Description

Plugins that depend on npm packages using the bindings module to locate native .node addons fail because jiti sets module.filename to its own path rather than the plugin's source path. The bindings package walks up from module.filename looking for build/Release/*.node, but since the filename points to jiti internals, it never finds the binary.

This is distinct from the two issues already fixed:

1. require unavailable — fixed by fix(plugins): inject globalThis.require for CJS interop in jiti-loaded extensions #13109 (globalThis.require shim)
2. ESM-only exports — fixed by fix(plugins): add postinstall patch for ESM-only package exports #16019 (postinstall patch)

This third issue affects any plugin dependency that uses the bindings package to resolve native addons, including sqlite3, better-sqlite3, and others.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install a plugin that depends on sqlite3 (e.g., @mem0/openclaw-mem0 with mode: "open-source")
2. npm rebuild sqlite3 in the plugin directory — binary builds successfully
3. Start the gateway — plugin fails with Could not locate the bindings file

Verification that the binary works outside jiti:

node -e "require('./node_modules/sqlite3')"
# Works perfectly

Inside jiti (via gateway plugin load):

Error: Could not locate the bindings file. Tried:
 → /path/to/jiti/internals/build/Release/node_sqlite3.node
 → ... (13 search paths, all rooted at jiti's location)

Expected Behavior

module.filename should be set to the plugin's entry point path before jiti evaluates the plugin, so that bindings (and any other package using module.filename for path resolution) resolves native addons relative to the plugin directory.

Suggested Fix

The plugin loader should set module.filename (and potentially module.paths) to the plugin's source path before jiti evaluation, similar to how #13109 re-anchors globalThis.require.

Environment

• OpenClaw: 2026.2.19
• macOS 15.3 arm64 (Apple M4)
• Node: 22.22.0
• Affected packages: sqlite3 (via bindings), potentially better-sqlite3 and any native addon using bindings

Related

• [Bug]: Extensions using CJS dependencies fail with "require is not defined" #12854 (parent issue — CJS deps fail with "require is not defined")
• fix(plugins): inject globalThis.require for CJS interop in jiti-loaded extensions #13109 (fix for require shim — does not address this)
• fix(plugins): add postinstall patch for ESM-only package exports #16019 (fix for ESM-only exports — does not address this)

cc @mcaxtr @lukeboyett

This issue was filed by an AI agent (Nix) on behalf of @RedactedFoundry, following up on the discussion in #12854.