Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

openclaw plugins install does not install declared peerDependencies into the plugin's node_modules, causing the plugin to fail at load time and crash the gateway.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install OpenClaw 2026.3.23-2 globally on Windows
2. Run openclaw plugins install @tencent-weixin/openclaw-weixin@latest (installs v2.0.1)
3. Run openclaw gateway restart
4. Gateway crashes — plugin cannot resolve openclaw/plugin-sdk/* imports

Expected behavior

openclaw plugins install should ensure declared peerDependencies (e.g., "openclaw": ">=2026.3.22") are resolvable from the plugin's install directory, either by installing them into the plugin's node_modules, symlinking the host package, or using Node's module resolution to find the globally installed openclaw.

Actual behavior

Plugin installs successfully but openclaw is not present in ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-weixin/node_modules/. At load time:

[plugins] openclaw-weixin failed to load from C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\extensions\openclaw-weixin\index.ts: Error: Cannot find module 'openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema'
Require stack:
- C:\Users\Administrator\.openclaw\extensions\openclaw-weixin\index.ts
[openclaw] Failed to start CLI: PluginLoadFailureError: plugin load failed: openclaw-weixin

The gateway then crash-loops with exit code 1, repeatedly failing to load the plugin every ~1 second.

By comparison, @larksuite/openclaw-lark@2026.3.25 installed via npx @larksuite/openclaw-lark-tools update does include openclaw in its own node_modules and loads fine.

OpenClaw version

2026.3.23-2 (7ffe7e4)

Operating system

Windows 11 Pro (10.0.22631)

Install method

npm global

Model

openai/gpt-5.4

Provider / routing chain

openclaw -> openai (via proxy)

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

# Plugin declares peer dependency
$ cat ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-weixin/package.json | grep -A1 peerDep
"peerDependencies": { "openclaw": ">=2026.3.22" }

# But openclaw is missing from plugin's node_modules
$ ls ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-weixin/node_modules/openclaw
ls: cannot access: No such file or directory

# Compare with openclaw-lark which works fine
$ ls ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-lark/node_modules/openclaw
CHANGELOG.md  LICENSE  README.md  assets  dist

# Workaround: manually install the peer dep
$ cd ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-weixin && npm install openclaw@2026.3.23
added 551 packages
# After this, plugin loads and gateway starts successfully

Impact and severity

Affected: Any user installing third-party plugins via openclaw plugins install that declare openclaw as a peer dependency
Severity: High (gateway crash-loop, all channels down)
Frequency: 100% repro on fresh install of openclaw-weixin 2.0.1
Consequence: Gateway becomes completely unavailable until manual npm install workaround is applied. No useful error message guides the user to the fix.

Additional information

• The openclaw package is "type": "module" with exports map including ./plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema — the file exists at dist/plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema.js, resolution fails purely because the package is absent from the plugin's node_modules
• openclaw-weixin 2.0.1 uses ESM import syntax (import { buildChannelConfigSchema } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema")
• Workaround: cd ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-weixin && npm install openclaw@2026.3.23
• Related: this was the root cause of a gateway that appeared to "auto-shutdown after version update" — upgrading core from 3.13 to 3.23 without upgrading plugins left incompatible plugins that crashed the gateway silently (no error in file log, exit code 1)