Summary

openclaw doctor --fix reports legacy cron payload kind normalization repeatedly on v2026.3.11, even when all jobs already have canonical payload.kind values (agentTurn / systemEvent).

Impact

• False-positive health warning persists.
• doctor --fix appears to "repair" the same jobs on every run.
• Creates noise in post-upgrade validation and automation runbooks.

Environment

• OpenClaw: v2026.3.11
• Install path: global pnpm package (openclaw@2026.3.11)
• Gateway: local systemd service, loopback bind

Repro

1. Ensure cron jobs already store canonical values (payload.kind == agentTurn or systemEvent).
2. Run:
   • openclaw doctor --fix
3. Run again:
   • openclaw doctor --fix

Actual

Legacy cron normalization warning reappears (same jobs), despite no semantic change needed.

Expected

Once kinds are canonical, doctor --fix should converge and stop reporting legacy kind normalization.

Root-cause analysis (local)

In the compiled update runner, normalizePayloadKind(payload) reports mutation when no effective change is required in some paths.

Local workaround (confirmed)

Patched local compiled files:

• dist/update-runner-CsfK3SMx.js
• dist/update-runner-CvNIx6g2.js

After patch:

• openclaw doctor --fix no longer reports legacy kind normalization.
• openclaw cron list --json shows canonical payload.kind values.

Notes

Workaround is local and gets overwritten on update/reinstall.
A canonical source fix in release artifacts would be ideal.