From b49d499b458c379adc16309a92ec4f0bdb0ecd93 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2026 21:41:47 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix: stabilize native Windows onboarding

---
 CHANGELOG.md                              |  3 +++
 src/entry.respawn.test.ts                 | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 src/entry.respawn.ts                      |  6 ++++++
 src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts |  4 ++--
 src/plugins/sdk-alias.test.ts             | 10 +++++-----
 src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts                  |  2 +-
 6 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c57d458103e..bc1ef0bb8fc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Windows/native: keep CLI startup and bundled provider plugin loading off
+  Windows ESM raw-path failure paths, fixing native onboarding/install smoke on
+  Node 24. Thanks @steipete.
 - Providers/Google: transcode Gemini TTS PCM to Opus for voice-note targets so
   WhatsApp and other native voice-note replies can play as voice messages.
 - Plugins/runtime deps: reuse existing external bundled-plugin stage roots when
diff --git a/src/entry.respawn.test.ts b/src/entry.respawn.test.ts
index b495319afc7..6c2b917d2d2 100644
--- a/src/entry.respawn.test.ts
+++ b/src/entry.respawn.test.ts
@@ -72,4 +72,20 @@ describe("buildCliRespawnPlan", () => {
       }),
     ).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  it("does not respawn on Windows", () => {
+    expect(
+      buildCliRespawnPlan({
+        argv: [
+          "node",
+          "C:\\Users\\alice\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\openclaw\\openclaw.mjs",
+          "onboard",
+        ],
+        env: {},
+        execArgv: [],
+        autoNodeExtraCaCerts: "/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt",
+        platform: "win32",
+      }),
+    ).toBeNull();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/entry.respawn.ts b/src/entry.respawn.ts
index 70eea3772f7..19ec362372c 100644
--- a/src/entry.respawn.ts
+++ b/src/entry.respawn.ts
@@ -28,17 +28,23 @@ export function buildCliRespawnPlan(
     execArgv?: string[];
     execPath?: string;
     autoNodeExtraCaCerts?: string | undefined;
+    platform?: NodeJS.Platform;
   } = {},
 ): { argv: string[]; env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv } | null {
   const argv = params.argv ?? process.argv;
   const env = params.env ?? process.env;
   const execArgv = params.execArgv ?? process.execArgv;
   const execPath = params.execPath ?? process.execPath;
+  const platform = params.platform ?? process.platform;
 
   if (shouldSkipRespawnForArgv(argv) || isTruthyEnvValue(env.OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN)) {
     return null;
   }
 
+  if (platform === "win32") {
+    return null;
+  }
+
   const childEnv: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { ...env };
   const childExecArgv = [...execArgv];
   let needsRespawn = false;
diff --git a/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts b/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts
index fe3587eb3e4..9feb5bb0529 100644
--- a/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/public-surface-loader.test.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ afterEach(() => {
 });
 
 describe("bundled plugin public surface loader", () => {
-  it("uses native Jiti import for Windows dist public artifact loads", async () => {
+  it("uses transpiled Jiti import for Windows dist public artifact loads", async () => {
     const createJiti = vi.fn(() => vi.fn(() => ({ marker: "windows-dist-ok" })));
     vi.doMock("jiti", () => ({
       createJiti,
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ describe("bundled plugin public surface loader", () => {
       expect(createJiti).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
         expect.any(String),
         expect.objectContaining({
-          tryNative: true,
+          tryNative: false,
         }),
       );
     } finally {
diff --git a/src/plugins/sdk-alias.test.ts b/src/plugins/sdk-alias.test.ts
index 3f5ad2ee0cc..91fa35ed920 100644
--- a/src/plugins/sdk-alias.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/sdk-alias.test.ts
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ describe("plugin sdk alias helpers", () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it("prefers native Jiti loads on Windows for built JavaScript entries", () => {
+  it("disables native Jiti loads on Windows for built JavaScript entries", () => {
     const originalPlatform = process.platform;
     Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", {
       configurable: true,
@@ -878,9 +878,9 @@ describe("plugin sdk alias helpers", () => {
     });
 
     try {
-      expect(shouldPreferNativeJiti("/repo/dist/plugins/runtime/index.js")).toBe(true);
+      expect(shouldPreferNativeJiti("/repo/dist/plugins/runtime/index.js")).toBe(false);
       expect(shouldPreferNativeJiti(`/repo/${bundledDistPluginFile("browser", "index.js")}`)).toBe(
-        true,
+        false,
       );
     } finally {
       Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", {
@@ -890,7 +890,7 @@ describe("plugin sdk alias helpers", () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it("keeps plugin loader dist shortcuts native on Windows", () => {
+  it("keeps plugin loader dist shortcuts on transpiled Jiti on Windows", () => {
     const originalPlatform = process.platform;
     Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", {
       configurable: true,
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ describe("plugin sdk alias helpers", () => {
         resolvePluginLoaderJitiTryNative(`/repo/${bundledDistPluginFile("browser", "index.js")}`, {
           preferBuiltDist: true,
         }),
-      ).toBe(true);
+      ).toBe(false);
       expect(
         resolvePluginLoaderJitiTryNative(`/repo/${bundledDistPluginFile("browser", "helper.ts")}`, {
           preferBuiltDist: true,
diff --git a/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts b/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts
index 26b5aba0d06..212537d55f1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ export function buildPluginLoaderJitiOptions(aliasMap: Record<string, string>) {
 
 function supportsNativeJitiRuntime(): boolean {
   const versions = process.versions as { bun?: string };
-  return typeof versions.bun !== "string";
+  return typeof versions.bun !== "string" && process.platform !== "win32";
 }
 
 function isBundledPluginDistModulePath(modulePath: string): boolean {