fix(plugins): discover alsoAllow plugin tools

Summary:
- Discover optional plugin tools named in tools.alsoAllow without treating additive alsoAllow as a restrictive plugin-tool allowlist.
- Preserve explicit alsoAllow wildcards and keep default non-optional plugin tools visible.
- Document llm-task and lobster enablement and add changelog coverage.

Verification:
- pnpm test src/agents/tool-policy.test.ts src/gateway/tools-invoke-http.test.ts src/agents/pi-tools.create-openclaw-coding-tools.test.ts src/plugins/tools.optional.test.ts
- pnpm exec oxfmt --check --threads=1 src/agents/sandbox-tool-policy.ts src/agents/tool-policy.ts src/agents/tool-policy.test.ts src/agents/pi-tools.create-openclaw-coding-tools.test.ts src/gateway/tools-invoke-http.test.ts src/plugins/tools.ts src/plugins/tools.optional.test.ts
- git diff --check
- Blacksmith Testbox tbx_01kqr05924hz9kw50myxrqmsf9: pnpm check:changed

Fixes #76616

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Doctor/plugins: reset stale `plugins.slots.memory` and `plugins.slots.contextEngine` references during `doctor --fix`, so cleanup of missing plugin config does not leave unrecoverable slot owners behind. Fixes #76550 and #76551. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Docs/WhatsApp: merge the duplicate top-level `web` objects in the gateway channel config example so copy-pasted WhatsApp config keeps both `web.whatsapp` and reconnect settings. Fixes #76619. Thanks @WadydX.
 - Plugins/Anthropic: expose Claude thinking profiles from the bundled provider-policy artifact so non-runtime callers keep Opus 4.7 `adaptive`, `xhigh`, and `max` instead of downgrading to `high`. Fixes #76779. Thanks @tomascupr and @iAbhi001.
+- Plugins/tools: honor `tools.alsoAllow` as an optional plugin tool discovery hint without treating its internal allow-all default as permission to load every optional plugin tool. Fixes #76616.
 - Discord/native commands: skip slash-command registration and cleanup REST calls when `channels.discord.commands.native=false`, letting low-power gateways start without waiting on disabled native-command lifecycle requests. Fixes #76202. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - CLI/plugins: reject unowned command roots such as `openclaw foo` before managed proxy startup and full plugin CLI runtime loading while preserving manifest-owned and CLI-metadata-owned plugin commands. Fixes #75287. Thanks @neilofneils404.
 - CLI/message: skip local configured-channel plugin preload for explicit gateway-owned message actions, letting normalized CLI delivery delegate to the gateway without initializing channel runtime in the short-lived CLI process. Fixes #75477.

docs/tools/llm-task.md

@@ -26,21 +26,18 @@ without writing custom OpenClaw code for each workflow.
 }
 ```
 
-2. Allowlist the tool (it is registered with `optional: true`):
+2. Allow the optional tool:
 
 ```json
 {
-  "agents": {
-    "list": [
-      {
-        "id": "main",
-        "tools": { "allow": ["llm-task"] }
-      }
-    ]
+  "tools": {
+    "alsoAllow": ["llm-task"]
   }
 }
 ```
 
+Use `tools.allow` only when you want restrictive allowlist mode.
+
 ## Config (optional)
 
 ```json

docs/tools/lobster.md

@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ Or per-agent:
 Avoid using `tools.allow: ["lobster"]` unless you intend to run in restrictive allowlist mode.
 
