OpenClaw v2026.4.25-beta.4: Browser automation gets safer tab URLs, iframe-aware, provider notes

v2026.4.25-beta.4 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.

Because this is a pre-release, use a disposable Gateway first and leave the stable version available for comparison. 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

Voice replies get a full TTS upgrade

What changed. /tts latest, chat-scoped auto-TTS controls, personas, per-agent/per-account overrides, and new Azure Speech, Xiaomi, Local CLI, Inworld, Volcengine, and ElevenLabs v3 provider coverage.

Check it with. Voice replies get a full TTS upgrade changes a capability choice, not automatically a billing or privacy agreement. Record provider, model id, context setting, and fallback behavior before changing a default.

Plugin startup and install paths move to the cold

What changed. Plugin startup and install paths move to the cold persisted registry, cutting broad manifest scans while making plugin update, repair, provider discovery, and install metadata more deterministic.

Check it with. Check Plugin startup and install paths move to the cold 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.

OpenTelemetry coverage expands across model calls, token

What changed. OpenTelemetry coverage expands across model calls, token usage, tool loops, harness runs, exec processes, outbound delivery, context assembly, and memory pressure with bounded low-cardinality attributes.

Check it with. For OpenTelemetry coverage expands across model calls, token, 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.

Browser automation gets safer tab URLs, iframe-aware

What changed. Browser automation gets safer tab URLs, iframe-aware role snapshots, CDP readiness tuning, headless one-shot launch, and deeper browser doctor probes for slow hosts.

Check it with. For Browser automation gets safer tab URLs, iframe-aware, inspect state rather than only the new control. Repeat the flow after reload and reconnect, and note the session, pending action, URL, and visible error.

What changes outside the chat box

Control UI and setup flows add PWA/Web Push support

Control UI and setup flows add PWA/Web Push support, Crestodian first-run repair, TUI setup, context mode selection, and a shorter startup greeting.

The visible promise in Control UI and setup flows add PWA/Web Push support needs a continuity check. Use non-sensitive data, refresh midway, and confirm that the same work remains attached to the right session.

TTS/WhatsApp

add /tts latest read-aloud support with duplicate suppression and /tts chat on|off|default session-scoped auto-TTS overrides, completing the on-demand voice-note UX for current-chat replies. Fixes #66032.

TTS/WhatsApp 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.

TTS/channels

resolve channel and account TTS overrides generically, enabling Feishu and QQBot accounts to deep-merge channels.<channel>.accounts.<id>.tts over global and per-agent TTS config.

Use TTS/channels 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.

A bounded check for this version

1. Start with a disposable checkpoint: record the version, host, provider, and workspace tied to Voice replies get a full TTS upgrade.
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 models

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

Plugins/CLI. let flag-driven openclaw channels add install the selected channel plugin from its default source without opening an interactive prompt, fixing published npm Telegram setup in stdin-closed automation. Record the failure that this correction addresses before declaring the upgrade complete.

Plugins/startup. load the default memory-core slot during Gateway startup when permitted so active-memory recall can call memory_search and memory_get without requiring an explicit plugins.slots.memory entry, while preserving plugins.slots.memory: "none". This is the edge case to include in a regression check, especially when the release is pre-release.

The authoritative record is the v2026.4.25-beta.4 GitHub release. The release index gives the surrounding sequence, while the model provider reference supplies the operational background.