OpenClaw v2026.3.7-beta.1: Context engine plugin interface, recovery notes

v2026.3.7-beta.1 is easiest to understand through failure. The official record describes a provider, model, voice, or context change; the sections below spell out what to save, what to interrupt, and what must remain available afterward.

This candidate is still pre-release. Treat provider, channel, and migration behavior as unconfirmed until your own bounded test passes. Treat the version as one input to the decision. Local credentials, enabled plugins, channels, and host support still need their own evidence.

Failure and recovery path

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. Agents/context engine plugin interface changes what a run can carry forward. Use synthetic names, inspect both recalled and omitted context, and check which workspace or participant can read it.

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. ACP/persistent channel bindings lives at the handoff between the Gateway and a conversation. Send one harmless message, reconnect once, and compare the account, thread, sender, and final transcript.

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. Before widening access for Telegram/ACP topic bindings, replay a narrow allow and deny case. A readable denial and a revoked test credential are part of the acceptance record.

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. Models/MiniMax changes a capability choice, not automatically a billing or privacy agreement. Record provider, model id, context setting, and fallback behavior before changing a default.

The limits of the recovery promise

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.

Run the smallest useful rehearsal

1. Write down the baseline for Agents/context engine plugin interface, including the installed version, host, provider, and workspace.
2. Confirm what can be restored, then take a verified backup before applying the candidate package.
3. Exercise the affected channel with synthetic text and note the thread, sender, reaction, or attachment id that comes back.
4. Restart or reconnect the Gateway, then check for one intended reply rather than a duplicate, missing, or misrouted message.
5. Keep the experiment bounded; an unexpected result belongs in the release record before any wider rollout.

openclaw --version
openclaw gateway status
openclaw security audit

Leave a usable maintenance note

Save the command, output, source link, and environment used for this check. Future operators should be able to tell whether a difference belongs to the release or to local provider, channel, or platform state.

Fix details to carry forward

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. This is the edge case to include in a regression check, especially when the release is pre-release.

Security/Config. fail closed when loadConfig() hits validation or read errors so invalid configs cannot silently fall back to permissive runtime defaults. Treat the fix as a boundary condition and retain the source wording beside your local result.

Keep the full v2026.3.7-beta.1 notes with your test result. Read the official release index for neighboring versions and the session concepts for configuration limits.