 <Note>
-Allowlists are opt-in for optional plugins. If your allowlist only names plugin tools (like `lobster`), OpenClaw keeps core tools enabled. To restrict core tools, include the core tools or groups you want in the allowlist too.
+Allowlists are opt-in for optional plugins. `alsoAllow` enables only the named optional plugin tools while preserving the normal core tool set. To restrict core tools, use `tools.allow` with the core tools or groups you want.
 </Note>
 
 ## Example: Email triage

src/agents/pi-tools.create-openclaw-coding-tools.test.ts

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import { expectReadWriteEditTools } from "./test-helpers/pi-tools-fs-helpers.js"
 import { createPiToolsSandboxContext } from "./test-helpers/pi-tools-sandbox-context.js";
 import { providerAliasCases } from "./test-helpers/provider-alias-cases.js";
 import { buildEmptyExplicitToolAllowlistError } from "./tool-allowlist-guard.js";
-import { normalizeToolName } from "./tool-policy.js";
+import { DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY, normalizeToolName } from "./tool-policy.js";
 
 const tinyPngBuffer = Buffer.from(
   "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mP8/x8AAwMCAO2f7z8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=",
@@ -180,6 +180,21 @@ describe("createOpenClawCodingTools", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("uses tools.alsoAllow for optional plugin discovery without widening to all plugins", () => {
+    const createOpenClawToolsMock = vi.mocked(createOpenClawTools);
+    createOpenClawToolsMock.mockClear();
+
+    createOpenClawCodingTools({
+      config: { tools: { alsoAllow: ["lobster"] } },
+    });
+
+    expect(createOpenClawToolsMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        pluginToolAllowlist: ["lobster", DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY],
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("passes explicit denylist entries to OpenClaw tool factory planning", () => {
     const createOpenClawToolsMock = vi.mocked(createOpenClawTools);
     createOpenClawToolsMock.mockClear();

src/agents/sandbox-tool-policy.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import type { SandboxToolPolicy } from "./sandbox/types.js";
 
+export const IMPLICIT_ALLOW_ALL_FROM_ALSO_ALLOW = Symbol.for(
+  "openclaw.toolPolicy.implicitAllowAllFromAlsoAllow",
+);
+
 type SandboxToolPolicyConfig = {
   allow?: string[];
   alsoAllow?: string[];
@@ -19,12 +23,21 @@ function unionAllow(base?: string[], extra?: string[]): string[] | undefined {
   return Array.from(new Set([...base, ...extra]));
 }
 
+function hasExplicitAllowAll(list?: string[]): boolean {
+  return Array.isArray(list) && list.some((entry) => entry.trim() === "*");
+}
+
 export function pickSandboxToolPolicy(
   config?: SandboxToolPolicyConfig,
 ): SandboxToolPolicy | undefined {
   if (!config) {
     return undefined;
   }
+  const allowFromAlsoAllowOnly =
+    !Array.isArray(config.allow) &&
+    Array.isArray(config.alsoAllow) &&
+    config.alsoAllow.length > 0 &&
+    !hasExplicitAllowAll(config.alsoAllow);
   const allow = Array.isArray(config.allow)
     ? unionAllow(config.allow, config.alsoAllow)
     : Array.isArray(config.alsoAllow) && config.alsoAllow.length > 0
@@ -34,5 +47,13 @@ export function pickSandboxToolPolicy(
   if (!allow && !deny) {
     return undefined;
   }
-  return { allow, deny };
+  const policy = { allow, deny } as SandboxToolPolicy & {
+    [IMPLICIT_ALLOW_ALL_FROM_ALSO_ALLOW]?: true;
+  };
+  if (allowFromAlsoAllowOnly) {
+    Object.defineProperty(policy, IMPLICIT_ALLOW_ALL_FROM_ALSO_ALLOW, {
+      value: true,
+    });
+  }
+  return policy;
 }

src/agents/tool-policy.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { DEFAULT_GATEWAY_HTTP_TOOL_DENY } from "../security/dangerous-tools.js";
+import { pickSandboxToolPolicy } from "./sandbox-tool-policy.js";
 import { isToolAllowed, resolveSandboxToolPolicyForAgent } from "./sandbox/tool-policy.js";
 import type { SandboxToolPolicy } from "./sandbox/types.js";
 import { isToolAllowedByPolicyName } from "./tool-policy-match.js";
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ import { TOOL_POLICY_CONFORMANCE } from "./tool-policy.conformance.js";
 import {
   applyOwnerOnlyToolPolicy,
   collectExplicitAllowlist,
+  DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY,
   expandToolGroups,
   isOwnerOnlyToolName,
   normalizeToolName,
@@ -141,7 +143,7 @@ describe("tool-policy", () => {
     expect(applyOwnerOnlyToolPolicy(tools, true)).toHaveLength(1);
   });
 
