openclaw/docs/ci.md

summary, title, read_when

summary	title	read_when
CI job graph, scope gates, release umbrellas, and local command equivalents	CI pipeline	You need to understand why a CI job did or did not run You are debugging a failing GitHub Actions check You are coordinating a release validation run or rerun

OpenClaw CI runs on every push to main and every pull request. The preflight job classifies the diff and turns expensive lanes off when only unrelated areas changed. Manual workflow_dispatch runs intentionally bypass smart scoping and fan out the full graph for release candidates and broad validation. Android lanes stay opt-in through include_android. Release-only plugin coverage lives in the separate Plugin Prerelease workflow and only runs from Full Release Validation or an explicit manual dispatch.

Pipeline overview

Job	Purpose	When it runs
preflight	Detect docs-only changes, changed scopes, changed extensions, and build the CI manifest	Always on non-draft pushes and PRs
security-scm-fast	Private key detection and workflow audit via zizmor	Always on non-draft pushes and PRs
security-dependency-audit	Dependency-free production lockfile audit against npm advisories	Always on non-draft pushes and PRs
security-fast	Required aggregate for the fast security jobs	Always on non-draft pushes and PRs
check-dependencies	Production Knip dependency-only pass plus the unused-file allowlist guard	Node-relevant changes
build-artifacts	Build dist/, Control UI, built-artifact checks, and reusable downstream artifacts	Node-relevant changes
checks-fast-core	Fast Linux correctness lanes such as bundled/plugin-contract/protocol checks	Node-relevant changes
checks-fast-contracts-channels	Sharded channel contract checks with a stable aggregate check result	Node-relevant changes
checks-node-core-test	Core Node test shards, excluding channel, bundled, contract, and extension lanes	Node-relevant changes
check	Sharded main local gate equivalent: prod types, lint, guards, test types, and strict smoke	Node-relevant changes
check-additional	Architecture, boundary, extension-surface guards, package-boundary, and gateway-watch shards	Node-relevant changes
build-smoke	Built-CLI smoke tests and startup-memory smoke	Node-relevant changes
checks	Verifier for built-artifact channel tests	Node-relevant changes
checks-node-compat-node22	Node 22 compatibility build and smoke lane	Manual CI dispatch for releases
check-docs	Docs formatting, lint, and broken-link checks	Docs changed
skills-python	Ruff + pytest for Python-backed skills	Python-skill-relevant changes
checks-windows	Windows-specific process/path tests plus shared runtime import specifier regressions	Windows-relevant changes
macos-node	macOS TypeScript test lane using the shared built artifacts	macOS-relevant changes
macos-swift	Swift lint, build, and tests for the macOS app	macOS-relevant changes
android	Android unit tests for both flavors plus one debug APK build	Android-relevant changes
test-performance-agent	Daily Codex slow-test optimization after trusted activity	Main CI success or manual dispatch

Fail-fast order

1. preflight decides which lanes exist at all. The docs-scope and changed-scope logic are steps inside this job, not standalone jobs.
2. security-scm-fast, security-dependency-audit, security-fast, check, check-additional, check-docs, and skills-python fail quickly without waiting on the heavier artifact and platform matrix jobs.
3. build-artifacts overlaps with the fast Linux lanes so downstream consumers can start as soon as the shared build is ready.
4. Heavier platform and runtime lanes fan out after that: checks-fast-core, checks-fast-contracts-channels, checks-node-core-test, checks, checks-windows, macos-node, macos-swift, and android.

GitHub may mark superseded jobs as cancelled when a newer push lands on the same PR or main ref. Treat that as CI noise unless the newest run for the same ref is also failing. Aggregate shard checks use !cancelled() && always() so they still report normal shard failures but do not queue after the whole workflow has already been superseded. The automatic CI concurrency key is versioned (CI-v7-*) so a GitHub-side zombie in an old queue group cannot indefinitely block newer main runs. Manual full-suite runs use CI-manual-v1-* and do not cancel in-progress runs.

Scope and routing

Scope logic lives in scripts/ci-changed-scope.mjs and is covered by unit tests in src/scripts/ci-changed-scope.test.ts. Manual dispatch skips changed-scope detection and makes the preflight manifest act as if every scoped area changed.

• CI workflow edits validate the Node CI graph plus workflow linting, but do not force Windows, Android, or macOS native builds by themselves; those platform lanes stay scoped to platform source changes.
• CI routing-only edits, selected cheap core-test fixture edits, and narrow plugin contract helper/test-routing edits use a fast Node-only manifest path: preflight, security, and a single checks-fast-core task. That path skips build artifacts, Node 22 compatibility, channel contracts, full core shards, bundled-plugin shards, and additional guard matrices when the change is limited to the routing or helper surfaces the fast task exercises directly.
• Windows Node checks are scoped to Windows-specific process/path wrappers, npm/pnpm/UI runner helpers, package manager config, and the CI workflow surfaces that execute that lane; unrelated source, plugin, install-smoke, and test-only changes stay on the Linux Node lanes.

