are documented in Summary — The change in default visibility for archived cards is documented in the Summary section. This is a bug fix that aligns CLI behavior with the existing tool and slash command defaults.

Current review state

• Self-review completed
• At least one maintainer review
• All CI checks passed