-  it("preserves explicit alsoAllow hints when allow is empty", () => {
+  it("collects explicit allowlist entries", () => {
     expect(
       collectExplicitAllowlist([
         {
@@ -151,6 +153,23 @@ describe("tool-policy", () => {
     ).toContain("optional-demo");
   });
 
+  it("uses alsoAllow entries for plugin discovery without the synthetic allow-all", () => {
+    expect(collectExplicitAllowlist([pickSandboxToolPolicy({ alsoAllow: ["lobster"] })])).toEqual([
+      "lobster",
+      DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY,
+    ]);
+    expect(
+      collectExplicitAllowlist([pickSandboxToolPolicy({ allow: [], alsoAllow: ["lobster"] })]),
+    ).toEqual(["*", "lobster"]);
+  });
+
+  it("preserves explicit alsoAllow wildcards for plugin discovery", () => {
+    expect(collectExplicitAllowlist([pickSandboxToolPolicy({ alsoAllow: ["*"] })])).toEqual(["*"]);
+    expect(collectExplicitAllowlist([pickSandboxToolPolicy({ alsoAllow: [" * "] })])).toEqual([
+      "*",
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("strips nodes for non-owner senders via fallback policy", () => {
     const tools = [
       {

src/agents/tool-policy.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { normalizeOptionalLowercaseString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import { IMPLICIT_ALLOW_ALL_FROM_ALSO_ALLOW } from "./sandbox-tool-policy.js";
 import {
   expandToolGroups,
   normalizeToolList,
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ export function applyOwnerOnlyToolPolicy(
 export type ToolPolicyLike = {
   allow?: string[];
   deny?: string[];
+  [IMPLICIT_ALLOW_ALL_FROM_ALSO_ALLOW]?: true;
 };
 
 export type PluginToolGroups = {
@@ -93,6 +95,8 @@ export type AllowlistResolution = {
   pluginOnlyAllowlist: boolean;
 };
 
+export const DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY = "__openclaw_default_plugin_tools__";
+
 export function collectExplicitAllowlist(policies: Array<ToolPolicyLike | undefined>): string[] {
   const entries: string[] = [];
   for (const policy of policies) {
@@ -104,12 +108,18 @@ export function collectExplicitAllowlist(policies: Array<ToolPolicyLike | undefi
         continue;
       }
       const trimmed = value.trim();
+      if (trimmed === "*" && policy[IMPLICIT_ALLOW_ALL_FROM_ALSO_ALLOW] === true) {
+        continue;
+      }
       if (trimmed) {
         entries.push(trimmed);
       }
     }
+    if (policy[IMPLICIT_ALLOW_ALL_FROM_ALSO_ALLOW] === true) {
+      entries.push(DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY);
+    }
   }
-  return entries;
+  return Array.from(new Set(entries));
 }
 
 export function collectExplicitDenylist(policies: Array<ToolPolicyLike | undefined>): string[] {