The slowest Node test families are split or balanced so each job stays small without over-reserving runners: channel contracts run as three weighted shards, small core unit lanes are paired, auto-reply runs as four balanced workers (with the reply subtree split into agent-runner, dispatch, and commands/state-routing shards), and agentic gateway/plugin configs are spread across the existing source-only agentic Node jobs instead of waiting on built artifacts. Broad browser, QA, media, and miscellaneous plugin tests use their dedicated Vitest configs instead of the shared plugin catch-all. Include-pattern shards record timing entries using the CI shard name, so .artifacts/vitest-shard-timings.json can distinguish a whole config from a filtered shard. check-additional keeps package-boundary compile/canary work together and separates runtime topology architecture from gateway watch coverage; the boundary guard shard runs its small independent guards concurrently inside one job. Gateway watch, channel tests, and the core support-boundary shard run concurrently inside build-artifacts after dist/ and dist-runtime/ are already built.

Android CI runs both testPlayDebugUnitTest and testThirdPartyDebugUnitTest and then builds the Play debug APK. The third-party flavor has no separate source set or manifest; its unit-test lane still compiles the flavor with the SMS/call-log BuildConfig flags, while avoiding a duplicate debug APK packaging job on every Android-relevant push.

The check-dependencies shard runs pnpm deadcode:dependencies (a production Knip dependency-only pass pinned to the latest Knip version, with pnpm's minimum release age disabled for the dlx install) and pnpm deadcode:unused-files, which compares Knip's production unused-file findings against scripts/deadcode-unused-files.allowlist.mjs. The unused-file guard fails when a PR adds a new unreviewed unused file or leaves a stale allowlist entry, while preserving intentional dynamic plugin, generated, build, live-test, and package bridge surfaces that Knip cannot resolve statically.

Manual dispatches

Manual CI dispatches run the same job graph as normal CI but force every non-Android scoped lane on: Linux Node shards, bundled-plugin shards, channel contracts, Node 22 compatibility, check, check-additional, build smoke, docs checks, Python skills, Windows, macOS, and Control UI i18n. Standalone manual CI dispatches run Android only with include_android=true; the full release umbrella enables Android by passing include_android=true. Plugin prerelease static checks, the release-only agentic-plugins shard, the full extension batch sweep, and plugin prerelease Docker lanes are excluded from CI. The Docker prerelease suite runs only when Full Release Validation dispatches the separate Plugin Prerelease workflow with the release-validation gate enabled.

Manual runs use a unique concurrency group so a release-candidate full suite is not cancelled by another push or PR run on the same ref. The optional target_ref input lets a trusted caller run that graph against a branch, tag, or full commit SHA while using the workflow file from the selected dispatch ref.

gh workflow run ci.yml --ref release/YYYY.M.D
gh workflow run ci.yml --ref main -f target_ref=<branch-or-sha> -f include_android=true
gh workflow run full-release-validation.yml --ref main -f ref=<branch-or-sha>

Runners

Runner	Jobs
ubuntu-24.04	preflight, fast security jobs and aggregates (security-scm-fast, security-dependency-audit, security-fast), fast protocol/contract/bundled checks, sharded channel contract checks, check shards except lint, check-additional shards and aggregates, Node test aggregate verifiers, docs checks, Python skills, workflow-sanity, labeler, auto-response; install-smoke preflight also uses GitHub-hosted Ubuntu so the Blacksmith matrix can queue earlier
blacksmith-4vcpu-ubuntu-2404	CodeQL Critical Quality, lower-weight extension shards, checks-fast-core, checks-node-compat-node22, check-prod-types, and check-test-types
blacksmith-8vcpu-ubuntu-2404	build-artifacts, build-smoke, Linux Node test shards, bundled plugin test shards, android
blacksmith-16vcpu-ubuntu-2404	check-lint (CPU-sensitive enough that 8 vCPU cost more than they saved); install-smoke Docker builds (32-vCPU queue time cost more than it saved)
blacksmith-16vcpu-windows-2025	checks-windows
blacksmith-6vcpu-macos-latest	macos-node on openclaw/openclaw; forks fall back to macos-latest
blacksmith-12vcpu-macos-latest	macos-swift on openclaw/openclaw; forks fall back to macos-latest

