fix(plugins): clean pinned externalized load paths

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Gateway/performance: keep raw channel-config schema parsing from discovering bundled plugin runtime metadata, and add `pnpm gateway:watch --benchmark-no-force` for profiling startup without the default port cleanup.
 - Plugins/onboarding: let Manual setup install optional official plugins, including ClawHub-backed diagnostics with npm fallback, and expose the external Codex plugin as a selectable provider setup choice. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Plugins/update: treat official externalized bundled npm migrations and ClawHub-to-npm fallbacks as trusted source-linked installs, so prerelease-only official plugin packages can migrate from bundled builds without being rejected as unsafe prerelease resolutions. Thanks @vincentkoc.
+- Plugins/update: clean stale bundled load paths for already-externalized pinned npm and ClawHub plugin installs, so release-channel sync does not leave removed bundled paths ahead of the installed external package. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Plugins/CLI: include package dependency install state in `openclaw plugins list --json` so scripts can spot missing plugin dependencies without runtime-loading plugins.
 - Discord/status: add degraded Discord transport and gateway event-loop starvation signals to `openclaw channels status`, `openclaw status --deep`, and fetch-timeout logs so intermittent socket resets do not look like a healthy running channel. (#76327) Thanks @joshavant.
 - Providers/OpenRouter: add opt-in response caching params that send OpenRouter's `X-OpenRouter-Cache`, `X-OpenRouter-Cache-TTL`, and cache-clear headers only on verified OpenRouter routes. Thanks @vincentkoc.

src/plugins/update.test.ts

@@ -2619,4 +2619,93 @@ describe("syncPluginsForUpdateChannel", () => {
       spec: "@openclaw/legacy-chat",
     });
   });
+
+  it("removes stale bundled load paths for already-externalized pinned npm installs", async () => {
+    resolveBundledPluginSourcesMock.mockReturnValue(new Map());
+
+    const result = await syncPluginsForUpdateChannel({
+      channel: "stable",
+      externalizedBundledPluginBridges: [
+        {
+          bundledPluginId: "legacy-chat",
+          npmSpec: "@openclaw/legacy-chat",
+          channelIds: ["legacy-chat"],
+        },
+      ],
+      config: {
+        channels: {
+          "legacy-chat": {
+            enabled: true,
+          },
+        },
+        plugins: {
+          load: {
+            paths: [appBundledPluginRoot("legacy-chat"), "/workspace/plugins/other"],
+          },
+          installs: {
+            "legacy-chat": {
+              source: "npm",
+              spec: "@openclaw/legacy-chat@1.2.3",
+              resolvedSpec: "@openclaw/legacy-chat@1.2.3",
+              installPath: "/tmp/openclaw-plugins/legacy-chat",
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(installPluginFromNpmSpecMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(result.changed).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.config.plugins?.load?.paths).toEqual(["/workspace/plugins/other"]);
+    expect(result.config.plugins?.installs?.["legacy-chat"]).toMatchObject({
+      source: "npm",
+      spec: "@openclaw/legacy-chat@1.2.3",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("removes stale bundled load paths for already-externalized pinned ClawHub installs", async () => {
+    resolveBundledPluginSourcesMock.mockReturnValue(new Map());
+
+    const result = await syncPluginsForUpdateChannel({
+      channel: "stable",
+      externalizedBundledPluginBridges: [
+        {
+          bundledPluginId: "legacy-chat",
+          preferredSource: "clawhub",
+          clawhubSpec: "clawhub:legacy-chat",
+          npmSpec: "@openclaw/legacy-chat",
+          channelIds: ["legacy-chat"],
+        },
+      ],
+      config: {
+        channels: {
+          "legacy-chat": {
+            enabled: true,
+          },
+        },
+        plugins: {
+          load: {
+            paths: [appBundledPluginRoot("legacy-chat"), "/workspace/plugins/other"],
+          },
+          installs: {
+            "legacy-chat": {
+              source: "clawhub",
+              spec: "clawhub:legacy-chat@2026.5.1",
+              clawhubPackage: "legacy-chat",
+              installPath: "/tmp/openclaw-plugins/legacy-chat",
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(installPluginFromClawHubMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(installPluginFromNpmSpecMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(result.changed).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.config.plugins?.load?.paths).toEqual(["/workspace/plugins/other"]);
+    expect(result.config.plugins?.installs?.["legacy-chat"]).toMatchObject({
+      source: "clawhub",
+      spec: "clawhub:legacy-chat@2026.5.1",
+    });
+  });
 });

src/plugins/update.ts

@@ -577,12 +577,25 @@ function isBridgeAlreadyInstalledFromPreferredSource(params: {
   record: PluginInstallRecord;
 }): boolean {
   const npmSpec = getExternalizedBundledPluginNpmSpec(params.bridge);
-  if (npmSpec && params.record.source === "npm" && params.record.spec === npmSpec) {
-    return true;
+  if (npmSpec && params.record.source === "npm") {
+    const bridgePackageName = resolveNpmSpecPackageName(npmSpec);
+    const recordPackageName =
+      resolveNpmSpecPackageName(params.record.spec) ??
+      resolveNpmSpecPackageName(params.record.resolvedSpec);
+    if (bridgePackageName && recordPackageName === bridgePackageName) {
+      return true;
+    }
   }
   const clawhubSpec = getExternalizedBundledPluginClawHubSpec(params.bridge);
+  const bridgeClawHubPackage = clawhubSpec ? parseClawHubPluginSpec(clawhubSpec)?.name : undefined;
+  const recordClawHubPackage =
+    params.record.source === "clawhub"
+      ? (params.record.clawhubPackage ?? parseClawHubPluginSpec(params.record.spec ?? "")?.name)
+      : undefined;
   return Boolean(
-    clawhubSpec && params.record.source === "clawhub" && params.record.spec === clawhubSpec,
+    bridgeClawHubPackage &&
+    params.record.source === "clawhub" &&
+    recordClawHubPackage === bridgeClawHubPackage,
   );
 }