From f56897259e31801795c611e9d5ed448b74da0f33 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:51:19 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix(cli): keep route-first json stdout clean

---
 CHANGELOG.md          |  1 +
 docs/cli/models.md    |  4 ++++
 src/cli/route.test.ts | 19 +++++++++++++++++--
 src/cli/route.ts      |  1 -
 4 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a18b4fe8d74..9f25cdf4743 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 ### Fixes
 
 - Channels/Telegram: skip the optional webhook-info API call during polling-mode status checks and startup bot-label probes so long-polling setups avoid an unnecessary Telegram round trip. Carries forward #72990. Thanks @danielgruneberg.
+- CLI/models: keep route-first `models status --json` stdout reserved for the JSON payload by routing auth-profile and startup diagnostics to stderr. Fixes #72962. Thanks @vishutdhar.
 - Sessions: ignore future-dated session activity timestamps during reset freshness checks and cap future `updatedAt` values at the merge boundary so clock-skewed messages cannot keep stale sessions alive forever. Fixes #72989. Thanks @martingarramon.
 - Plugins/CLI: allow managed plugin installs when the active extensions root is a symlink to a real state directory, while keeping nested target symlinks blocked and suppressing misleading hook-pack fallback errors for install-boundary failures. Fixes #72946. Thanks @mayank6136.
 - Gateway/startup: keep hot Gateway boot paths on leaf config imports and add max-RSS reporting to the gateway startup bench so low-memory startup regressions are visible before release. Thanks @vincentkoc.
diff --git a/docs/cli/models.md b/docs/cli/models.md
index 24555720353..bc0422e6296 100644
--- a/docs/cli/models.md
+++ b/docs/cli/models.md
@@ -111,6 +111,10 @@ Options:
 - `--probe-max-tokens <n>`
 - `--agent <id>` (configured agent id; overrides `OPENCLAW_AGENT_DIR`/`PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR`)
 
+`--json` keeps stdout reserved for the JSON payload. Auth-profile, provider,
+and startup diagnostics are routed to stderr so scripts can pipe stdout directly
+into tools such as `jq`.
+
 Probe status buckets:
 
 - `ok`
diff --git a/src/cli/route.test.ts b/src/cli/route.test.ts
index 596681dcbad..a75ef4280b7 100644
--- a/src/cli/route.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/route.test.ts
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ describe("tryRouteCli", () => {
     expect(ensurePluginRegistryLoadedMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ scope: "channels" });
   });
 
-  it("routes logs to stderr during plugin loading in --json mode and restores after", async () => {
+  it("keeps logs routed to stderr for routed --json commands", async () => {
     findRoutedCommandMock.mockReturnValue({
       loadPlugins: true,
       run: runRouteMock,
@@ -110,7 +110,22 @@ describe("tryRouteCli", () => {
 
     expect(ensurePluginRegistryLoadedMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(captured[0]).toBe(true);
-    expect(loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr).toBe(false);
+    expect(loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("routes command-run logs to stderr for config-guard-skipping --json routes", async () => {
+    const captured: boolean[] = [];
+    runRouteMock.mockImplementationOnce(async () => {
+      captured.push(loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr);
+      return true;
+    });
+
+    await expect(tryRouteCli(["node", "openclaw", "models", "status", "--json"])).resolves.toBe(
+      true,
+    );
+
+    expect(ensureConfigReadyMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(captured).toEqual([true]);
   });
 
   it("does not route logs to stderr during plugin loading without --json", async () => {
diff --git a/src/cli/route.ts b/src/cli/route.ts
index 74355154948..e7e9a4eb34f 100644
--- a/src/cli/route.ts
+++ b/src/cli/route.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ async function prepareRoutedCommand(params: {
   const { VERSION } = await import("../version.js");
   await applyCliExecutionStartupPresentation({
     argv: params.argv,
-    routeLogsToStderrOnSuppress: false,
     startupPolicy,
     showBanner: process.stdout.isTTY && !startupPolicy.suppressDoctorStdout,
     version: VERSION,