Local equivalents

pnpm changed:lanes                            # inspect the local changed-lane classifier for origin/main...HEAD
pnpm check:changed                            # smart local check gate: changed typecheck/lint/guards by boundary lane
pnpm check                                    # fast local gate: prod tsgo + sharded lint + parallel fast guards
pnpm check:test-types
pnpm check:timed                              # same gate with per-stage timings
pnpm build:strict-smoke
pnpm check:architecture
pnpm test:gateway:watch-regression
pnpm test                                     # vitest tests
pnpm test:changed                             # cheap smart changed Vitest targets
pnpm test:channels
pnpm test:contracts:channels
pnpm check:docs                               # docs format + lint + broken links
pnpm build                                    # build dist when CI artifact/build-smoke lanes matter
pnpm ci:timings                               # summarize the latest origin/main push CI run
pnpm ci:timings:recent                        # compare recent successful main CI runs
node scripts/ci-run-timings.mjs <run-id>      # summarize wall time, queue time, and slowest jobs
node scripts/ci-run-timings.mjs --latest-main # ignore issue/comment noise and choose origin/main push CI
node scripts/ci-run-timings.mjs --recent 10   # compare recent successful main CI runs
pnpm test:perf:groups --full-suite --allow-failures --output .artifacts/test-perf/baseline-before.json
pnpm test:perf:groups:compare .artifacts/test-perf/baseline-before.json .artifacts/test-perf/after-agent.json

Full Release Validation

Full Release Validation is the manual umbrella workflow for "run everything before release." It accepts a branch, tag, or full commit SHA, dispatches the manual CI workflow with that target, dispatches Plugin Prerelease for release-only plugin/package/static/Docker proof, and dispatches OpenClaw Release Checks for install smoke, package acceptance, Docker release-path suites, live/E2E, OpenWebUI, QA Lab parity, Matrix, and Telegram lanes. It can also run the post-publish NPM Telegram Beta E2E workflow when a published package spec is provided.

release_profile controls live/provider breadth passed into release checks:

• minimum keeps the fastest OpenAI/core release-critical lanes.
• stable adds the stable provider/backend set.
• full runs the broad advisory provider/media matrix.

The umbrella records the dispatched child run ids, and the final Verify full validation job re-checks current child run conclusions and appends slowest-job tables for each child run. If a child workflow is rerun and turns green, rerun only the parent verifier job to refresh the umbrella result and timing summary.

For recovery, both Full Release Validation and OpenClaw Release Checks accept rerun_group. Use all for a release candidate, ci for only the normal full CI child, release-checks for every release child, or a narrower group: install-smoke, cross-os, live-e2e, package, qa, qa-parity, qa-live, or npm-telegram on the umbrella. This keeps a failed release box rerun bounded after a focused fix.

OpenClaw Release Checks uses the trusted workflow ref to resolve the selected ref once into a release-package-under-test tarball, then passes that artifact to both the live/E2E release-path Docker workflow and the package acceptance shard. That keeps the package bytes consistent across release boxes and avoids repacking the same candidate in multiple child jobs.

Live and E2E shards

The release live/E2E child keeps broad native pnpm test:live coverage, but it runs it as named shards through scripts/test-live-shard.mjs instead of one serial job:

• native-live-src-agents
• native-live-src-gateway-core
• provider-filtered native-live-src-gateway-profiles jobs
• native-live-src-gateway-backends
• native-live-test
• native-live-extensions-a-k
• native-live-extensions-l-n
• native-live-extensions-openai
• native-live-extensions-o-z-other
• native-live-extensions-xai
• split media audio/video shards and provider-filtered music shards

That keeps the same file coverage while making slow live provider failures easier to rerun and diagnose. The aggregate native-live-extensions-o-z, native-live-extensions-media, and native-live-extensions-media-music shard names remain valid for manual one-shot reruns.

The native live media shards run in ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw-live-media-runner:ubuntu-24.04, built by the Live Media Runner Image workflow. That image preinstalls ffmpeg and ffprobe; media jobs only verify the binaries before setup. Keep Docker-backed live suites on normal Blacksmith runners — container jobs are the wrong place to launch nested Docker tests.

Docker-backed live model/backend shards use a separate shared ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw-live-test:<sha> image per selected commit. The live release workflow builds and pushes that image once, then the Docker live model, gateway, CLI backend, ACP bind, and Codex harness shards run with OPENCLAW_SKIP_DOCKER_BUILD=1. If those shards rebuild the full source Docker target independently, the release run is misconfigured and will waste wall clock on duplicate image builds.

Package Acceptance

Use Package Acceptance when the question is "does this installable OpenClaw package work as a product?" It is different from normal CI: normal CI validates the source tree, while package acceptance validates a single tarball through the same Docker E2E harness users exercise after install or update.

