fix(models): preserve source snapshots for SecretRef providers

* fix(models): preserve source snapshots for SecretRef providers

* docs: add models SecretRef changelog entry

---------

Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Discord/voice: recover stale realtime playback state when Discord stream-close/player-idle events do not arrive, and keep generated runtime plugin aliases available after postbuild rewrites.
 - Discord/voice: keep realtime playback running when meeting notes attaches to an existing voice session or a realtime consult starts, and route realtime user transcripts into meeting notes.
 - Config/secrets: preflight active runtime SecretRefs before root and include config writes persist, and roll back unchanged file/env state when post-write refresh fails. Fixes #46531. (#84454) Thanks @samzong.
+- CLI/models: preserve SecretRef-backed custom provider `apiKey` markers when `models status` regenerates `models.json`, avoiding resolved plaintext secrets on disk. Fixes #84632. (#84658) Thanks @NianJiuZst.
 - WebChat: keep the run-complete indicator in progress until deferred history replay renders the assistant reply, so Done no longer appears before response text. (#85374) Thanks @neeravmakwana.
 - Agents/tools: give timed-out or cancelled process trees a bounded SIGTERM cleanup window before SIGKILL while preserving tree-aware cancellation. Fixes #66399. (#85865) Thanks @IWhatsskill.
 - Agents/compaction: skip agent-harness preflight for provider-owned CLI runtime sessions so over-threshold Claude CLI sessions continue through normal compaction instead of failing on a missing harness. Fixes #84857. (#84878) Thanks @zhangguiping-xydt.

src/agents/models-config.runtime-source-snapshot.test.ts

@@ -100,6 +100,40 @@ function createOpenAiApiKeyRuntimeConfig(): OpenClawConfig {
   };
 }
 
+function createCustomProviderApiKeySourceConfig(): OpenClawConfig {
+  return {
+    models: {
+      providers: {
+        litellm: {
+          baseUrl: "https://litellm.example/v1",
+          apiKey: {
+            source: "env",
+            provider: "default",
+            id: "OPENCLAW_MODEL_LITELLM_API_KEY", // pragma: allowlist secret
+          },
+          api: "openai-completions" as const,
+          models: [],
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+function createCustomProviderApiKeyRuntimeConfig(): OpenClawConfig {
+  return {
+    models: {
+      providers: {
+        litellm: {
+          baseUrl: "https://litellm.example/v1",
+          apiKey: "sk-litellm-runtime-secret", // pragma: allowlist secret
+          api: "openai-completions" as const,
+          models: [],
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  };
+}
+
 function createOpenAiHeaderSourceConfig(): OpenClawConfig {
   return {
     models: {
@@ -280,6 +314,24 @@ describe("models-config runtime source snapshot", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("preserves source markers for custom-provider api keys after models status secret resolution", async () => {
+    const agentDir = await fixtureSuite.createCaseDir("agent");
+    await withTempEnv(MODELS_CONFIG_IMPLICIT_ENV_VARS, async () => {
+      unsetEnv(MODELS_CONFIG_IMPLICIT_ENV_VARS);
+      const sourceConfig = createCustomProviderApiKeySourceConfig();
+      const runtimeConfig = createCustomProviderApiKeyRuntimeConfig();
+
+      try {
+        setRuntimeConfigSnapshot(runtimeConfig, sourceConfig);
+        await ensureOpenClawModelsJson(runtimeConfig, agentDir);
+        await expectGeneratedProviderApiKey(agentDir, "litellm", "OPENCLAW_MODEL_LITELLM_API_KEY"); // pragma: allowlist secret
+      } finally {
+        clearRuntimeConfigSnapshot();
+        clearConfigCache();
+      }
+    });
+  });
+
   it("invalidates cached readiness when projected config changes under the same runtime snapshot", async () => {
     const agentDir = await fixtureSuite.createCaseDir("agent");
     await withTempEnv(MODELS_CONFIG_IMPLICIT_ENV_VARS, async () => {

src/commands/models/load-config.test.ts

@@ -99,6 +99,6 @@ describe("models load-config", () => {
     const result = await loadModelsConfigWithSource({ commandName: "models list" });
 
     expect(result.sourceConfig).toBe(runtimeConfig);
-    expect(mocks.setRuntimeConfigSnapshot).toHaveBeenCalledWith(resolvedConfig);
+    expect(mocks.setRuntimeConfigSnapshot).toHaveBeenCalledWith(resolvedConfig, runtimeConfig);
   });
 });

src/commands/models/load-config.ts

@@ -27,11 +27,7 @@ export async function loadModelsConfigWithSource(params: {
     targetIds: getModelsCommandSecretTargetIds(),
     runtime: params.runtime,
   });
-  if (pinnedSourceConfig) {
-    setRuntimeConfigSnapshot(resolvedConfig, sourceConfig);
-  } else {
-    setRuntimeConfigSnapshot(resolvedConfig);
-  }
+  setRuntimeConfigSnapshot(resolvedConfig, sourceConfig);
   return {
     sourceConfig,
     resolvedConfig,