fix(cli): skip plugin bootstrap for json gateway agents

src/cli/command-catalog.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { hasFlag } from "./argv.js";
 
-export type CliCommandPluginLoadPolicy = "never" | "always" | "text-only";
+export type CliCommandPluginLoadPolicy =
+  | "never"
+  | "always"
+  | "text-only"
+  | ((ctx: { argv: string[]; commandPath: string[]; jsonOutputMode: boolean }) => boolean);
 export type CliRouteConfigGuardPolicy = "never" | "always" | "when-suppressed";
 export type CliNetworkProxyPolicy = "default" | "bypass";
 export type CliNetworkProxyPolicyResolver =
@@ -48,7 +52,7 @@ export const cliCommandCatalog: readonly CliCommandCatalogEntry[] = [
   {
     commandPath: ["agent"],
     policy: {
-      loadPlugins: "always",
+      loadPlugins: ({ argv, jsonOutputMode }) => hasFlag(argv, "--local") || !jsonOutputMode,
       networkProxy: ({ argv }) => (hasFlag(argv, "--local") ? "default" : "bypass"),
     },
   },

src/cli/command-execution-startup.test.ts

@@ -50,6 +50,37 @@ describe("command-execution-startup", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("skips local plugin bootstrap for JSON gateway agent calls", () => {
+    expect(
+      mod.resolveCliExecutionStartupContext({
+        argv: ["node", "openclaw", "agent", "--agent", "main", "--message", "hi", "--json"],
+        jsonOutputMode: true,
+      }).startupPolicy.loadPlugins,
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      mod.resolveCliExecutionStartupContext({
+        argv: [
+          "node",
+          "openclaw",
+          "agent",
+          "--agent",
+          "main",
+          "--message",
+          "hi",
+          "--json",
+          "--local",
+        ],
+        jsonOutputMode: true,
+      }).startupPolicy.loadPlugins,
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      mod.resolveCliExecutionStartupContext({
+        argv: ["node", "openclaw", "agent", "--agent", "main", "--message", "hi"],
+        jsonOutputMode: false,
+      }).startupPolicy.loadPlugins,
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("routes logs to stderr and emits banner only when allowed", async () => {
     await mod.applyCliExecutionStartupPresentation({
       startupPolicy: {

src/cli/command-execution-startup.ts

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export function resolveCliExecutionStartupContext(params: {
     invocation,
     commandPath,
     startupPolicy: resolveCliStartupPolicy({
+      argv: params.argv,
       commandPath,
       jsonOutputMode: params.jsonOutputMode,
       env: params.env,

src/cli/command-startup-policy.ts

@@ -17,10 +17,18 @@ export function shouldSkipRouteConfigGuardForCommandPath(params: {
 }
 
 export function shouldLoadPluginsForCommandPath(params: {
+  argv?: string[];
   commandPath: string[];
   jsonOutputMode: boolean;
 }): boolean {
   const loadPlugins = resolveCliCommandPathPolicy(params.commandPath).loadPlugins;
+  if (typeof loadPlugins === "function") {
+    return loadPlugins({
+      argv: params.argv ?? [],
+      commandPath: params.commandPath,
+      jsonOutputMode: params.jsonOutputMode,
+    });
+  }
   return loadPlugins === "always" || (loadPlugins === "text-only" && !params.jsonOutputMode);
 }
 
@@ -39,6 +47,7 @@ export function shouldEnsureCliPathForCommandPath(commandPath: string[]): boolea
 }
 
 export function resolveCliStartupPolicy(params: {
+  argv?: string[];
   commandPath: string[];
   jsonOutputMode: boolean;
   env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
@@ -55,6 +64,7 @@ export function resolveCliStartupPolicy(params: {
         })
       : false,
     loadPlugins: shouldLoadPluginsForCommandPath({
+      argv: params.argv,
       commandPath: params.commandPath,
       jsonOutputMode: params.jsonOutputMode,
     }),