fix(web): keep agent search runtime-first

src/agents/tools/web-search.late-bind.test.ts

@@ -35,20 +35,10 @@ type RunWebSearchParams = {
   };
 };
 
-type ProviderResolutionParams = {
-  value?: string;
-};
-
 function firstRunWebSearchParams(): RunWebSearchParams | undefined {
   return mocks.runWebSearch.mock.calls[0]?.[0] as RunWebSearchParams | undefined;
 }
 
-function firstProviderResolutionParams(): ProviderResolutionParams | undefined {
-  return mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId.mock.calls[0]?.[0] as
-    | ProviderResolutionParams
-    | undefined;
-}
-
 describe("web_search late-bound runtime fallback", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     mocks.runWebSearch.mockReset();
@@ -106,7 +96,7 @@ describe("web_search late-bound runtime fallback", () => {
 
     await tool?.execute("call-search", { query: "openclaw" }, undefined);
 
-    expect(firstProviderResolutionParams()?.value).toBe("brave");
+    expect(mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(firstRunWebSearchParams()?.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(true);
   });
 
@@ -122,7 +112,7 @@ describe("web_search late-bound runtime fallback", () => {
     expect(firstRunWebSearchParams()?.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it("does not prefer runtime providers when the configured provider is a bundled manifest owner", async () => {
+  it("keeps runtime provider discovery enabled when configured search provider has a manifest owner", async () => {
     mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId.mockReturnValue("openclaw-bundled-brave");
     const config = {
       tools: { web: { search: { provider: "brave" } } },
@@ -134,7 +124,8 @@ describe("web_search late-bound runtime fallback", () => {
 
     await tool?.execute("call-search", { query: "openclaw" }, undefined);
 
-    expect(firstRunWebSearchParams()?.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(false);
+    expect(mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(firstRunWebSearchParams()?.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it("prefers active runtime metadata over options.runtimeWebSearch when present", async () => {

src/agents/tools/web-tool-runtime-context.test.ts

@@ -78,11 +78,8 @@ describe("web tool runtime context", () => {
 
     expect(resolved.config).toBe(runtimeConfig);
     expect(resolved.runtimeWebSearch?.selectedProvider).toBe("perplexity");
-    const ownerLookup = latestOwnerLookupParams();
-    expect(ownerLookup.contract).toBe("webSearchProviders");
-    expect(ownerLookup.value).toBe("perplexity");
-    expect(ownerLookup).not.toHaveProperty("origin");
-    expect(ownerLookup.config).toBe(runtimeConfig);
+    expect(resolved.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(true);
+    expect(mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it("falls back to captured search config and runtime metadata when active globals are missing", async () => {
@@ -104,28 +101,20 @@ describe("web tool runtime context", () => {
 
     expect(resolved.config).toBe(capturedConfig);
     expect(resolved.runtimeWebSearch?.selectedProvider).toBe("brave");
-    const ownerLookup = latestOwnerLookupParams();
-    expect(ownerLookup.contract).toBe("webSearchProviders");
-    expect(ownerLookup.value).toBe("brave");
-    expect(ownerLookup).not.toHaveProperty("origin");
-    expect(ownerLookup.config).toBe(capturedConfig);
+    expect(resolved.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(true);
+    expect(mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it("uses configured provider ids when runtime metadata is absent", () => {
-    resolveWebSearchToolRuntimeContext({
+  it("keeps search runtime discovery enabled when runtime metadata is absent", () => {
+    const resolved = resolveWebSearchToolRuntimeContext({
       config: { tools: { web: { search: { provider: "Brave" } } } },
     });
 
-    const ownerLookup = latestOwnerLookupParams();
-    expect(ownerLookup.contract).toBe("webSearchProviders");
-    expect(ownerLookup.value).toBe("brave");
-    expect(ownerLookup).not.toHaveProperty("origin");
-    expect(ownerLookup.config).toEqual({
-      tools: { web: { search: { provider: "Brave" } } },
-    });
+    expect(resolved.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(true);
+    expect(mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it("treats resolved global provider owners as explicit selections", async () => {
+  it("keeps search runtime discovery enabled for manifest-owned configured providers", async () => {
     mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId.mockReturnValue("brave");
     const { resolveWebSearchToolRuntimeContext: resolveWebSearchToolRuntimeContextLocal } =
       await import("./web-tool-runtime-context.js");
@@ -134,10 +123,8 @@ describe("web tool runtime context", () => {
       config: { tools: { web: { search: { provider: "brave" } } } },
     });
 
-    expect(resolved.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(false);
-    expect(mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId.mock.calls.at(-1)?.[0]).not.toHaveProperty(
-      "origin",
-    );
+    expect(resolved.preferRuntimeProviders).toBe(true);
+    expect(mocks.resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it("keeps runtime providers disabled for bundled fetch owners", async () => {

src/agents/tools/web-tool-runtime-context.ts

@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ type WebProviderKind = "fetch" | "search";
 
 type WebProviderRuntimeMetadata = RuntimeWebFetchMetadata | RuntimeWebSearchMetadata;
 
-type WebProviderContract = "webFetchProviders" | "webSearchProviders";
-
 type ResolvedWebToolRuntimeContext<TMetadata extends WebProviderRuntimeMetadata> = {
   config?: OpenClawConfig;
   preferRuntimeProviders: boolean;
@@ -36,23 +34,21 @@ function resolveRuntimeWebProviderId(metadata: WebProviderRuntimeMetadata | unde
   return metadata?.selectedProvider ?? metadata?.providerConfigured ?? "";
 }
 
-function resolveWebProviderContract(kind: WebProviderKind): WebProviderContract {
-  return kind === "fetch" ? "webFetchProviders" : "webSearchProviders";
-}
-
 function shouldPreferRuntimeProviders(params: {
   config?: OpenClawConfig;
   kind: WebProviderKind;
   providerSelectionId: string;
 }): boolean {
-  if (!params.providerSelectionId) {
+  // Agent-side web_search must use the live runtime registry; runWebSearch
+  // applies manifest ownership only as a load-scope hint after that.
+  if (!params.providerSelectionId || params.kind === "search") {
     return true;
   }
   // Built-in providers are handled by core; plugin-owned selections should route through plugins.
   return !resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId({
-    contract: resolveWebProviderContract(params.kind),
+    contract: "webFetchProviders",
     value: params.providerSelectionId,
-    ...(params.kind === "fetch" ? { origin: "bundled" as const } : {}),
+    origin: "bundled",
     config: params.config,
   });
 }