Jobs

1. resolve_package checks out workflow_ref, resolves one package candidate, writes .artifacts/docker-e2e-package/openclaw-current.tgz, writes .artifacts/docker-e2e-package/package-candidate.json, uploads both as the package-under-test artifact, and prints the source, workflow ref, package ref, version, SHA-256, and profile in the GitHub step summary.
2. docker_acceptance calls openclaw-live-and-e2e-checks-reusable.yml with ref=workflow_ref and package_artifact_name=package-under-test. The reusable workflow downloads that artifact, validates the tarball inventory, prepares package-digest Docker images when needed, and runs the selected Docker lanes against that package instead of packing the workflow checkout. When a profile selects multiple targeted docker_lanes, the reusable workflow prepares the package and shared images once, then fans those lanes out as parallel targeted Docker jobs with unique artifacts.
3. package_telegram optionally calls NPM Telegram Beta E2E. It runs when telegram_mode is not none and installs the same package-under-test artifact when Package Acceptance resolved one; standalone Telegram dispatch can still install a published npm spec.
4. summary fails the workflow if package resolution, Docker acceptance, or the optional Telegram lane failed.

Candidate sources

• source=npm accepts only openclaw@beta, openclaw@latest, or an exact OpenClaw release version such as openclaw@2026.4.27-beta.2. Use this for published beta/stable acceptance.
• source=ref packs a trusted package_ref branch, tag, or full commit SHA. The resolver fetches OpenClaw branches/tags, verifies the selected commit is reachable from repository branch history or a release tag, installs deps in a detached worktree, and packs it with scripts/package-openclaw-for-docker.mjs.
• source=url downloads an HTTPS .tgz; package_sha256 is required.
• source=artifact downloads one .tgz from artifact_run_id and artifact_name; package_sha256 is optional but should be supplied for externally shared artifacts.

Keep workflow_ref and package_ref separate. workflow_ref is the trusted workflow/harness code that runs the test. package_ref is the source commit that gets packed when source=ref. This lets the current test harness validate older trusted source commits without running old workflow logic.

Suite profiles

• smoke — npm-onboard-channel-agent, gateway-network, config-reload
• package — npm-onboard-channel-agent, doctor-switch, update-channel-switch, bundled-channel-deps-compat, plugins-offline, plugin-update
• product — package plus mcp-channels, cron-mcp-cleanup, openai-web-search-minimal, openwebui
• full — full Docker release-path chunks with OpenWebUI
• custom — exact docker_lanes; required when suite_profile=custom

The package profile uses offline plugin coverage so published-package validation is not gated on live ClawHub availability. The optional Telegram lane reuses the package-under-test artifact in NPM Telegram Beta E2E, with the published npm spec path kept for standalone dispatches.

Release checks call Package Acceptance with source=ref, package_ref=<release-ref>, workflow_ref=<release workflow ref>, suite_profile=custom, docker_lanes='bundled-channel-deps-compat plugins-offline', and telegram_mode=mock-openai. Release-path Docker chunks cover the overlapping package/update/plugin lanes; Package Acceptance keeps the artifact-native bundled-channel compat, offline plugin, and Telegram proof against the same resolved package tarball. Cross-OS release checks still cover OS-specific onboarding, installer, and platform behavior; package/update product validation should start with Package Acceptance. The Windows packaged and installer fresh lanes also verify that an installed package can import a browser-control override from a raw absolute Windows path. The OpenAI cross-OS agent-turn smoke defaults to OPENCLAW_CROSS_OS_OPENAI_MODEL when set, otherwise openai/gpt-5.4-mini, so the install and gateway proof stays fast and deterministic.

Legacy compatibility windows

Package Acceptance has bounded legacy-compatibility windows for already-published packages. Packages through 2026.4.25, including 2026.4.25-beta.*, may use the compatibility path:

• known private QA entries in dist/postinstall-inventory.json may point at tarball-omitted files;
• doctor-switch may skip the gateway install --wrapper persistence subcase when the package does not expose that flag;
• update-channel-switch may prune missing pnpm.patchedDependencies from the tarball-derived fake git fixture and may log missing persisted update.channel;
• plugin smokes may read legacy install-record locations or accept missing marketplace install-record persistence;
• plugin-update may allow config metadata migration while still requiring the install record and no-reinstall behavior to stay unchanged.

The published 2026.4.26 package may also warn for local build metadata stamp files that were already shipped. Later packages must satisfy the modern contracts; the same conditions fail instead of warn or skip.

