fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents by Lucenx9 · Pull Request #31969 · openclaw/openclaw

Lucenx9 · 2026-03-02T17:26:43Z

Summary

Problem: after 2026.2.26 migration/restart, WhatsApp direct messages routed to relay agents could lose the Conversation info (untrusted metadata) block (missing sender/message identifiers).
Why it matters: relay agents relying on sender metadata cannot attribute origin correctly (#29972).
What changed:
- restored direct-chat conversation metadata for external channels (for example whatsapp) in buildInboundUserContextPrefix.
- kept metadata hidden for internal webchat direct sessions to preserve the prior UX/privacy behavior.
- extracted inbound channel resolution into a shared helper to keep logic consistent between system prompt and user-context prefix.
- added regression tests for direct webchat (hidden) vs direct external channel (included).
What did NOT change (scope boundary): no changes to session routing, relay transport, or gateway delivery queues.

Change Type (select all)

Scope (select all touched areas)

Linked Issue/PR

User-visible / Behavior Changes

WhatsApp direct-channel turns once again include message/sender metadata in the model-facing untrusted context block.
Internal webchat direct sessions remain unchanged (metadata block still omitted).

Security Impact (required)

New permissions/capabilities? (No)
Secrets/tokens handling changed? (No)
New/changed network calls? (No)
Command/tool execution surface changed? (No)
Data access scope changed? (No)
If any Yes, explain risk + mitigation:

Repro + Verification

Environment

OS: Linux
Runtime/container: Node 22
Model/provider: relay model path (openai-completions style)
Integration/channel (if any): WhatsApp
Relevant config (redacted): direct-channel relay binding on whatsapp

Steps

Route WhatsApp direct messages to a relay agent.
Send inbound message and inspect model-facing user content.
Verify Conversation info (untrusted metadata) block includes sender/message ids.

Expected

Direct external channels retain metadata block needed by relay.

Actual

Confirmed with tests: external direct channels include metadata; webchat direct remains hidden.

Evidence

Failing test/log before + passing after
Trace/log snippets
Screenshot/recording
Perf numbers (if relevant)

Commands run locally:

pnpm vitest run src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.test.ts src/auto-reply/reply/strip-inbound-meta.test.ts (pass)
pnpm check (pass)
pnpm build (pass)
pnpm protocol:check (pass)
pnpm lint:ui:no-raw-window-open (pass)

Human Verification (required)

What you personally verified (not just CI), and how:

Verified scenarios:
- direct webchat still suppresses conversation metadata block.
- direct whatsapp now includes message_id, message_id_full, sender.
Edge cases checked:
- group-chat behavior unchanged.
- conversation_label remains omitted for direct chats.
What you did not verify:
- live end-to-end relay against a running WhatsApp account.

Compatibility / Migration

Backward compatible? (Yes)
Config/env changes? (No)
Migration needed? (No)
If yes, exact upgrade steps:

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

How to disable/revert this change quickly: revert this PR commit.
Files/config to restore: src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.ts, src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.test.ts.
Known bad symptoms reviewers should watch for:
- metadata unexpectedly appears in webchat direct sessions,
- metadata still missing in WhatsApp direct relay prompts.

Risks and Mitigations

Risk: reintroducing noisy metadata into direct sessions.
- Mitigation: explicit channel gate keeps direct webchat behavior unchanged; new tests cover both paths.

AI-Assisted Contribution

AI-assisted in implementation (Codex)
Fully tested for touched paths

greptile-apps · 2026-03-02T17:31:27Z

Greptile Summary

Restores conversation metadata (message IDs, sender info) for WhatsApp and other external direct channels while preserving the existing behavior of hiding metadata for webchat direct sessions. The change addresses relay agents losing critical sender attribution after the 2026.2.26 migration.

Key changes:

Extracted resolveInboundChannel helper to centralize channel resolution logic
Modified buildInboundUserContextPrefix to include metadata for direct external channels (non-webchat)
Added regression tests covering both direct webchat (hidden) and direct external channel (included) scenarios

Issue found:

Channel resolution inconsistency: buildInboundUserContextPrefix manually checks OriginatingChannel ?? Surface instead of using the extracted resolveInboundChannel helper, which could cause metadata to be hidden when channel info is only in Provider

Confidence Score: 3/5

Safe to merge with one logical issue that should be addressed
The PR addresses a real regression and includes good test coverage, but has an inconsistency in channel resolution logic that could cause the fix to not work in certain scenarios where channel info is only in Provider field
src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.ts lines 87-91 need the channel resolution logic corrected to use the extracted helper

_{Last reviewed commit: b3c4538}

greptile-apps

_{2 files reviewed, 1 comment}

_{Edit Code Review Agent Settings | Greptile}

greptile-apps · 2026-03-02T17:31:31Z

src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.ts

  const isDirect = !chatType || chatType === "direct";
+  const directChannelValue = safeTrim(ctx.OriginatingChannel) ?? safeTrim(ctx.Surface);
+  const includeDirectConversationInfo = Boolean(
+    directChannelValue && directChannelValue !== "webchat",
+  );


Inconsistent channel resolution - should use resolveInboundChannel(ctx) instead of manually checking only OriginatingChannel and Surface.

The PR extracted resolveInboundChannel to centralize channel resolution logic, but it's not being used here. This helper includes fallback to Provider (lines 34-42), which is missing from this manual check.

If OriginatingChannel and Surface are both undefined but Provider is "whatsapp", this code would fail to include metadata for a direct WhatsApp chat, which contradicts the PR's goal.

