Summary

After upgrading OpenClaw from 2026.2.24 to 2026.2.26, my agent running in a Docker sandbox with rw workspace access can no longer create new memory files via the write tool.

It fails with:

[tools] write failed: Sandbox boundary checks failed; cannot create directories: /workspace/memory

The memory/ folder already exists in the container, and the agent can edit existing files in that folder successfully. This appears to be a regression specific to the write tool / directory creation step.

Environment

OpenClaw version:
openclaw --version → 2026.2.26
Sandboxing:
agents.defaults.sandbox.mode: "all"
agents.defaults.sandbox.scope: "session"
agents.defaults.sandbox.workspaceAccess: "rw"

Steps to reproduce

1. Run OpenClaw 2026.2.26 with sandboxing enabled and workspaceAccess: "rw" (see sandbox explain output below).
2. In a sandboxed session, call the write tool to create a new daily memory file, e.g.:

path: "memory/2026-02-27.md"
content: "test"

Expected behavior

write should create (or overwrite) memory/2026-02-27.md under the workspace mount (e.g. /workspace/memory/2026-02-27.md).

Actual behavior

Tool fails with:

[tools] write failed: Sandbox boundary checks failed; cannot create directories: /workspace/memory

OpenClaw version

2026.2.26

Operating system

Ubuntu 24.04

Install method

npm global

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

Affected: users
Severity: blocks workflows that rely on creating files
Frequency: 100%
Consequence: Assistant is unable to create new memory files

Additional information

• The memory/ directory already exists in the sandbox container.
• The agent can write to files that already exist in /workspace/memory.
• Creating an empty file with touch did not make the write tool succeed.
• However, if I manually add content to the file, the edit tool is able to modify it successfully.
• This suggests a flaw in the sandboxed write path (likely during the “ensure parent directory exists” / mkdirp step) rather than general write permissions.