Examples

# Validate the current beta package with product-level coverage.
gh workflow run package-acceptance.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f source=npm \
  -f package_spec=openclaw@beta \
  -f suite_profile=product \
  -f telegram_mode=mock-openai

# Pack and validate a release branch with the current harness.
gh workflow run package-acceptance.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f source=ref \
  -f package_ref=release/YYYY.M.D \
  -f suite_profile=package \
  -f telegram_mode=mock-openai

# Validate a tarball URL. SHA-256 is mandatory for source=url.
gh workflow run package-acceptance.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f source=url \
  -f package_url=https://example.com/openclaw-current.tgz \
  -f package_sha256=<64-char-sha256> \
  -f suite_profile=smoke

# Reuse a tarball uploaded by another Actions run.
gh workflow run package-acceptance.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f source=artifact \
  -f artifact_run_id=<run-id> \
  -f artifact_name=package-under-test \
  -f suite_profile=custom \
  -f docker_lanes='install-e2e plugin-update'

When debugging a failed package acceptance run, start at the resolve_package summary to confirm the package source, version, and SHA-256. Then inspect the docker_acceptance child run and its Docker artifacts: .artifacts/docker-tests/**/summary.json, failures.json, lane logs, phase timings, and rerun commands. Prefer rerunning the failed package profile or exact Docker lanes instead of rerunning full release validation.

Install smoke

The separate Install Smoke workflow reuses the same scope script through its own preflight job. It splits smoke coverage into run_fast_install_smoke and run_full_install_smoke.

• Fast path runs for pull requests touching Docker/package surfaces, bundled plugin package/manifest changes, or core plugin/channel/gateway/Plugin SDK surfaces that the Docker smoke jobs exercise. Source-only bundled plugin changes, test-only edits, and docs-only edits do not reserve Docker workers. The fast path builds the root Dockerfile image once, checks the CLI, runs the agents delete shared-workspace CLI smoke, runs the container gateway-network e2e, verifies a bundled extension build arg, and runs the bounded bundled-plugin Docker profile under a 240-second aggregate command timeout (each scenario's Docker run capped separately).
• Full path keeps QR package install and installer Docker/update coverage for nightly scheduled runs, manual dispatches, workflow-call release checks, and pull requests that truly touch installer/package/Docker surfaces. In full mode, install-smoke prepares or reuses one target-SHA GHCR root Dockerfile smoke image, then runs QR package install, root Dockerfile/gateway smokes, installer/update smokes, and the fast bundled-plugin Docker E2E as separate jobs so installer work does not wait behind the root image smokes.

main pushes (including merge commits) do not force the full path; when changed-scope logic would request full coverage on a push, the workflow keeps the fast Docker smoke and leaves the full install smoke to nightly or release validation.

The slow Bun global install image-provider smoke is separately gated by run_bun_global_install_smoke. It runs on the nightly schedule and from the release checks workflow, and manual Install Smoke dispatches can opt into it, but pull requests and main pushes do not. QR and installer Docker tests keep their own install-focused Dockerfiles.

Local Docker E2E

pnpm test:docker:all prebuilds one shared live-test image, packs OpenClaw once as an npm tarball, and builds two shared scripts/e2e/Dockerfile images:

• a bare Node/Git runner for installer/update/plugin-dependency lanes;
• a functional image that installs the same tarball into /app for normal functionality lanes.

Docker lane definitions live in scripts/lib/docker-e2e-scenarios.mjs, planner logic lives in scripts/lib/docker-e2e-plan.mjs, and the runner only executes the selected plan. The scheduler selects the image per lane with OPENCLAW_DOCKER_E2E_BARE_IMAGE and OPENCLAW_DOCKER_E2E_FUNCTIONAL_IMAGE, then runs lanes with OPENCLAW_SKIP_DOCKER_BUILD=1.

Tunables

Variable	Default	Purpose
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_PARALLELISM	10	Main-pool slot count for normal lanes.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_TAIL_PARALLELISM	10	Provider-sensitive tail-pool slot count.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LIVE_LIMIT	9	Concurrent live lane cap so providers do not throttle.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_NPM_LIMIT	10	Concurrent npm install lane cap.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_SERVICE_LIMIT	7	Concurrent multi-service lane cap.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_START_STAGGER_MS	2000	Stagger between lane starts to avoid Docker daemon create storms; set 0 for no stagger.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LANE_TIMEOUT_MS	7200000	Per-lane fallback timeout (120 minutes); selected live/tail lanes use tighter caps.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_DRY_RUN	unset	1 prints the scheduler plan without running lanes.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LANES	unset	Comma-separated exact lane list; skips cleanup smoke so agents can reproduce one failed lane.

A lane heavier than its effective cap can still start from an empty pool, then runs alone until it releases capacity. The local aggregate preflights Docker, removes stale OpenClaw E2E containers, emits active-lane status, persists lane timings for longest-first ordering, and stops scheduling new pooled lanes after the first failure by default.

Reusable live/E2E workflow

The reusable live/E2E workflow asks scripts/test-docker-all.mjs --plan-json which package, image kind, live image, lane, and credential coverage is required. scripts/docker-e2e.mjs then converts that plan into GitHub outputs and summaries. It either packs OpenClaw through scripts/package-openclaw-for-docker.mjs, downloads a current-run package artifact, or downloads a package artifact from package_artifact_run_id; validates the tarball inventory; builds and pushes package-digest-tagged bare/functional GHCR Docker E2E images through Blacksmith's Docker layer cache when the plan needs package-installed lanes; and reuses provided docker_e2e_bare_image/docker_e2e_functional_image inputs or existing package-digest images instead of rebuilding. Docker image pulls are retried with a bounded 180-second per-attempt timeout so a stuck registry/cache stream retries quickly instead of consuming most of the CI critical path.

