fix: preserve gateway watch log colors

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 ### Fixes
 
 - Agents/models: keep legacy CLI runtime model refs such as `claude-cli/*` in the configured allowlist after canonical runtime migration, so cron `payload.model` overrides keep working. Fixes #75753. Thanks @RyanSandoval.
+- Gateway/watch: keep colored subsystem log prefixes in the managed tmux pane even when the parent shell exports `NO_COLOR`, while preserving explicit `FORCE_COLOR=0` opt-out. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Plugin SDK: re-export `isPrivateIpAddress` from `plugin-sdk/ssrf-runtime`, restoring source-checkout builds for SearXNG and Firecrawl private-network guards. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - CLI/directory: report unsupported directory operations for installed channel plugins instead of prompting to reinstall the plugin when it lacks a directory adapter. Fixes #75770. Thanks @lawong888.
 - Web search/SearXNG: show the JSON API `search.formats` prerequisite during SearXNG setup before prompting for the base URL. Supersedes #65592. Thanks @evanpaul14.

docs/help/debugging.md

@@ -251,6 +251,8 @@ The tmux wrapper carries common non-secret runtime selectors such as
 `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT`, and `OPENCLAW_SKIP_CHANNELS` into the pane. Put
 provider credentials in your normal profile/config, or use raw foreground mode
 for one-off ephemeral secrets.
+The managed tmux pane also defaults to colored Gateway logs for readability;
+set `FORCE_COLOR=0` when starting `pnpm gateway:watch` to disable ANSI output.
 
 The watcher restarts on build-relevant files under `src/`, extension source files,
 extension `package.json` and `openclaw.plugin.json` metadata, `tsconfig.json`,

scripts/gateway-watch-tmux.mjs

@@ -66,6 +66,17 @@ export const resolveGatewayWatchTmuxSessionName = ({ args = [], env = process.en
 
 const resolveShell = (env) => env.SHELL || "/bin/sh";
 
+const resolveColorEnv = (env) => {
+  const forceColor = env.FORCE_COLOR;
+  if (forceColor == null || forceColor === "") {
+    return { assignments: ["FORCE_COLOR=1"], options: ["-u", "NO_COLOR"] };
+  }
+  if (String(forceColor).trim() !== "0") {
+    return { assignments: [`FORCE_COLOR=${forceColor}`], options: ["-u", "NO_COLOR"] };
+  }
+  return { assignments: [`FORCE_COLOR=${forceColor}`], options: [] };
+};
+
 export const buildGatewayWatchTmuxCommand = ({
   args = [],
   cwd = process.cwd(),
@@ -74,10 +85,13 @@ export const buildGatewayWatchTmuxCommand = ({
   sessionName,
 } = {}) => {
   const shell = resolveShell(env);
+  const colorEnv = resolveColorEnv(env);
   const childEnv = [
     "env",
+    ...colorEnv.options,
     `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WATCH_TMUX_CHILD=1`,
     `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WATCH_SESSION=${sessionName}`,
+    ...colorEnv.assignments,
     ...TMUX_CHILD_ENV_KEYS.flatMap((key) =>
       env[key] == null || env[key] === "" ? [] : [`${key}=${env[key]}`],
     ),

src/infra/gateway-watch-tmux.test.ts

@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ describe("gateway-watch tmux wrapper", () => {
     expect(command).toContain("/repo with spaces/openclaw");
     expect(command).toContain("'OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WATCH_TMUX_CHILD=1'");
     expect(command).toContain("'OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WATCH_SESSION=openclaw-gateway-watch-main'");
+    expect(command).toContain("'\\''-u'\\'' '\\''NO_COLOR'\\''");
+    expect(command).toContain("'FORCE_COLOR=1'");
     expect(command).toContain("'OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=19001'");
     expect(command).toContain("'OPENCLAW_PROFILE=Dev Profile'");
     expect(command).toContain("/opt/node");
@@ -62,6 +64,24 @@ describe("gateway-watch tmux wrapper", () => {
     expect(command).toContain("'a b.jsonl'");
   });
 
+  it("preserves an explicit color override for the tmux child", () => {
+    const command = buildGatewayWatchTmuxCommand({
+      args: ["gateway", "--force"],
+      cwd: "/repo",
+      env: {
+        FORCE_COLOR: "0",
+        NO_COLOR: "1",
+        SHELL: "/bin/zsh",
+      },
+      nodePath: "/opt/node",
+      sessionName: "openclaw-gateway-watch-main",
+    });
+
+    expect(command).toContain("'FORCE_COLOR=0'");
+    expect(command).not.toContain("'\\''-u'\\'' '\\''NO_COLOR'\\''");
+    expect(command).not.toContain("'FORCE_COLOR=1'");
+  });
+
   it("creates a detached tmux session when none exists", () => {
     const stdout = createOutput();
     const stderr = createOutput();