Security

OpenClaw v2026.4.1: Chat/error replies, what to verify

April 1, 20264 min readUpdated September 11, 2026By OpenClawBlog Team

A release page is most useful when its claims can be traced. For v2026.4.1, the source points to an access, approval, or trust-boundary change. The notes below separate what the project says from the result you should measure on your own installation.

Stable status describes the release line, not every local provider or channel. Check the version-specific notes before upgrading. Treat the version as one input to the decision. Local credentials, enabled plugins, channels, and host support still need their own evidence.

Channel
Stable

Primary signals
Tasks/chat; Web search/SearXNG; Amazon Bedrock/Guardrails

Publication date
2026-04-01

Evidence to keep

Tasks/chat

Evidence from the release. add /tasks as a chat-native background task board for the current session, with recent task details and agent-local fallback counts when no linked tasks are visible.

Operator reading. Keep Tasks/chat inside a test workspace until you can inspect its ledger, next run, failure state, and cancellation behavior from the operator surface.

Web search/SearXNG

Evidence from the release. add the bundled SearXNG provider plugin for web_search with configurable host support.

Operator reading. The safe reading of Web search/SearXNG is operational: prove the model can answer the intended task, then force a bounded failure and verify that no side effect is repeated.

Amazon Bedrock/Guardrails

Evidence from the release. add Bedrock Guardrails support to the bundled provider.

Operator reading. Check Amazon Bedrock/Guardrails with a known prompt and a disposable account. Save the selected route, reasoning setting, latency, and refusal or fallback result so another operator can reproduce it.

Chat/error replies

Evidence from the release. stop leaking raw provider/runtime failures into external chat channels, return a friendly retry message instead, and add a specific /new hint for Bedrock toolResult/toolUse session mismatches.

Operator reading. Use Chat/error replies as a routing test: capture the destination before the send, interrupt the transport, and verify that retry logic did not duplicate or redirect the response.

Changes and fixes worth comparing

Gateway/reload

ignore startup config writes by persisted hash in the config reloader so generated auth tokens and seeded Control UI origins do not trigger a restart loop, while real gateway.auth.* edits still require restart.

Treat Gateway/reload 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

Write down the baseline for Tasks/chat, including the installed version, host, provider, and workspace.
Confirm what can be restored, then take a verified backup before applying the candidate package.
Exercise the affected channel with synthetic text and note the thread, sender, reaction, or attachment id that comes back.
Restart or reconnect the Gateway, then check for one intended reply rather than a duplicate, missing, or misrouted message.
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

Chat/error replies. stop leaking raw provider/runtime failures into external chat channels, return a friendly retry message instead, and add a specific /new hint for Bedrock toolResult/toolUse session mismatches. This is the edge case to include in a regression check, especially when the release is pre-release.

Gateway/reload. ignore startup config writes by persisted hash in the config reloader so generated auth tokens and seeded Control UI origins do not trigger a restart loop, while real gateway.auth.* edits still require restart. Treat the fix as a boundary condition and retain the source wording beside your local result.

Keep the full v2026.4.1 notes with your test result. Read the official release index for neighboring versions and the Gateway security guide for configuration limits.