Release-path chunks

Release Docker coverage runs smaller chunked jobs with OPENCLAW_SKIP_DOCKER_BUILD=1 so each chunk pulls only the image kind it needs and executes multiple lanes through the same weighted scheduler:

• OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_PROFILE=release-path
• OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_CHUNK=core | package-update-openai | package-update-anthropic | package-update-core | plugins-runtime-plugins | plugins-runtime-services | plugins-runtime-install-a..h | bundled-channels

Current release Docker chunks are core, package-update-openai, package-update-anthropic, package-update-core, plugins-runtime-plugins, plugins-runtime-services, plugins-runtime-install-a through plugins-runtime-install-h, bundled-channels-core, bundled-channels-update-a, bundled-channels-update-discord, bundled-channels-update-b, and bundled-channels-contracts. The aggregate bundled-channels chunk remains available for manual one-shot reruns, and plugins-runtime-core, plugins-runtime, and plugins-integrations remain aggregate plugin/runtime aliases. The install-e2e lane alias remains the aggregate manual rerun alias for both provider installer lanes. The bundled-channels chunk runs split bundled-channel-* and bundled-channel-update-* lanes rather than the serial all-in-one bundled-channel-deps lane.

OpenWebUI is folded into plugins-runtime-services when full release-path coverage requests it, and keeps a standalone openwebui chunk only for OpenWebUI-only dispatches. Bundled-channel update lanes retry once for transient npm network failures.

Each chunk uploads .artifacts/docker-tests/ with lane logs, timings, summary.json, failures.json, phase timings, scheduler plan JSON, slow-lane tables, and per-lane rerun commands. The workflow docker_lanes input runs selected lanes against the prepared images instead of the chunk jobs, which keeps failed-lane debugging bounded to one targeted Docker job and prepares, downloads, or reuses the package artifact for that run; if a selected lane is a live Docker lane, the targeted job builds the live-test image locally for that rerun. Generated per-lane GitHub rerun commands include package_artifact_run_id, package_artifact_name, and prepared image inputs when those values exist, so a failed lane can reuse the exact package and images from the failed run.

pnpm test:docker:rerun <run-id>      # download Docker artifacts and print combined/per-lane targeted rerun commands
pnpm test:docker:timings <summary>   # slow-lane and phase critical-path summaries

The scheduled live/E2E workflow runs the full release-path Docker suite daily.

Plugin Prerelease

Plugin Prerelease is more expensive product/package coverage, so it is a separate workflow dispatched by Full Release Validation or by an explicit operator. Normal pull requests, main pushes, and standalone manual CI dispatches keep that suite off. It balances bundled plugin tests across eight extension workers; those extension shard jobs run up to two plugin config groups at a time with one Vitest worker per group and a larger Node heap so import-heavy plugin batches do not create extra CI jobs.

QA Lab

QA Lab has dedicated CI lanes outside the main smart-scoped workflow.

• The Parity gate workflow runs on matching PR changes and manual dispatch; it builds the private QA runtime and compares the mock GPT-5.5 and Opus 4.6 agentic packs.
• The QA-Lab - All Lanes workflow runs nightly on main and on manual dispatch; it fans out the mock parity gate, live Matrix lane, and live Telegram and Discord lanes as parallel jobs. Live jobs use the qa-live-shared environment, and Telegram/Discord use Convex leases.

Release checks run Matrix and Telegram live transport lanes with the deterministic mock provider and mock-qualified models (mock-openai/gpt-5.5 and mock-openai/gpt-5.5-alt) so the channel contract is isolated from live model latency and normal provider-plugin startup. The live transport gateway disables memory search because QA parity covers memory behavior separately; provider connectivity is covered by the separate live model, native provider, and Docker provider suites.

Matrix uses --profile fast for scheduled and release gates, adding --fail-fast only when the checked-out CLI supports it. The CLI default and manual workflow input remain all; manual matrix_profile=all dispatch always shards full Matrix coverage into transport, media, e2ee-smoke, e2ee-deep, and e2ee-cli jobs.

OpenClaw Release Checks also runs the release-critical QA Lab lanes before release approval; its QA parity gate runs the candidate and baseline packs as parallel lane jobs, then downloads both artifacts into a small report job for the final parity comparison.

Do not put the PR landing path behind Parity gate unless the change actually touches QA runtime, model-pack parity, or a surface the parity workflow owns. For normal channel, config, docs, or unit-test fixes, treat it as an optional signal and follow the scoped CI/check evidence instead.

