OpenClaw can repeatedly warn while publishing plugin skills if an existing generated plugin skill symlink points to a target that no longer exists:

[skills] failed to create plugin skill symlink ".../.openclaw/plugin-skills/browser-automation" → ".../openclaw/dist/extensions/browser/skills/browser-automation": Error: EEXIST: file already exists, symlink '.../openclaw/dist/extensions/browser/skills/browser-automation' -> '.../.openclaw/plugin-skills/browser-automation'

Reproduced state:

.openclaw/plugin-skills/browser-automation
-> /old/install/path/openclaw/dist/extensions/browser/skills/browser-automation

Then the old install path is removed, and OpenClaw later tries to publish the current plugin skill:

.openclaw/plugin-skills/browser-automation
-> /new/install/path/openclaw/dist/extensions/browser/skills/browser-automation

The publish step fails with EEXIST because the stale generated symlink still exists.

Expected behavior:

• Generated plugin skill links should be idempotent.
• If an existing generated plugin skill symlink points to a different target, OpenClaw should replace it.
• If the existing generated symlink is broken because the old target disappeared, OpenClaw should still remove it and create the current link.
• Users should not need to manually clean ~/.openclaw/plugin-skills.

Observed on:

OpenClaw 2026.5.22 (a374c3a)

Relevant history:

1df2ac442a fix #77296: Plugin manifest skills field not published to agent skill discovery paths
30cfcf21b7 fix(skills): replace generated plugin skill directories

Likely fix:

Use symlink-aware cleanup for generated plugin skill entries: lstatSync to classify the entry, unlinkSync for symlinks, and directory removal only for generated directory/junction cases. Add regression coverage for a generated plugin skill symlink whose target no longer exists.