fix(plugins): anchor runtime dependency installs

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Plugins/startup: remove ownerless bundled runtime-dependency install locks
   after a short grace window and include lock owner details when startup times
   out waiting for a plugin runtime-deps lock.
+- Plugins/install: anchor bundled runtime-dependency npm installs with an
+  OpenClaw-owned package manifest so Linux updates cannot accidentally write to
+  a parent `$HOME/node_modules` tree. Fixes #71730.
 - Live tests/voice: accept common STT variants for OpenClaw and ElevenLabs
   brand names so provider smoke tests fail on real regressions rather than
   equivalent transcripts.

src/plugins/bundled-runtime-deps.test.ts

@@ -222,6 +222,44 @@ describe("installBundledRuntimeDeps", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("anchors non-isolated external install roots with a package manifest", () => {
+    const parentRoot = makeTempDir();
+    const installRoot = path.join(parentRoot, ".openclaw", "plugin-runtime-deps", "openclaw-test");
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.join(parentRoot, "node_modules", "@grammyjs"), { recursive: true });
+    spawnSyncMock.mockImplementation((_command, _args, options) => {
+      const cwd = String(options?.cwd ?? "");
+      expect(cwd).toBe(installRoot);
+      expect(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(cwd, "package.json"), "utf8"))).toEqual({
+        name: "openclaw-runtime-deps-install",
+        private: true,
+      });
+      return {
+        pid: 123,
+        output: [],
+        stdout: "",
+        stderr: "",
+        signal: null,
+        status: 0,
+      };
+    });
+
+    installBundledRuntimeDeps({
+      installRoot,
+      missingSpecs: ["@grammyjs/runner@^2.0.3"],
+      env: {
+        HOME: parentRoot,
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(spawnSyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.any(String),
+      expect.any(Array),
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        cwd: installRoot,
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("uses an isolated execution root and copies node_modules back when requested", () => {
     const installRoot = makeTempDir();
     const installExecutionRoot = makeTempDir();

src/plugins/bundled-runtime-deps.ts

@@ -1154,14 +1154,17 @@ function shouldCleanBundledRuntimeDepsInstallExecutionRoot(params: {
   return installExecutionRoot.startsWith(`${installRoot}${path.sep}`);
 }
 
-function writeBundledRuntimeDepsInstallManifest(installExecutionRoot: string): void {
+function ensureNpmInstallExecutionManifest(installExecutionRoot: string): void {
+  const manifestPath = path.join(installExecutionRoot, "package.json");
+  if (fs.existsSync(manifestPath)) {
+    return;
+  }
   fs.writeFileSync(
-    path.join(installExecutionRoot, "package.json"),
+    manifestPath,
     `${JSON.stringify({ name: "openclaw-runtime-deps-install", private: true }, null, 2)}\n`,
     "utf8",
   );
 }
-
 export function installBundledRuntimeDeps(params: {
   installRoot: string;
   installExecutionRoot?: string;
@@ -1184,7 +1187,7 @@ export function installBundledRuntimeDeps(params: {
     // doctor repair path installs directly in the external stage dir; without a
     // manifest, npm can honor a user's global prefix config and write under
     // $HOME/node_modules instead of our managed stage.
-    writeBundledRuntimeDepsInstallManifest(installExecutionRoot);
+    ensureNpmInstallExecutionManifest(installExecutionRoot);
     const installEnv = createBundledRuntimeDepsInstallEnv(params.env, {
       cacheDir: path.join(installExecutionRoot, ".openclaw-npm-cache"),
     });

src/plugins/provider-discovery.test.ts

@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ describe("resolveInstalledPluginProviderContributionIds", () => {
       resolveInstalledPluginProviderContributionIds({
         candidates: [candidate],
         env: hermeticEnv(),
+        preferPersisted: false,
       }),
     ).toEqual(["demo", "demo-alias"]);
   });
@@ -197,6 +198,7 @@ describe("resolveInstalledPluginProviderContributionIds", () => {
         },
       },
       env: hermeticEnv(),
+      preferPersisted: false,
     };
 
     expect(resolveInstalledPluginProviderContributionIds(params)).toEqual([]);