fix(discord): keep degraded DMs on direct routes

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Channels/status reactions: remove stale non-terminal lifecycle reactions when a run reaches done or error, so Discord does not leave a permanent thinking emoji after completion. Fixes #75458. Thanks @davelutztx.
 - Discord/doctor: migrate unsupported per-channel `agentId` entries under guild channel config into top-level `bindings[]` routes, so `openclaw doctor --fix` preserves the intended agent route instead of stripping it as an unknown key. Fixes #62455. Thanks @lobster-biscuit.
 - Discord/DMs: set inbound direct-message `ctx.To` to the semantic `user:<id>` target while keeping delivery routed through the DM channel, so mirror and recovery paths do not treat DMs as channel conversations. Fixes #68126. Thanks @illuminate0623.
+- Discord/DMs: keep no-guild inbound messages on direct-message routing when Discord channel lookup is temporarily unavailable, preventing degraded DMs from forking into channel sessions. Fixes #59817. Thanks @DooPeePey.
 - Gateway/config: log config health-state write failures instead of silently hiding config observe-recovery write errors. Thanks @sallyom.
 - Diagnostics: reset stuck-session timers on reply, tool, status, block, and ACP progress events, and back off repeated `session.stuck` diagnostics while a session remains unchanged. Supersedes #72010. Thanks @rubencu.
 

extensions/discord/src/monitor/message-handler.preflight.test.ts

@@ -117,6 +117,12 @@ function createDmClient(channelId: string): DiscordClient {
   } as unknown as DiscordClient;
 }
 
+function createMissingChannelClient(): DiscordClient {
+  return {
+    fetchChannel: async () => null,
+  } as unknown as DiscordClient;
+}
+
 async function runThreadBoundPreflight(params: {
   threadId: string;
   parentId: string;
@@ -203,6 +209,26 @@ async function runDmPreflight(params: {
   });
 }
 
+async function runUnresolvedDmPreflight(params: {
+  cfg?: import("openclaw/plugin-sdk/config-types").OpenClawConfig;
+  channelId: string;
+  message: import("../internal/discord.js").Message;
+  discordConfig: DiscordConfig;
+}) {
+  return preflightDiscordMessage({
+    ...createPreflightArgs({
+      cfg: params.cfg ?? DEFAULT_PREFLIGHT_CFG,
+      discordConfig: params.discordConfig,
+      data: {
+        channel_id: params.channelId,
+        author: params.message.author,
+        message: params.message,
+      } as DiscordMessageEvent,
+      client: createMissingChannelClient(),
+    }),
+  });
+}
+
 async function runMentionOnlyBotPreflight(params: {
   channelId: string;
   guildId: string;
@@ -483,6 +509,38 @@ describe("preflightDiscordMessage", () => {
     expect(result?.preflightAudioTranscript).toBe("hello openclaw from dm audio");
   });
 
+  it("keeps no-guild messages direct when channel lookup is unavailable", async () => {
+    const result = await runUnresolvedDmPreflight({
+      cfg: {
+        ...DEFAULT_PREFLIGHT_CFG,
+        session: {
+          ...DEFAULT_PREFLIGHT_CFG.session,
+          dmScope: "per-channel-peer",
+        },
+      },
+      channelId: "dm-channel-unresolved-1",
+      message: createDiscordMessage({
+        id: "m-dm-unresolved-1",
+        channelId: "dm-channel-unresolved-1",
+        content: "hello from a degraded dm",
+        author: {
+          id: "user-1",
+          bot: false,
+          username: "alice",
+        },
+      }),
+      discordConfig: {
+        dmPolicy: "open",
+      } as DiscordConfig,
+    });
+
+    expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(result?.channelInfo).toBeNull();
+    expect(result?.isDirectMessage).toBe(true);
+    expect(result?.isGroupDm).toBe(false);
+    expect(result?.route.sessionKey).toBe("agent:main:discord:direct:user-1");
+  });
+
   it("falls back to the default discord account for omitted-account dm authorization", async () => {
     const message = createDiscordMessage({
       id: "m-dm-default-account",

extensions/discord/src/monitor/message-handler.preflight.ts

@@ -70,6 +70,17 @@ export {
   shouldIgnoreBoundThreadWebhookMessage,
 } from "./message-handler.preflight-helpers.js";
 
+function resolveDiscordPreflightConversationKind(params: {
+  isGuildMessage: boolean;
+  channelType?: ChannelType;
+}) {
+  const isGroupDm = params.channelType === ChannelType.GroupDM;
+  const isDirectMessage =
+    params.channelType === ChannelType.DM ||
+    (!params.isGuildMessage && !isGroupDm && params.channelType == null);
+  return { isDirectMessage, isGroupDm };
+}
+
 export async function preflightDiscordMessage(
   params: DiscordMessagePreflightParams,
 ): Promise<DiscordMessagePreflightContext | null> {
@@ -137,8 +148,10 @@ export async function preflightDiscordMessage(
   if (isPreflightAborted(params.abortSignal)) {
     return null;
   }
-  const isDirectMessage = channelInfo?.type === ChannelType.DM;
-  const isGroupDm = channelInfo?.type === ChannelType.GroupDM;
+  const { isDirectMessage, isGroupDm } = resolveDiscordPreflightConversationKind({
+    isGuildMessage,
+    channelType: channelInfo?.type,
+  });
   const messageText = resolveDiscordMessageText(message, {
     includeForwarded: true,
   });