fix(plugins): ignore inherited npm dry-run for runtime deps

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Doctor/channels: suppress disabled bundled-plugin blocker warnings when a trusted external plugin owns the configured channel, so Lark/Feishu installs no longer get Feishu repair noise after switching to `openclaw-lark`. Fixes #56794. Thanks @wuji-tech-dev.
 - CLI/status: show skipped fast-path memory checks as `not checked` and report active custom memory plugin runtime status from `status --json --all` without requiring built-in `agents.defaults.memorySearch`, so plugins such as memory-lancedb-pro and memory-cms no longer look unavailable when their own runtime is healthy. Fixes #56968. Thanks @Tony-ooo and @aderius.
 - Gateway/channels: record and log unexpected clean channel monitor exits so channels that return without throwing no longer appear stopped with no error. Fixes #73099. Thanks @balaji1968-kingler.
+- Plugins/package: force nested bundled-plugin runtime dependency installs out of inherited npm dry-run mode during prepack and package smoke checks, so packed installs materialize required plugin modules instead of reporting missing bundled files. Refs #73128. Thanks @Adam-Researchh.
 - Channels/Telegram: centralize polling update tracking so accepted offsets remain durable across restarts, same-process handler failures can still retry, and slow offset writes cannot overwrite newer accepted watermarks. Refs #73115. Thanks @vdruts.
 - Agents/models: classify empty, reasoning-only, and planning-only terminal agent runs before accepting a model fallback candidate, so invalid or incompatible models can advance to the next configured fallback instead of returning a 30-second terminal failure. Fixes #73115. Thanks @vdruts.
 - Memory/LanceDB: let embedding config use provider-backed auth profiles, environment credentials, or provider config without a separate plugin `embedding.apiKey`, so OAuth-capable embedding providers can power auto-recall/capture. Fixes #68950. Thanks @malshaalan-ai.

scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs

@@ -450,6 +450,7 @@ export function createNestedNpmInstallEnv(env = process.env) {
 export function createBundledRuntimeDependencyInstallEnv(env = process.env) {
   return {
     ...createNestedNpmInstallEnv(env),
+    npm_config_dry_run: "false",
     npm_config_legacy_peer_deps: "true",
     npm_config_package_lock: "false",
     npm_config_save: "false",

scripts/stage-bundled-plugin-runtime-deps.mjs

@@ -885,6 +885,7 @@ function runNpmInstall(params) {
     ...(params.npmRunner.env ?? process.env),
     CI: "1",
     npm_config_audit: "false",
+    npm_config_dry_run: "false",
     npm_config_fund: "false",
     npm_config_legacy_peer_deps: "true",
     npm_config_loglevel: "error",

src/infra/npm-install-env.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export type NpmProjectInstallEnvOptions = {
 
 const NPM_CONFIG_KEYS_TO_RESET = new Set([
   "npm_config_cache",
+  "npm_config_dry_run",
   "npm_config_global",
   "npm_config_location",
   "npm_config_prefix",
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ export function createNpmProjectInstallEnv(
   }
   return {
     ...nextEnv,
+    npm_config_dry_run: "false",
     npm_config_global: "false",
     npm_config_location: "project",
     npm_config_package_lock: "false",

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

@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ describe("resolveBundledRuntimeDepsNpmRunner", () => {
           NPM_CONFIG_LOCATION: "global",
           NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX: "/Users/alice",
           npm_config_cache: "/Users/alice/.npm",
+          npm_config_dry_run: "true",
           npm_config_global: "true",
           npm_config_location: "global",
           npm_config_prefix: "/opt/homebrew",
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@ describe("resolveBundledRuntimeDepsNpmRunner", () => {
     ).toEqual({
       PATH: "/usr/bin:/bin",
       npm_config_cache: "/opt/openclaw/runtime-cache",
+      npm_config_dry_run: "false",
       npm_config_global: "false",
       npm_config_legacy_peer_deps: "true",
       npm_config_location: "project",
@@ -320,6 +322,7 @@ describe("installBundledRuntimeDeps", () => {
         cwd: installRoot,
         windowsHide: true,
         env: expect.objectContaining({
+          npm_config_dry_run: "false",
           npm_config_legacy_peer_deps: "true",
           npm_config_package_lock: "false",
           npm_config_save: "false",

test/scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.test.ts

@@ -142,10 +142,12 @@ describe("bundled plugin postinstall", () => {
     expect(
       createBundledRuntimeDependencyInstallEnv({
         HOME: "/tmp/home",
+        npm_config_dry_run: "true",
         npm_config_prefix: "/opt/homebrew",
       }),
     ).toEqual({
       HOME: "/tmp/home",
+      npm_config_dry_run: "false",
       npm_config_legacy_peer_deps: "true",
       npm_config_package_lock: "false",
       npm_config_save: "false",

test/scripts/stage-bundled-plugin-runtime-deps.test.ts

@@ -155,6 +155,31 @@ describe("stageBundledPluginRuntimeDeps", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("forces fallback runtime installs off inherited npm dry-run mode", () => {
+    const spawnSyncImpl = vi.fn(() => ({ status: 0, stderr: "", stdout: "" }));
+
+    stageBundledPluginRuntimeDepsTesting.runNpmInstall({
+      cwd: "/tmp/openclaw-runtime-deps",
+      npmRunner: {
+        command: "npm",
+        args: ["install"],
+        env: { PATH: "/usr/bin", npm_config_dry_run: "true" },
+        shell: false,
+      },
+      spawnSyncImpl,
+    });
+
+    expect(spawnSyncImpl).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "npm",
+      ["install"],
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        env: expect.objectContaining({
+          npm_config_dry_run: "false",
+        }),
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("skips restaging when runtime deps stamp matches the sanitized manifest", () => {
     const { pluginDir, repoRoot } = createBundledPluginFixture({
       packageJson: {