Bug Description

channels.modelByChannel was introduced in v2026.2.21 (release notes) and is present in the Zod schema (ChannelsSchema), but the runtime config validator rejects it with:

channels.modelByChannel: unknown channel id: modelByChannel

This prevents the gateway from starting with a valid modelByChannel configuration.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install openclaw@2026.2.21-2
2. Set modelByChannel config:

# via config set (fails):
openclaw config set channels.modelByChannel --json '{"my-channel": {"*": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"}}'
# Error: Config validation failed: channels.modelByChannel: unknown channel id: modelByChannel

# via direct JSON edit (also fails on gateway restart):
# Add to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:
# "channels": { "modelByChannel": { "my-channel": { "*": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6" } } }
openclaw gateway restart
# Config invalid: channels.modelByChannel: unknown channel id: modelByChannel

Root Cause

The config validator at dist/config-*.js (line ~5195) uses:

const allowedChannels = new Set(["defaults", ...CHANNEL_IDS]);

modelByChannel is defined in ChannelsSchema via ChannelModelByChannelSchema, but is missing from the allowedChannels set in the runtime validator. This set is duplicated across multiple dist files:

• config-DJkRS0fq.js
• daemon-cli.js
• config-B9RhcgPL.js
• config-irA2OYte.js
• config-CVI5HMNP.js
• plugin-sdk/config-Bn_wS7mW.js

Suggested Fix

Add "modelByChannel" to the allowedChannels set:

const allowedChannels = new Set(["defaults", "modelByChannel", ...CHANNEL_IDS]);

Workaround

Patch all dist/config-*.js and dist/daemon-cli.js files manually with the above fix.

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.2.21-2
• OS: macOS 26.3 (arm64)
• Node: 25.6.0
• Install method: npm global

Notes

openclaw doctor recognizes the feature ("modelByChannel configured, enabled automatically"), confirming the schema accepts it. Only the runtime config validator loop is missing the key.