Summary

Root cause (likely):
pnpm global uses symlinked store under .pnpm/, realpath of plugin manifests does not match install root, failing the strict plugin manifest path validation introduced in 2026.2.x.

Expected:
pnpm global install should be supported as documented.

Workaround:
Use npm for global install or use pnpm in project-local mode.

Steps to reproduce

1.pnpm add -g openclaw@2026.2.26
2.openclaw gateway start

Expected behavior

npm global install works fine
pnpm project-local install works fine
Only pnpm global install fails

Actual behavior

Plugin diagnostics shows multiple errors:

ERROR: unsafe plugin manifest path: C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\pnpm\global\5.pnpm\openclaw@2026.2.26...

Gateway fails to start.

OpenClaw version

2026.2.26

Operating system

OS: Windows 10 Node: v22.x pnpm: v10.6.1

Install method

pnpm install -g openclaw

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

ERROR: unsafe plugin manifest path: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\pnpm\global\5\.pnpm\openclaw@2026.2.26\...

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response