OpenClaw v2026.3.7: Models/MiniMax, provider notes

v2026.3.7 changes how an agent selects, calls, or remembers a provider. The official record describes a provider, model, voice, or context change; the useful test is a small request with the provider boundary recorded.

This is a stable release line; read the exact record for migrations and fixes before applying it to a live Gateway. The release body cannot certify every local combination of provider, channel, platform, and account; use the bounded test below for the path you actually run.

Provider and model consequences

Agents/context engine plugin interface

What changed. add ContextEngine plugin slot with full lifecycle hooks (bootstrap, ingest, assemble, compact, afterTurn, prepareSubagentSpawn, onSubagentEnded), slot-based registry with config-driven resolution, LegacyContextEngine wrapper preserving existing compaction behavior, scoped subagent runtime for plugin runtimes via AsyncLocalStorage, and sessions.get gateway method. Enables plugins like lossless-claw to provide alternative context management strategies without modifying core compaction logic. Zero behavior change when no context engine plugin is configured.

Check it with. The privacy boundary around Agents/context engine plugin interface is visible in the negative case. Seed two disposable conversations, ask for each one separately, and confirm that neither crosses its owner or workspace.

ACP/persistent channel bindings

What changed. add durable Discord channel and Telegram topic binding storage, routing resolution, and CLI/docs support so ACP thread targets survive restarts and can be managed consistently.

Check it with. For ACP/persistent channel bindings, delivery is only proven when identity survives an interruption. Keep a disposable channel, send one request, and check for a single reply in the intended thread.

Telegram/ACP topic bindings

What changed. accept Telegram Mac Unicode dash option prefixes in /acp spawn, support Telegram topic thread binding (--thread here|auto), route bound-topic follow-ups to ACP sessions, add actionable Telegram approval buttons with prefixed approval-id resolution, and pin successful bind confirmations in-topic.

Check it with. Read Telegram/ACP topic bindings as an authorization checkpoint: prove who may act, what the action can reach, and how the rejected attempt is surfaced to the operator.

Models/MiniMax

What changed. stop advertising removed MiniMax-M2.5-Lightning in built-in provider catalogs, onboarding metadata, and docs; keep the supported fast-tier model as MiniMax-M2.5-highspeed.

Check it with. The safe reading of Models/MiniMax is operational: prove the model can answer the intended task, then force a bounded failure and verify that no side effect is repeated.

What changes outside the chat box

Security/Config

fail closed when loadConfig() hits validation or read errors so invalid configs cannot silently fall back to permissive runtime defaults.

Treat Security/Config as a boundary change. Exercise one permitted request and one refused request with a test identity, then keep both decisions in the log.

A bounded check for this version

1. Start with a disposable checkpoint: record the version, host, provider, and workspace tied to Agents/context engine plugin interface.
2. Check the release's migration notes and make a restorable backup before changing persistent state.
3. Use a disposable conversation for one send, one reconnect, and one retry; keep the destination identifiers with the result.
4. Leave the channel disabled after the test if its credentials or pairing were created only for this rehearsal.
5. If the result differs from the release body, stop the rollout and attach the log, screenshot, or transcript to the version record.

openclaw --version
openclaw gateway status
openclaw security audit

Close the loop with evidence

A useful maintenance record names the changed behavior, the behavior that stayed stable, the identity that approved the test, and the step that would undo it. Preserve that record beside the release tag.

Edge cases in this tag

Models/MiniMax. stop advertising removed MiniMax-M2.5-Lightning in built-in provider catalogs, onboarding metadata, and docs; keep the supported fast-tier model as MiniMax-M2.5-highspeed. Record the failure that this correction addresses before declaring the upgrade complete.

Security/Config. fail closed when loadConfig() hits validation or read errors so invalid configs cannot silently fall back to permissive runtime defaults. This is the edge case to include in a regression check, especially when the release is pre-release.

The authoritative record is the v2026.3.7 GitHub release. The release index gives the surrounding sequence, while the session concepts supplies the operational background.