Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

After upgrading to OpenClaw 4.9, the QMD memory backend fails to auto-start, causing significant delays in responses. Downgrading to 4.2 resolves the issue.
Environment
OpenClaw Version: 2026.4.9 (problematic) vs 2026.4.2 (working)
OS: Ubuntu (WSL2 on Windows)
QMD Installation: bun install -g @tobilu/qmd
QMD Path: /home/hexb/.bun/bin/qmd
Bun Version: 1.3.11
Node Version: v22.22.2
Configuration
{
"memory": {
"backend": "qmd",
"qmd": {
"command": "/home/hexb/.bun/bin/qmd",
"scope": {
"default": "allow"
}
}
}
}

Steps to reproduce

Upgrade to OpenClaw 4.9: npm install -g openclaw@2026.4.9
Configure QMD backend in openclaw.json
Restart gateway: openclaw gateway restart
Send any message via Feishu (or trigger memory_search)

Expected behavior

QMD sidecar should auto-start and respond quickly (as it does in 4.2).

Actual behavior

QMD process is NOT running after gateway restart
Each request has significant delay (attempting to connect to non-existent QMD)
memory_search returns empty results or times out
Manually running qmd status shows QMD itself works fine (index is healthy)

OpenClaw version

2026.4.9

Operating system

windows11+wsl

Install method

No response

Model

kimi2.5

Provider / routing chain

moonshot

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response