Summary

OpenClaw v2026.2.3 introduced a backward compatibility bug that broke all existing isolated + agentTurn cron jobs. Jobs with incomplete delivery configuration now fail silently instead of running with fallback behavior.

Issue

Backward Compatibility Bug: v2026.2.3 "hard-migration" breaks all existing jobs instead of providing graceful degradation.

Expected Behavior: Jobs with incomplete delivery config should:

• Continue running with fallback delivery (e.g., main session summary)
• Log warnings about deprecated config
• Gracefully degrade, not fail silently

Actual Behavior: Jobs fail silently without any error message or fallback.

Expected Backward Compatible Behavior

Jobs with incomplete delivery config should continue working:

{
  "sessionTarget": "isolated",
  "payload": {"kind": "agentTurn", "message": "Test"},
  "delivery": {"mode": "announce"}  // Incomplete but should work
}

Expected Result:

• Job runs successfully
• Falls back to main-session summary (or last route)
• Logs deprecation warning: "delivery.channel/to missing, using fallback"
• User gets functionality + warning, not silent failure

Reproduction Steps

1. Create Job Before v2026.2.3

{
  "sessionTarget": "isolated",
  "payload": {"kind": "agentTurn", "message": "Test"},
  "delivery": {"mode": "announce"}  // ❌ Missing channel/to
}

Expected: Job runs and announces
Actual: Job never runs (no error, just silent failure)

2. Working Syntax After v2026.2.3

{
  "sessionTarget": "isolated", 
  "payload": {"kind": "agentTurn", "message": "Test"},
  "delivery": {
    "mode": "announce",
    "channel": "telegram",    // ✅ Required after v2026.2.3
    "to": "28738XXXX"         // ✅ Required after v2026.2.3
  }
}

Might be related to #8540

Impact

• ALL existing isolated cron jobs stopped working after v2026.2.3 update
• No error messages - jobs appear active but never execute
• No automatic migration - requires manual recreation
• Silent failure mode makes debugging difficult

Evidence

• Release notes mention "hard-migrate" but don't explain breaking changes
• Jobs created before v2026.2.3: createdAtMs: 1770357972016 (2026-02-06 07:06) → never run
• Jobs created after with new syntax: immediately functional
• cron runs --id <jobId> shows empty entries array for affected jobs

Proposed Solution

1. Backward compatibility restoration: Jobs with incomplete delivery config should run with fallback behavior
2. Graceful degradation: Default to main-session summary when delivery.channel/delivery.to missing
3. Deprecation warnings (not silent failure) for incomplete configs
4. Automatic migration for existing jobs during startup
5. Documentation update explaining the transition period

Environment

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.2.3
• Platform: Unraid Docker
• Affected Components: Cron scheduler, isolated jobs, delivery system

Timeline

• 2026-02-05 22:16: Jobs created with old syntax
• 2026-02-06 early AM: v2026.2.3 deployed
• 2026-02-06 07:00: First scheduled job failed silently
• 2026-02-06 07:36: New syntax test successful
• 2026-02-06 07:54: All jobs recreated with new syntax

Severity: Critical

• Backward compatibility violation: Breaks fundamental software engineering principle
• Silent failure mode: No error messages, extremely difficult to debug
• Affects all users: Anyone with existing isolated cron jobs experiences regression
• No migration path: Users must manually recreate all jobs without guidance