CodeQL

The CodeQL workflow is intentionally a narrow first-pass security scanner, not the full repository sweep. Daily, manual, and non-draft pull request guard runs scan Actions workflow code plus the highest-risk JavaScript/TypeScript surfaces with high-confidence security queries filtered to high/critical security-severity.

The pull request guard stays light: it only starts for changes under .github/actions, .github/codeql, .github/workflows, packages, or src, and it runs the same high-confidence security matrix as the scheduled workflow. Android and macOS CodeQL stay out of PR defaults.

Security categories

Category	Surface
/codeql-security-high/core-auth-secrets	Auth, secrets, sandbox, cron, and gateway baseline
/codeql-security-high/channel-runtime-boundary	Core channel implementation contracts plus the channel plugin runtime, gateway, Plugin SDK, secrets, audit touchpoints
/codeql-security-high/network-ssrf-boundary	Core SSRF, IP parsing, network guard, web-fetch, and Plugin SDK SSRF policy surfaces
/codeql-security-high/mcp-process-tool-boundary	MCP servers, process execution helpers, outbound delivery, and agent tool-execution gates
/codeql-security-high/plugin-trust-boundary	Plugin install, loader, manifest, registry, runtime-dependency staging, source-loading, and Plugin SDK package contract trust surfaces

Platform-specific security shards

• CodeQL Android Critical Security — scheduled Android security shard. Builds the Android app manually for CodeQL on the smallest Blacksmith Linux runner accepted by workflow sanity. Uploads under /codeql-critical-security/android.
• CodeQL macOS Critical Security — weekly/manual macOS security shard. Builds the macOS app manually for CodeQL on Blacksmith macOS, filters dependency build results out of uploaded SARIF, and uploads under /codeql-critical-security/macos. Kept outside daily defaults because macOS build dominates runtime even when clean.

Critical Quality categories

CodeQL Critical Quality is the matching non-security shard. It runs only error-severity, non-security JavaScript/TypeScript quality queries over narrow high-value surfaces on the smaller Blacksmith Linux runner. Its pull request guard is intentionally smaller than the scheduled profile: non-draft PRs only run the matching agent-runtime-boundary, config-boundary, core-auth-secrets, channel-runtime-boundary, gateway-runtime-boundary, memory-runtime-boundary, mcp-process-runtime-boundary, provider-runtime-boundary, session-diagnostics-boundary, plugin-boundary, plugin-sdk-package-contract, and plugin-sdk-reply-runtime shards for agent command/model/tool execution and reply dispatch code, config schema/migration/IO code, auth/secrets/sandbox/security code, core channel and bundled channel plugin runtime, gateway protocol/server-method, memory runtime/SDK glue, MCP/process/outbound delivery, provider runtime/model catalog, session diagnostics/delivery queues, plugin loader, Plugin SDK/package-contract, or Plugin SDK reply runtime changes. CodeQL config and quality workflow changes run all twelve PR quality shards.

Manual dispatch accepts:

profile=all|agent-runtime-boundary|config-boundary|core-auth-secrets|channel-runtime-boundary|gateway-runtime-boundary|memory-runtime-boundary|mcp-process-runtime-boundary|plugin-boundary|plugin-sdk-package-contract|plugin-sdk-reply-runtime|provider-runtime-boundary|session-diagnostics-boundary

The narrow profiles are teaching/iteration hooks for running one quality shard in isolation.

Category	Surface
/codeql-critical-quality/core-auth-secrets	Auth, secrets, sandbox, cron, and gateway security boundary code
/codeql-critical-quality/config-boundary	Config schema, migration, normalization, and IO contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/gateway-runtime-boundary	Gateway protocol schemas and server method contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/channel-runtime-boundary	Core channel and bundled channel plugin implementation contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/agent-runtime-boundary	Command execution, model/provider dispatch, auto-reply dispatch and queues, and ACP control-plane runtime contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/mcp-process-runtime-boundary	MCP servers and tool bridges, process supervision helpers, and outbound delivery contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/memory-runtime-boundary	Memory host SDK, memory runtime facades, memory Plugin SDK aliases, memory runtime activation glue, and memory doctor commands
/codeql-critical-quality/session-diagnostics-boundary	Reply queue internals, session delivery queues, outbound session binding/delivery helpers, diagnostic event/log bundle surfaces, and session doctor CLI contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/plugin-sdk-reply-runtime	Plugin SDK inbound reply dispatch, reply payload/chunking/runtime helpers, channel reply options, delivery queues, and session/thread binding helpers
/codeql-critical-quality/provider-runtime-boundary	Model catalog normalization, provider auth and discovery, provider runtime registration, provider defaults/catalogs, and web/search/fetch/embedding registries
/codeql-critical-quality/ui-control-plane	Control UI bootstrap, local persistence, gateway control flows, and task control-plane runtime contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/web-media-runtime-boundary	Core web fetch/search, media IO, media understanding, image-generation, and media-generation runtime contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/plugin-boundary	Loader, registry, public-surface, and Plugin SDK entrypoint contracts
/codeql-critical-quality/plugin-sdk-package-contract	Published package-side Plugin SDK source and plugin package contract helpers

Quality stays separate from security so quality findings can be scheduled, measured, disabled, or expanded without obscuring security signal. Swift, Python, and bundled-plugin CodeQL expansion should be added back as scoped or sharded follow-up work only after the narrow profiles have stable runtime and signal.

