fix(cli): keep plugin json output parseable

Co-authored-by: Eric Milgram, PhD <4348294+ScientificProgrammer@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - CLI tables: preserve muted/color styling on wrapped continuation lines after multiline cells, keeping `openclaw plugins list` descriptions readable.
 - Process execution: collapse case-insensitive duplicate child environment keys on Windows so caller-provided overrides such as `PATH` cannot be shadowed by host `Path`.
 - Browser CLI: request the existing `operator.admin` gateway scope explicitly for browser control commands, avoiding unnecessary scope-upgrade approval loops. Fixes #81555. (#81716) Thanks @joshavant.
+- CLI/plugins: route lazy plugin command-registration chatter to stderr only during JSON-output command registration, keeping plugin-backed `--json` stdout parseable without changing parse-only or pass-through `--json` behavior. Fixes #81535. (#81536) Thanks @ScientificProgrammer and @vincentkoc.
 - Web: honor explicitly configured global `web_search` providers during provider ownership resolution while keeping sandboxed `web_fetch` limited to bundled providers.
 - Plugins/doctor: repair configured legacy npm declaration stubs by reinstalling their npm packages into the managed plugin root instead of loading workspace `node_modules`, and warn when discovery sees those stubs. Fixes #79632. Thanks @Dylanzhang1128 and @vincentkoc.
 - Channels: keep configured third-party channel plugins visible in `openclaw channels list` when their manifest declares `channels` but has not added `channelConfigs` metadata yet. Fixes #81334. (#81340) Thanks @AllynSheep and @vincentkoc.

src/cli/run-main.exit.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import process from "node:process";
 import { CommanderError } from "commander";
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { loggingState } from "../logging/state.js";
 import { runCli, shouldStartProxyForCli } from "./run-main.js";
 
 const tryRouteCliMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
@@ -269,6 +270,7 @@ describe("runCli exit behavior", () => {
     resolveManifestCliCommandSurfaceOwnerMock.mockReturnValue(undefined);
     delete process.env.OPENCLAW_DISABLE_CLI_STARTUP_HELP_FAST_PATH;
     delete process.env.OPENCLAW_HIDE_BANNER;
+    loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr = false;
   });
 
   it("does not force process.exit after successful routed command", async () => {
@@ -596,6 +598,68 @@ describe("runCli exit behavior", () => {
     expect(parseAsync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(argv);
   });
 
+  it("routes lazy plugin registration logs to stderr only during --json registration", async () => {
+    tryRouteCliMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(false);
+    resolvePluginCliRootOwnerIdsMock.mockImplementation(
+      ({ primaryCommand }: { primaryCommand?: string }) =>
+        primaryCommand === "memory" ? ["memory"] : [],
+    );
+    let stderrDuringPluginRegistration = false;
+    let stderrDuringParse = true;
+    registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfigMock.mockImplementationOnce(async () => {
+      stderrDuringPluginRegistration = loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr;
+      return {};
+    });
+    const parseAsync = vi.fn().mockImplementationOnce(async () => {
+      stderrDuringParse = loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr;
+    });
+    buildProgramMock.mockReturnValueOnce({
+      commands: [],
+      parseAsync,
+    });
+
+    await runCli(["node", "openclaw", "memory", "search", "query", "--json"]);
+
+    expect(registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfigMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.anything(),
+      undefined,
+      undefined,
+      { mode: "lazy", primary: "memory" },
+    );
+    expect(stderrDuringPluginRegistration).toBe(true);
+    expect(stderrDuringParse).toBe(false);
+    expect(loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("does not route lazy plugin registration logs for pass-through --json after terminator", async () => {
+    tryRouteCliMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(false);
+    resolvePluginCliRootOwnerIdsMock.mockImplementation(
+      ({ primaryCommand }: { primaryCommand?: string }) =>
+        primaryCommand === "memory" ? ["memory"] : [],
+    );
+    let stderrDuringPluginRegistration = true;
+    registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfigMock.mockImplementationOnce(async () => {
+      stderrDuringPluginRegistration = loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr;
+      return {};
+    });
+    const parseAsync = vi.fn().mockResolvedValueOnce(undefined);
+    buildProgramMock.mockReturnValueOnce({
+      commands: [],
+      parseAsync,
+    });
+
+    await runCli(["node", "openclaw", "memory", "--", "--json"]);
+
+    expect(registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfigMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.anything(),
+      undefined,
+      undefined,
+      { mode: "lazy", primary: "memory" },
+    );
+    expect(stderrDuringPluginRegistration).toBe(false);
+    expect(loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("fails protected commands when managed proxy activation fails", async () => {
     startProxyMock.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("proxy: enabled but no HTTP proxy URL"));
 

src/cli/run-main.ts

@@ -134,7 +134,15 @@ export function isGatewayRunFastPathArgv(argv: string[]): boolean {
 }
 
 function hasJsonOutputFlag(argv: string[]): boolean {
-  return argv.some((arg) => arg === "--json" || arg.startsWith("--json="));
+  for (const arg of argv) {
+    if (arg === "--") {
+      return false;
+    }
+    if (arg === "--json" || arg.startsWith("--json=")) {
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
 }
 
 async function tryRunGatewayRunFastPath(
@@ -725,10 +733,33 @@ export async function runCli(argv: string[] = process.argv) {
         const config = await startupTrace.measure("register-plugin-commands", async () => {
           const { registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfig } =
             await import("../plugins/cli.js");
-          return await registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfig(program, undefined, undefined, {
-            mode: "lazy",
-            primary,
-          });
+          if (!hasJsonOutputFlag(parseArgv)) {
+            return await registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfig(
+              program,
+              undefined,
+              undefined,
+              {
+                mode: "lazy",
+                primary,
+              },
+            );
+          }
+          const { loggingState } = await import("../logging/state.js");
+          const previousForceStderr = loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr;
+          loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr = true;
+          try {
+            return await registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfig(
+              program,
+              undefined,
+              undefined,
+              {
+                mode: "lazy",
+                primary,
+              },
+            );
+          } finally {
+            loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr = previousForceStderr;
+          }
         });
         if (config) {
           if (