refactor: resolve channel env vars from plugin manifests

docs/plugins/architecture.md

@@ -609,8 +609,9 @@ conversation, and it runs after core approval handling finishes.
 
 Provider plugins now have two layers:
 
-- manifest metadata: `providerAuthEnvVars` for cheap env-auth lookup before
-  runtime load, plus `providerAuthChoices` for cheap onboarding/auth-choice
+- manifest metadata: `providerAuthEnvVars` for cheap provider env-auth lookup
+  before runtime load, `channelEnvVars` for cheap channel env/setup lookup
+  before runtime load, plus `providerAuthChoices` for cheap onboarding/auth-choice
   labels and CLI flag metadata before runtime load
 - config-time hooks: `catalog` / legacy `discovery` plus `applyConfigDefaults`
 - runtime hooks: `normalizeModelId`, `normalizeTransport`,
@@ -645,6 +646,10 @@ one-flag auth wiring without loading provider runtime. Keep provider runtime
 `envVars` for operator-facing hints such as onboarding labels or OAuth
 client-id/client-secret setup vars.
 
+Use manifest `channelEnvVars` when a channel has env-driven auth or setup that
+generic shell-env fallback, config/status checks, or setup prompts should see
+without loading channel runtime.
+
 ### Hook order and usage
 
 For model/provider plugins, OpenClaw calls hooks in this rough order.

docs/plugins/manifest.md

@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ Those belong in your plugin code and `package.json`.
   "providerAuthEnvVars": {
     "openrouter": ["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"]
   },
+  "channelEnvVars": {
+    "openrouter-chatops": ["OPENROUTER_CHATOPS_TOKEN"]
+  },
   "providerAuthChoices": [
     {
       "provider": "openrouter",
@@ -142,6 +145,7 @@ Those belong in your plugin code and `package.json`.
 | `modelSupport`                      | No       | `object`                         | Manifest-owned shorthand model-family metadata used to auto-load the plugin before runtime.                                                                                                                  |
 | `cliBackends`                       | No       | `string[]`                       | CLI inference backend ids owned by this plugin. Used for startup auto-activation from explicit config refs.                                                                                                  |
 | `providerAuthEnvVars`               | No       | `Record<string, string[]>`       | Cheap provider-auth env metadata that OpenClaw can inspect without loading plugin code.                                                                                                                      |
+| `channelEnvVars`                    | No       | `Record<string, string[]>`       | Cheap channel env metadata that OpenClaw can inspect without loading plugin code. Use this for env-driven channel setup or auth surfaces that generic startup/config helpers should see.                     |
 | `providerAuthChoices`               | No       | `object[]`                       | Cheap auth-choice metadata for onboarding pickers, preferred-provider resolution, and simple CLI flag wiring.                                                                                                |
 | `contracts`                         | No       | `object`                         | Static bundled capability snapshot for speech, realtime transcription, realtime voice, media-understanding, image-generation, music-generation, video-generation, web-fetch, web search, and tool ownership. |
 | `channelConfigs`                    | No       | `Record<string, object>`         | Manifest-owned channel config metadata merged into discovery and validation surfaces before runtime loads.                                                                                                   |
@@ -436,6 +440,9 @@ See [Configuration reference](/gateway/configuration) for the full `plugins.*` s
 - `providerAuthEnvVars` is the cheap metadata path for auth probes, env-marker
   validation, and similar provider-auth surfaces that should not boot plugin
   runtime just to inspect env names.
+- `channelEnvVars` is the cheap metadata path for shell-env fallback, setup
+  prompts, and similar channel surfaces that should not boot plugin runtime
+  just to inspect env names.
 - `providerAuthChoices` is the cheap metadata path for auth-choice pickers,
   `--auth-choice` resolution, preferred-provider mapping, and simple onboarding
   CLI flag registration before provider runtime loads. For runtime wizard

docs/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins.md

@@ -108,9 +108,15 @@ For setup specifically:
 - `openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-setup` covers the optional-install setup
   builders plus a few setup-safe primitives:
   `createOptionalChannelSetupSurface`, `createOptionalChannelSetupAdapter`,
-  `createOptionalChannelSetupWizard`, `DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID`,
-  `createTopLevelChannelDmPolicy`, `setSetupChannelEnabled`, and
-  `splitSetupEntries`
+
+If your channel supports env-driven setup or auth and generic startup/config
+flows should know those env names before runtime loads, declare them in the
+plugin manifest with `channelEnvVars`. Keep channel runtime `envVars` or local
+constants for operator-facing copy only.
+`createOptionalChannelSetupWizard`, `DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID`,
+`createTopLevelChannelDmPolicy`, `setSetupChannelEnabled`, and
+`splitSetupEntries`
+
 - use the broader `openclaw/plugin-sdk/setup` seam only when you also need the
   heavier shared setup/config helpers such as
   `moveSingleAccountChannelSectionToDefaultAccount(...)`