Maintenance workflows

Docs Agent

The Docs Agent workflow is an event-driven Codex maintenance lane for keeping existing docs aligned with recently landed changes. It has no pure schedule: a successful non-bot push CI run on main can trigger it, and manual dispatch can run it directly. Workflow-run invocations skip when main has moved on or when another non-skipped Docs Agent run was created in the last hour. When it runs, it reviews the commit range from the previous non-skipped Docs Agent source SHA to current main, so one hourly run can cover all main changes accumulated since the last docs pass.

Test Performance Agent

The Test Performance Agent workflow is an event-driven Codex maintenance lane for slow tests. It has no pure schedule: a successful non-bot push CI run on main can trigger it, but it skips if another workflow-run invocation already ran or is running that UTC day. Manual dispatch bypasses that daily activity gate. The lane builds a full-suite grouped Vitest performance report, lets Codex make only small coverage-preserving test performance fixes instead of broad refactors, then reruns the full-suite report and rejects changes that reduce the passing baseline test count. If the baseline has failing tests, Codex may fix only obvious failures and the after-agent full-suite report must pass before anything is committed. When main advances before the bot push lands, the lane rebases the validated patch, reruns pnpm check:changed, and retries the push; conflicting stale patches are skipped. It uses GitHub-hosted Ubuntu so the Codex action can keep the same drop-sudo safety posture as the docs agent.

Duplicate PRs After Merge

The Duplicate PRs After Merge workflow is a manual maintainer workflow for post-land duplicate cleanup. It defaults to dry-run and only closes explicitly listed PRs when apply=true. Before mutating GitHub, it verifies that the landed PR is merged and that each duplicate has either a shared referenced issue or overlapping changed hunks.

gh workflow run duplicate-after-merge.yml \
  -f landed_pr=70532 \
  -f duplicate_prs='70530,70592' \
  -f apply=true

Local check gates and changed routing

Local changed-lane logic lives in scripts/changed-lanes.mjs and is executed by scripts/check-changed.mjs. That local check gate is stricter about architecture boundaries than the broad CI platform scope:

• core production changes run core prod and core test typecheck plus core lint/guards;
• core test-only changes run only core test typecheck plus core lint;
• extension production changes run extension prod and extension test typecheck plus extension lint;
• extension test-only changes run extension test typecheck plus extension lint;
• public Plugin SDK or plugin-contract changes expand to extension typecheck because extensions depend on those core contracts (Vitest extension sweeps stay explicit test work);
• release metadata-only version bumps run targeted version/config/root-dependency checks;
• unknown root/config changes fail safe to all check lanes.

Local changed-test routing lives in scripts/test-projects.test-support.mjs and is intentionally cheaper than check:changed: direct test edits run themselves, source edits prefer explicit mappings, then sibling tests and import-graph dependents. Shared group-room delivery config is one of the explicit mappings: changes to the group visible-reply config, source reply delivery mode, or the message-tool system prompt route through the core reply tests plus Discord and Slack delivery regressions so a shared default change fails before the first PR push. Use OPENCLAW_TEST_CHANGED_BROAD=1 pnpm test:changed only when the change is harness-wide enough that the cheap mapped set is not a trustworthy proxy.

Testbox validation

Run Testbox from the repo root and prefer a fresh warmed box for broad proof. Before spending a slow gate on a box that was reused, expired, or just reported an unexpectedly large sync, run pnpm testbox:sanity inside the box first.

The sanity check fails fast when required root files such as pnpm-lock.yaml disappeared or when git status --short shows at least 200 tracked deletions. That usually means the remote sync state is not a trustworthy copy of the PR; stop that box and warm a fresh one instead of debugging the product test failure. For intentional large-deletion PRs, set OPENCLAW_TESTBOX_ALLOW_MASS_DELETIONS=1 for that sanity run.

pnpm testbox:run also terminates a local Blacksmith CLI invocation that stays in the sync phase for more than five minutes without post-sync output. Set OPENCLAW_TESTBOX_SYNC_TIMEOUT_MS=0 to disable that guard, or use a larger millisecond value for unusually large local diffs.

Related

• Install overview
• Development channels