fix: cache external plugin catalog lookups in auto-enable (#66246) (thanks @yfge)

* fix: cache external plugin catalog lookups in auto-enable

Fixes openclaw/openclaw#66159

* test: restore readFileSync spy in plugin auto-enable test

* refactor: distill plugin auto-enable cache path

* fix: cache external plugin catalog lookups in auto-enable (#66246) (thanks @yfge)

---------

Co-authored-by: Ayaan Zaidi <hi@obviy.us>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Agents/gateway-tool: reject `config.patch` and `config.apply` calls from the model-facing gateway tool when they would newly enable any flag enumerated by `openclaw security audit` (for example `dangerouslyDisableDeviceAuth`, `allowInsecureAuth`, `dangerouslyAllowHostHeaderOriginFallback`, `hooks.gmail.allowUnsafeExternalContent`, `tools.exec.applyPatch.workspaceOnly: false`); already-enabled flags pass through unchanged so non-dangerous edits in the same patch still apply, and direct authenticated operator RPC behavior is unchanged. (#62006) Thanks @eleqtrizit.
 - Telegram/forum topics: persist learned topic names to the Telegram session sidecar store so agent context can keep using human topic names after a restart instead of relearning from future service metadata. (#66107) Thanks @obviyus.
 - Doctor/systemd: keep `openclaw doctor --repair` and service reinstall from re-embedding dotenv-backed secrets in user systemd units, while preserving newer inline overrides over stale state-dir `.env` values. (#66249) Thanks @tmimmanuel.
+- Doctor/plugins: cache external `preferOver` catalog lookups within each plugin auto-enable pass so large `agents.list` configs no longer peg CPU and repeatedly reread plugin catalogs during doctor/plugins resolution. (#66246) Thanks @yfge.
 
 ## 2026.4.14-beta.1
 

src/config/plugin-auto-enable.channels.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
-import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import {
   applyPluginAutoEnable,
   materializePluginAutoEnableCandidates,
@@ -104,6 +104,83 @@ describe("applyPluginAutoEnable channels", () => {
     expect(result.config.plugins?.entries?.["env-primary"]).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
+  it("memoizes external catalog preferOver lookups within one auto-enable pass", () => {
+    const stateDir = makeTempDir();
+    const catalogPath = path.join(stateDir, "plugins", "catalog.json");
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(catalogPath), { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      catalogPath,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        entries: [
+          {
+            name: "@openclaw/env-primary",
+            openclaw: {
+              channel: {
+                id: "env-primary",
+                label: "Env Primary",
+                selectionLabel: "Env Primary",
+                docsPath: "/channels/env-primary",
+                blurb: "Env primary entry",
+              },
+              install: {
+                npmSpec: "@openclaw/env-primary",
+              },
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            name: "@openclaw/env-secondary",
+            openclaw: {
+              channel: {
+                id: "env-secondary",
+                label: "Env Secondary",
+                selectionLabel: "Env Secondary",
+                docsPath: "/channels/env-secondary",
+                blurb: "Env secondary entry",
+                preferOver: ["env-primary"],
+              },
+              install: {
+                npmSpec: "@openclaw/env-secondary",
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+      }),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const readFileSpy = vi.spyOn(fs, "readFileSync");
+
+    try {
+      materializePluginAutoEnableCandidates({
+        config: {
+          channels: {
+            "env-primary": { token: "primary" },
+            "env-secondary": { token: "secondary" },
+          },
+        },
+        candidates: Array.from({ length: 20 }, (_, index) => ({
+          pluginId: index % 2 === 0 ? "env-primary" : "env-secondary",
+          kind: "channel-configured" as const,
+          channelId: index % 2 === 0 ? "env-primary" : "env-secondary",
+        })),
+        env: {
+          ...makeIsolatedEnv(),
+          OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR: stateDir,
+          OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR: "/nonexistent/bundled/plugins",
+        },
+        manifestRegistry: makeRegistry([]),
+      });
+
+      expect(
+        readFileSpy.mock.calls.filter(([filePath]) =>
+          String(filePath).endsWith("plugins/catalog.json"),
+        ),
+      ).toHaveLength(2);
+    } finally {
+      readFileSpy.mockRestore();
+    }
+  });
+
   describe("third-party channel plugins (pluginId ≠ channelId)", () => {
     it("uses the plugin manifest id, not the channel id, for plugins.entries", () => {
       const result = applyWithApnChannelConfig();

src/config/plugin-auto-enable.prefer-over.ts

@@ -122,6 +122,10 @@ function resolvePreferredOverIds(
   return resolveExternalCatalogPreferOver(channelId, env);
 }
 
+function getPluginAutoEnableCandidateCacheKey(candidate: PluginAutoEnableCandidate): string {
+  return `${candidate.pluginId}:${candidate.kind === "channel-configured" ? candidate.channelId : candidate.pluginId}`;
+}
+
 export function shouldSkipPreferredPluginAutoEnable(params: {
   config: OpenClawConfig;
   entry: PluginAutoEnableCandidate;
@@ -130,7 +134,19 @@ export function shouldSkipPreferredPluginAutoEnable(params: {
   registry: PluginManifestRegistry;
   isPluginDenied: (config: OpenClawConfig, pluginId: string) => boolean;
   isPluginExplicitlyDisabled: (config: OpenClawConfig, pluginId: string) => boolean;
+  preferOverCache: Map<string, string[]>;
 }): boolean {
+  const getPreferredOverIds = (candidate: PluginAutoEnableCandidate): string[] => {
+    const cacheKey = getPluginAutoEnableCandidateCacheKey(candidate);
+    const cached = params.preferOverCache.get(cacheKey);
+    if (cached) {
+      return cached;
+    }
+    const resolved = resolvePreferredOverIds(candidate, params.env, params.registry);
+    params.preferOverCache.set(cacheKey, resolved);
+    return resolved;
+  };
+
   for (const other of params.configured) {
     if (other.pluginId === params.entry.pluginId) {
       continue;
@@ -141,9 +157,7 @@ export function shouldSkipPreferredPluginAutoEnable(params: {
     ) {
       continue;
     }
-    if (
-      resolvePreferredOverIds(other, params.env, params.registry).includes(params.entry.pluginId)
-    ) {
+    if (getPreferredOverIds(other).includes(params.entry.pluginId)) {
       return true;
     }
   }

src/config/plugin-auto-enable.shared.ts

@@ -660,6 +660,8 @@ export function materializePluginAutoEnableCandidatesInternal(params: {
     return { config: next, changes, autoEnabledReasons: {} };
   }
 
+  const preferOverCache = new Map<string, string[]>();
+
   for (const entry of params.candidates) {
     const builtInChannelId = normalizeChatChannelId(entry.pluginId);
     if (isPluginDenied(next, entry.pluginId) || isPluginExplicitlyDisabled(next, entry.pluginId)) {
@@ -674,6 +676,7 @@ export function materializePluginAutoEnableCandidatesInternal(params: {
         registry: params.manifestRegistry,
         isPluginDenied,
         isPluginExplicitlyDisabled,
+        preferOverCache,
       })
     ) {
       continue;