fix(cli): load memory plugin for doctor/status when registry is cold (#76393)

Summary:
- The PR adds a scoped standalone memory-slot plugin load for doctor/status memory resolution, updates memory-runtime regression tests, and adds a changelog fix entry.
- Reproducibility: yes. source-reproducible: current main's doctor/status path reads getMemoryRuntime after on ...  registers that runtime only during plugin activation. I did not run a live macOS LaunchAgent reproduction.

Automerge notes:
- PR branch already contained follow-up commit before automerge: fix(cli): load memory plugin for doctor/status when registry is cold

Validation:
- ClawSweeper review passed for head a6a1967316.
- Required merge gates passed before the squash merge.

Prepared head SHA: a6a1967316
Review: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/76393#issuecomment-4365255585

Co-authored-by: Neerav Makwana <261249544+neeravmakwana@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
Co-authored-by: clawsweeper <274271284+clawsweeper[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Agents/sessions: preserve delivered trailing assistant replies during session-file repair so Telegram/WebChat history is not rewritten to drop already-delivered responses. Fixes #76329. Thanks @obviyus.
 - Gateway/chat history: preserve oversized transcript turns as explicit omitted-message placeholders while avoiding large JSONL parse stalls. Thanks @Marvinthebored and @vincentkoc.
 - Gateway/models: keep read-only model-list responses on registry-compatible fallbacks and metadata defaults, so empty or minimal persisted model files do not hide built-ins or custom model capabilities. Thanks @Marvinthebored.
+- CLI/doctor: load the configured memory-slot plugin when resolving memory diagnostics so bundled `memory-core` no longer triggers a false “no active memory plugin” warning on standalone `doctor` / `status` runs. Fixes #76367. Thanks @neeravmakwana.
 - Gateway: preserve stack diagnostics when `chat.send` or agent attachment parsing/staging fails, improving image-send failure triage. Refs #63432. (#75135) Thanks @keen0206.
 - Heartbeats/Codex: stop sending the legacy `HEARTBEAT_OK` prompt instruction when heartbeat turns have the structured `heartbeat_respond` tool, while keeping the text sentinel for legacy automatic heartbeat replies. Thanks @pashpashpash.
 - Agent runtimes: fail explicit plugin runtime selections honestly when the requested harness is unavailable instead of silently falling back to the embedded PI runtime. Thanks @pashpashpash.

src/plugins/memory-runtime.test.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ const resolveRuntimePluginRegistryMock =
   vi.fn<typeof import("./loader.js").resolveRuntimePluginRegistry>();
 const getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock =
   vi.fn<typeof import("./active-runtime-registry.js").getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistry>();
+const ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoadedMock = vi.hoisted(() =>
+  vi.fn<
+    typeof import("./runtime/standalone-runtime-registry-loader.js").ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoaded
+  >(),
+);
 const applyPluginAutoEnableMock =
   vi.fn<typeof import("../config/plugin-auto-enable.js").applyPluginAutoEnable>();
 const getMemoryRuntimeMock = vi.fn<typeof import("./memory-state.js").getMemoryRuntime>();
@@ -30,6 +35,10 @@ vi.mock("./active-runtime-registry.js", () => ({
   getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistry: getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock,
 }));
 
+vi.mock("./runtime/standalone-runtime-registry-loader.js", () => ({
+  ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoaded: ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoadedMock,
+}));
+
 vi.mock("./memory-state.js", () => ({
   getMemoryRuntime: () => getMemoryRuntimeMock(),
 }));
@@ -61,12 +70,25 @@ function createMemoryRuntimeFixture() {
   };
 }
 
-function expectMemoryRuntimeLoaded(rawConfig: unknown, autoEnabledConfig: unknown) {
+function expectMemoryRuntimeLoaded(
+  rawConfig: unknown,
+  autoEnabledConfig: unknown,
+  pluginIds: readonly string[] = ["memory-core"],
+) {
   void rawConfig;
   void autoEnabledConfig;
   expect(getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
     expect.objectContaining({
-      requiredPluginIds: ["memory-core"],
+      requiredPluginIds: pluginIds,
+    }),
+  );
+  expect(ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoadedMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect.objectContaining({
+      requiredPluginIds: pluginIds,
+      loadOptions: expect.objectContaining({
+        onlyPluginIds: pluginIds,
+        workspaceDir: "/resolved-workspace",
+      }),
     }),
   );
 }
@@ -84,7 +106,10 @@ function setAutoEnabledMemoryRuntime() {
     changes: [],
     autoEnabledReasons: {},
   });
-  getMemoryRuntimeMock.mockReturnValueOnce(undefined).mockReturnValue(runtime);
+  getMemoryRuntimeMock
+    .mockReturnValueOnce(undefined)
+    .mockReturnValueOnce(undefined)
+    .mockReturnValue(runtime);
   return { rawConfig, autoEnabledConfig, runtime };
 }
 
