OpenClaw v2026.5.18: Control UI and Mac app, provider notes

v2026.5.18 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

01 / Control UI and Mac app

Source signal. faster Settings, cleaner chat/session controls, responsive logs, remote gateway setup, native Dashboard, improved pairing sheets, and more stable protocol negotiation.

A successful click does not establish Control UI and Mac app. Compare the state before and after a reload, then verify that a user can tell what happened without reading internal logs.

02 / Realtime, voice, and mobile

Source signal. Android Talk Mode moves to realtime Gateway relay voice sessions; Discord/OpenAI realtime follow-ups keep hearing turns; iOS/Mac permission, chat, and settings flows were polished.

Before widening access for Realtime, voice, and mobile, replay a narrow allow and deny case. A readable denial and a revoked test credential are part of the acceptance record.

03 / Telegram and Discord reliability

Source signal. isolated Telegram polling/topic lanes, media/forum-topic delivery, /stop and /btw handling, progress drafts, final reply recovery, and Discord progress/final-message delivery were tightened.

Telegram and Discord reliability 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.

What changes outside the chat box

Read the narrow change in context

v2026.5.18 is a stable checkpoint with a deliberately small surface. The source names Control UI and Mac app: faster Settings, cleaner chat/session controls, responsive logs, remote gateway setup, native Dashboard, improved pairing sheets, and more stable protocol negotiation. A narrow patch still has a clear job: it should remove one failure or preserve one compatibility promise without changing unrelated configuration.

Keep this patch beside the release line it belongs to. Compare the installed tag, package version, and service owner before applying it. If this entry is a correction release, record the broken behavior that led you here, then repeat that exact scenario after the update. That evidence is more useful than a general claim that the package installed successfully.

The adjacent source detail is Realtime, voice, and mobile: Android Talk Mode moves to realtime Gateway relay voice sessions; Discord/OpenAI realtime follow-ups keep hearing turns; iOS/Mac permission, chat, and settings flows were polished. Read both signals together, because a hotfix can alter the boundary around a plugin, channel, session, or installer even when the version number looks like a minor suffix.

A small worksheet for this version

• Write the old version, the new version, and the package or tag that actually changed.
• Capture one reproduction before the update and the same reproduction after it.
• Record the first useful log line, the final user-visible result, and any rollback command that was tested.
• Leave unrelated channels, skills, and provider defaults untouched until the correction is understood.

A bounded check for this version

1. Start with a disposable checkpoint: record the version, host, provider, and workspace tied to Control UI and Mac app.
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.

The authoritative record is the v2026.5.18 GitHub release. The release index gives the surrounding sequence, while the model provider reference supplies the operational background.