Description

After upgrading from 2026.2.24 to 2026.2.26, agent file writes to the memory/ subdirectory inside the workspace root are rejected with:

[tools] write failed: Path escapes workspace root: C:\Users\<user>\openclaw-new\memory

The memory/ directory is a direct subdirectory of the configured workspace root (C:\Users<user>\openclaw-new). This worked fine on 2026.2.24.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Windows 11 (10.0.26200), Node v22.18.0
2. Workspace configured as C:\Users<user>\openclaw-new in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
3. Upgrade to 2026.2.26 via
   pm install -g openclaw@2026.2.26
4. Agent attempts to write to memory/2026-03-01.md (or any file in the memory/ subdirectory)
5. Write is rejected with Path escapes workspace root

Expected Behavior

Writes to subdirectories of the workspace root should be allowed.

Actual Behavior

The new path security check in 2026.2.26 incorrectly flags memory/ as escaping the workspace root. Likely a Windows path normalization issue (backslash handling, trailing separator, or case-insensitive comparison).

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 (10.0.26200) x64
• Node: v22.18.0
• OpenClaw: 2026.2.26 (regression from 2026.2.24)
• Shell: pwsh

Workaround

Downgraded to 2026.2.24.