@@ -92,6 +117,7 @@ function expectNoMemoryRuntimeBootstrap() {
   expect(applyPluginAutoEnableMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   expect(resolveRuntimePluginRegistryMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   expect(getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  expect(ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoadedMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 }
 
 async function expectAutoEnabledMemoryRuntimeCase(params: {
@@ -130,6 +156,7 @@ describe("memory runtime auto-enable loading", () => {
     } = await import("./memory-runtime.js"));
     resolveRuntimePluginRegistryMock.mockReset();
     getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock.mockReset();
+    ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoadedMock.mockReset();
     applyPluginAutoEnableMock.mockReset();
     getMemoryRuntimeMock.mockReset();
     resolveAgentWorkspaceDirMock.mockReset();
@@ -179,18 +206,17 @@ describe("memory runtime auto-enable loading", () => {
       changes: [],
       autoEnabledReasons: {},
     });
-    getMemoryRuntimeMock.mockReturnValueOnce(undefined).mockReturnValue(runtime);
+    getMemoryRuntimeMock
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(undefined)
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(undefined)
+      .mockReturnValue(runtime);
 
     await getActiveMemorySearchManager({
       cfg: rawConfig as never,
       agentId: "main",
     });
 
-    expect(getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.objectContaining({
-        requiredPluginIds: ["memory-lancedb"],
-      }),
-    );
+    expectMemoryRuntimeLoaded(rawConfig, rawConfig, ["memory-lancedb"]);
   });
 
   it("does not fall back to broad plugin loading when the memory slot is disabled", async () => {
@@ -218,6 +244,80 @@ describe("memory runtime auto-enable loading", () => {
     expect(applyPluginAutoEnableMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(resolveRuntimePluginRegistryMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoadedMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("does not standalone-load the memory plugin when plugins are globally disabled", async () => {
+    const rawConfig = {
+      plugins: {
+        enabled: false,
+      },
+    };
+    getMemoryRuntimeMock.mockReturnValue(undefined);
+
+    await expect(
+      getActiveMemorySearchManager({
+        cfg: rawConfig as never,
+        agentId: "main",
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ manager: null, error: "memory plugin unavailable" });
+
+    expectNoMemoryRuntimeBootstrap();
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: "denied",
+      plugins: {
+        deny: ["memory-core"],
+        slots: {
+          memory: "memory-core",
+        },
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      name: "entry-disabled",
+      plugins: {
+        entries: {
+          "memory-core": { enabled: false },
+        },
+        slots: {
+          memory: "memory-core",
+        },
+      },
+    },
+  ] as const)("does not standalone-load a $name memory slot plugin", async ({ plugins }) => {
+    getMemoryRuntimeMock.mockReturnValue(undefined);
+
+    await expect(
+      getActiveMemorySearchManager({
+        cfg: { plugins } as never,
+        agentId: "main",
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ manager: null, error: "memory plugin unavailable" });
+
+    expectNoMemoryRuntimeBootstrap();
+  });
+
+  it("does not standalone-load plugins when the memory runtime is already registered", () => {
+    const rawConfig = {
+      plugins: {
+        slots: {
+          memory: "memory-core",
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const runtime = createMemoryRuntimeFixture();
+    getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock.mockReturnValue({} as never);
+    getMemoryRuntimeMock.mockReturnValueOnce(undefined).mockReturnValue(runtime);
+
+    resolveActiveMemoryBackendConfig({
+      cfg: rawConfig as never,
+      agentId: "main",
+    });
+
+    expect(getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistryMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoadedMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it.each([

src/plugins/memory-runtime.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,31 @@
+import { resolveAgentWorkspaceDir, resolveDefaultAgentId } from "../agents/agent-scope.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
+import { resolveUserPath } from "../utils.js";
 import { getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistry } from "./active-runtime-registry.js";
 import { normalizePluginsConfig } from "./config-state.js";
 import { getMemoryRuntime } from "./memory-state.js";
+import { ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoaded } from "./runtime/standalone-runtime-registry-loader.js";
 
 function resolveMemoryRuntimePluginIds(config: OpenClawConfig): string[] {
-  const memorySlot = normalizePluginsConfig(config.plugins).slots.memory;
-  return typeof memorySlot === "string" && memorySlot.trim().length > 0 ? [memorySlot] : [];
+  const plugins = normalizePluginsConfig(config.plugins);
+  const memorySlot = plugins.slots.memory;
+  if (!plugins.enabled || typeof memorySlot !== "string" || memorySlot.trim().length === 0) {
+    return [];
+  }
+  const pluginId = memorySlot.trim();
+  if (plugins.deny.includes(pluginId) || plugins.entries[pluginId]?.enabled === false) {
+    return [];
+  }
+  return [pluginId];
+}
+
+function resolveMemoryRuntimeWorkspaceDir(cfg: OpenClawConfig): string | undefined {
+  const agentId = resolveDefaultAgentId(cfg);
+  const dir = resolveAgentWorkspaceDir(cfg, agentId);
+  if (typeof dir !== "string" || !dir.trim()) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return resolveUserPath(dir);
 }
 
 function ensureMemoryRuntime(cfg?: OpenClawConfig) {
@@ -18,6 +38,18 @@ function ensureMemoryRuntime(cfg?: OpenClawConfig) {
     return getMemoryRuntime();
   }
   getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistry({ requiredPluginIds: onlyPluginIds });
+  if (getMemoryRuntime()) {
+    return getMemoryRuntime();
+  }
+  const workspaceDir = resolveMemoryRuntimeWorkspaceDir(cfg);
+  ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoaded({
+    requiredPluginIds: onlyPluginIds,
+    loadOptions: {
+      config: cfg,
+      onlyPluginIds,
+      workspaceDir,
+    },
+  });
   return getMemoryRuntime();
 }