fix(cli): keep json preflight stdout machine-readable

test/cli-json-stdout.e2e.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { withTempHome } from "./helpers/temp-home.ts";
+
+describe("cli json stdout contract", () => {
+  it("keeps `update status --json` stdout parseable even with legacy doctor preflight inputs", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(
+      async (tempHome) => {
+        const legacyDir = path.join(tempHome, ".clawdbot");
+        await fs.mkdir(legacyDir, { recursive: true });
+        await fs.writeFile(path.join(legacyDir, "clawdbot.json"), "{}", "utf8");
+
+        const env = {
+          ...process.env,
+          HOME: tempHome,
+          USERPROFILE: tempHome,
+          OPENCLAW_TEST_FAST: "1",
+        };
+        delete env.OPENCLAW_HOME;
+        delete env.OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR;
+        delete env.OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH;
+        delete env.VITEST;
+
+        const entry = path.resolve(process.cwd(), "openclaw.mjs");
+        const result = spawnSync(
+          process.execPath,
+          [entry, "update", "status", "--json", "--timeout", "1"],
+          { cwd: process.cwd(), env, encoding: "utf8" },
+        );
+
+        expect(result.status).toBe(0);
+        const stdout = result.stdout.trim();
+        expect(stdout.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+        expect(() => JSON.parse(stdout)).not.toThrow();
+        expect(stdout).not.toContain("Doctor warnings");
+        expect(stdout).not.toContain("Doctor changes");
+        expect(stdout).not.toContain("Config invalid");
+      },
+      { prefix: "openclaw-json-e2e-" },
+    );
+  });
+});