Bug type
Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)
Beta release blocker
No
Summary
When running a CLI command like openclaw nodes list --json, the CLI initializes various componenents, like plugins, on startup, which may try to emit log lines on standard output without knowing that output should only be JSON.
Steps to reproduce
- In the agent container, run
openclaw nodes list --json 2> /dev/null
Expected behavior
When CLI option --json is used, the output should always be pure JSON. Initialization of components like plugins should force their output to standard error regardless if they already do that themselves.
Actual behavior
CLI output contains non-JSON log lines, which causes JSON parsing errors.
OpenClaw version
2026.5.18
Operating system
Ubuntu 24.04
Install method
Kubernetes/Helm
Model
openai-codex/gpt-5.4
Provider / routing chain
openclaw -> litellm -> chatgpt
Additional provider/model setup details
No response
Logs, screenshots, and evidence
node@openclaw-9ffcb8c66-bszj9:~/.openclaw$ openclaw nodes list --json 2> /dev/null
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Transcript GC disabled (default false)
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Proactive threshold compaction mode: deferred (default deferred)
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureSummaryDepthColumn durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureSummaryMetadataColumns durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureSummaryModelColumn durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureMessageIdentityHashColumn durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureMessageLargeContentColumn durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureMessagePartsTable durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=backfillMessageIdentityHashes durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=createMessagesIdentityHashIndex durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureCompactionTelemetryColumns durationMs=1
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureFocusBriefTables durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step skipped: step=backfillSummaryDepths algorithmVersion=1 reason=already-complete
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=createSummariesDepthIndex durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step skipped: step=backfillSummaryMetadata algorithmVersion=1 reason=already-complete
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step skipped: step=backfillToolCallColumns algorithmVersion=1 reason=already-complete
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureMessagesFts durationMs=0
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureSummariesFts durationMs=1
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] migration step complete: step=ensureSummariesFtsCjk durationMs=1
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Migration run completed during engine init: duration=21ms fts5=undefined
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Migration successful — 34 tables: conversations, sqlite_sequence, messages, summaries, message_parts, summary_messages, summary_parents, context_items, large_files, conversation_bootstrap_state, conversation_compaction_telemetry, conversation_compaction_maintenance, focus_briefs, focus_brief_sources, lcm_migration_state, messages_fts, messages_fts_data, messages_fts_idx, messages_fts_content, messages_fts_docsize, messages_fts_config, summaries_fts, summaries_fts_data, summaries_fts_idx, summaries_fts_content, summaries_fts_docsize, summaries_fts_config, summaries_fts_cjk, summaries_fts_cjk_data, summaries_fts_cjk_idx, summaries_fts_cjk_content, summaries_fts_cjk_docsize, summaries_fts_cjk_config, sqlite_stat1
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Ignoring sessions matching 1 pattern(s) from plugin config: agent:*:cron:**
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Engine initialized for db=/home/node/.openclaw/.openclaw/lcm.db duration=77ms
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Plugin loaded (enabled=true, db=/home/node/.openclaw/.openclaw/lcm.db, threshold=0.75, proactiveThresholdCompactionMode=deferred)
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] State dir: /home/node/.openclaw/.openclaw
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] Compaction summarization model: openai-codex/gpt-5.4 (default)
12:42:15 [plugins] [lcm] auto-rotate: phase=startup action=summary thresholdBytes=2097152 durationMs=150 bytesRemoved=0 scanned=0 eligible=0 rotated=0 warned=0 skipped=0 backupCreated=0 reason=completed
{
"pending": [],
"paired": [
{
"nodeId": "2099a8b7974cbbc84ee424c2293817f602fd31cbd2afb96af366065c8cd90234",
"platform": "darwin",
...Impact and severity
Automation scripts that expect pure JSON output fail to parse JSON output due to leading non-JSON log lines.
Additional information
No response
Bug type
Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)
Beta release blocker
No
Summary
When running a CLI command like
openclaw nodes list --json, the CLI initializes various componenents, like plugins, on startup, which may try to emit log lines on standard output without knowing that output should only be JSON.Steps to reproduce
openclaw nodes list --json 2> /dev/nullExpected behavior
When CLI option
--jsonis used, the output should always be pure JSON. Initialization of components like plugins should force their output to standard error regardless if they already do that themselves.Actual behavior
CLI output contains non-JSON log lines, which causes JSON parsing errors.
OpenClaw version
2026.5.18
Operating system
Ubuntu 24.04
Install method
Kubernetes/Helm
Model
openai-codex/gpt-5.4
Provider / routing chain
openclaw -> litellm -> chatgpt
Additional provider/model setup details
No response
Logs, screenshots, and evidence
Impact and severity
Automation scripts that expect pure JSON output fail to parse JSON output due to leading non-JSON log lines.
Additional information
No response