src/gateway/tools-invoke-http.test.ts

@@ -494,6 +494,26 @@ describe("POST /tools/invoke", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("uses tools.alsoAllow for optional plugin discovery without loading every plugin tool", async () => {
+    cfg = {
+      ...cfg,
+      agents: { list: [{ id: "main", default: true }] },
+      tools: { alsoAllow: ["plugin_doctor"] },
+    };
+
+    const res = await invokeToolAuthed({
+      tool: "plugin_doctor",
+      sessionKey: "main",
+    });
+
+    const body = await expectOkInvokeResponse(res);
+    expect(body.result).toMatchObject({ ok: true, permissionFlow: true });
+    expect(lastCreateOpenClawToolsContext?.pluginToolAllowlist).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(["plugin_doctor"]),
+    );
+    expect(lastCreateOpenClawToolsContext?.pluginToolAllowlist).not.toContain("*");
+  });
+
   it("blocks tool execution when before_tool_call rejects the invoke", async () => {
     setMainAllowedTools({ allow: ["tools_invoke_test"] });
     hookMocks.runBeforeToolCallHook.mockResolvedValueOnce({

src/plugins/tools.optional.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeAll, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY } from "../agents/tool-policy.js";
 import { resetLogger, setLoggerOverride } from "../logging/logger.js";
 import { loggingState } from "../logging/state.js";
 import { resolveInstalledPluginIndexPolicyHash } from "./installed-plugin-index-policy.js";
@@ -945,6 +946,26 @@ describe("resolvePluginTools optional tools", () => {
     expectResolvedToolNames(tools, ["optional_tool"]);
   });
 
+  it("keeps default non-optional plugin tools when alsoAllow opts into optional tools", () => {
+    const defaultEntry: MockRegistryToolEntry = {
+      pluginId: "multi",
+      optional: false,
+      source: "/tmp/multi.js",
+      names: ["other_tool"],
+      declaredNames: ["other_tool"],
+      factory: () => makeTool("other_tool"),
+    };
+    setRegistry([defaultEntry, createOptionalDemoEntry()]);
+
+    const tools = resolvePluginTools(
+      createResolveToolsParams({
+        toolAllowlist: [DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY, "optional_tool"],
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expectResolvedToolNames(tools, ["other_tool", "optional_tool"]);
+  });
+
   it("rejects plugin id collisions with core tool names", () => {
     const registry = setRegistry([
       {

src/plugins/tools.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { normalizeToolName } from "../agents/tool-policy.js";
+import { DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY, normalizeToolName } from "../agents/tool-policy.js";
 import type { AnyAgentTool } from "../agents/tools/common.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../logging/subsystem.js";
 import { getLoadedRuntimePluginRegistry } from "./active-runtime-registry.js";
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ function normalizeAllowlist(list?: string[]) {
   return new Set((list ?? []).map(normalizeToolName).filter(Boolean));
 }
 
+function allowlistIncludesDefaultPluginTools(allowlist: Set<string>): boolean {
+  return allowlist.size === 0 || allowlist.has(DEFAULT_PLUGIN_TOOLS_ALLOWLIST_ENTRY);
+}
+
 function isOptionalToolAllowed(params: {
   toolName: string;
   pluginId: string;
@@ -289,8 +293,8 @@ function pluginToolNamesMatchAllowlist(params: {
   optional: boolean;
   allowlist: Set<string>;
 }): boolean {
-  if (params.allowlist.size === 0) {
-    return !params.optional;
+  if (!params.optional && allowlistIncludesDefaultPluginTools(params.allowlist)) {
+    return true;
   }
   return isOptionalToolEntryPotentiallyAllowed(params);
 }
@@ -303,7 +307,7 @@ function manifestToolContractMatchesAllowlist(params: {
   if (params.toolNames.length === 0) {
     return false;
   }
-  if (params.allowlist.size === 0) {
+  if (allowlistIncludesDefaultPluginTools(params.allowlist)) {
     return true;
   }
   if (params.allowlist.has("*") || params.allowlist.has("group:plugins")) {
@@ -322,7 +326,7 @@ function listManifestToolNamesForAvailability(params: {
   allowlist: Set<string>;
 }): string[] {
   if (
-    params.allowlist.size === 0 ||
+    allowlistIncludesDefaultPluginTools(params.allowlist) ||
     params.allowlist.has("*") ||
     params.allowlist.has("group:plugins")
   ) {