Suggested change

const isDirect = !chatType || chatType === "direct";

const directChannelValue = safeTrim(ctx.OriginatingChannel) ?? safeTrim(ctx.Surface);

const includeDirectConversationInfo = Boolean(

directChannelValue && directChannelValue !== "webchat",

);

const directChannelValue = resolveInboundChannel(ctx);

const includeDirectConversationInfo = Boolean(

directChannelValue && directChannelValue !== "webchat",

);

const shouldIncludeConversationInfo = !isDirect || includeDirectConversationInfo;

Prompt To Fix With AI

This is a comment left during a code review. Path: src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.ts Line: 87-91 Comment: Inconsistent channel resolution - should use `resolveInboundChannel(ctx)` instead of manually checking only `OriginatingChannel` and `Surface`. The PR extracted `resolveInboundChannel` to centralize channel resolution logic, but it's not being used here. This helper includes fallback to `Provider` (lines 34-42), which is missing from this manual check. If `OriginatingChannel` and `Surface` are both undefined but `Provider` is "whatsapp", this code would fail to include metadata for a direct WhatsApp chat, which contradicts the PR's goal. ```suggestion const directChannelValue = resolveInboundChannel(ctx); const includeDirectConversationInfo = Boolean( directChannelValue && directChannelValue !== "webchat", ); const shouldIncludeConversationInfo = !isDirect || includeDirectConversationInfo; ``` How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-03-02T17:38:42Z

src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.ts

+  const directChannelValue = resolveInboundChannel(ctx);
+  const includeDirectConversationInfo = Boolean(
+    directChannelValue && directChannelValue !== "webchat",


Gate direct metadata on source surface, not route channel

For webchat-originated direct turns that are linked to an external delivery route, gateway/server-methods/chat.ts sets Provider/Surface to webchat but OriginatingChannel to the routed channel (for example whatsapp). Because this new logic derives directChannelValue from OriginatingChannel first, includeDirectConversationInfo becomes true and the direct Conversation info block (message/sender identifiers) is emitted, which reintroduces metadata in internal webchat sessions that were meant to stay hidden.

Useful? React with 👍 / 👎.

@Lucenx9

… (thanks @Lucenx9)

steipete · 2026-03-02T18:40:08Z

Landed via temp rebase onto main.

Gate: bunx vitest run src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.test.ts src/auto-reply/reply/strip-inbound-meta.test.ts
Land commit: 43e8dcf
Merge commit: 5c1eb07

Thanks @Lucenx9!

@Lucenx9

…claw#31969) * fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents * fix(auto-reply): use shared inbound channel resolver for direct metadata * chore(ci): retrigger checks after base update * fix: add changelog attribution for inbound metadata relay fix (openclaw#31969) (thanks @Lucenx9) --------- Co-authored-by: Simone <simone@example.com> Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

@Lucenx9

…claw#31969) * fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents * fix(auto-reply): use shared inbound channel resolver for direct metadata * chore(ci): retrigger checks after base update * fix: add changelog attribution for inbound metadata relay fix (openclaw#31969) (thanks @Lucenx9) --------- Co-authored-by: Simone <simone@example.com> Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

@Lucenx9

…claw#31969) * fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents * fix(auto-reply): use shared inbound channel resolver for direct metadata * chore(ci): retrigger checks after base update * fix: add changelog attribution for inbound metadata relay fix (openclaw#31969) (thanks @Lucenx9) --------- Co-authored-by: Simone <simone@example.com> Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

@Lucenx9

…claw#31969) * fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents * fix(auto-reply): use shared inbound channel resolver for direct metadata * chore(ci): retrigger checks after base update * fix: add changelog attribution for inbound metadata relay fix (openclaw#31969) (thanks @Lucenx9) --------- Co-authored-by: Simone <simone@example.com> Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

openclaw-barnacle bot added the size: S label Mar 2, 2026

Lucenx9 mentioned this pull request Mar 2, 2026

WhatsApp: metadata envelope missing from messages sent to openai-completions relay agent after gateway restart #29972

Closed

Lucenx9 force-pushed the fix/whatsapp-inbound-meta-29972 branch from ac53cb5 to b3c4538 Compare March 2, 2026 17:30

greptile-apps bot reviewed Mar 2, 2026

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chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Mar 2, 2026

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Simone and others added 4 commits March 2, 2026 18:39

fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents

56eda61

fix(auto-reply): use shared inbound channel resolver for direct metadata

938319f

chore(ci): retrigger checks after base update

71a948a

fix: add changelog attribution for inbound metadata relay fix (#31969)…

43e8dcf

… (thanks @Lucenx9)

steipete force-pushed the fix/whatsapp-inbound-meta-29972 branch from 60d9d19 to 43e8dcf Compare March 2, 2026 18:39

steipete merged commit 5c1eb07 into openclaw:main Mar 2, 2026
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fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents#31969

fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents#31969
steipete merged 4 commits intoopenclaw:mainfrom
Lucenx9:fix/whatsapp-inbound-meta-29972

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Lucenx9 commented Mar 2, 2026

Summary

Change Type (select all)

Scope (select all touched areas)

Linked Issue/PR

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Security Impact (required)

Repro + Verification

Environment

Steps

Expected

Actual

Evidence

Human Verification (required)

Compatibility / Migration

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

Risks and Mitigations

AI-Assisted Contribution

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greptile-apps bot commented Mar 2, 2026

Greptile Summary

Confidence Score: 3/5

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