openclaw/docs/reference/test.md

summary	read_when	title
How to run tests locally (vitest) and when to use force/coverage modes	Running or fixing tests	Tests

• Full testing kit (suites, live, Docker): Testing
• Update and plugin package validation: Testing updates and plugins

Agent default

Agent sessions run trusted development tests, changed gates, typecheck/lint, and builds locally by default, broadening only when the touched contract requires it. Never execute untrusted repository tooling locally. Use Crabbox when the environment is part of the proof: clean-machine, install/package, Docker, E2E, live, desktop, or cross-platform work, or when the operator explicitly requests remote proof. Do not use Crabbox merely as generic compute offload. The configured Testbox workflow hydrates credentials, so untrusted contributor or fork code must use secretless fork CI or sanitized direct AWS Crabbox instead.

Do not pre-warm for anticipated work. Acquire the backend lazily when the first environment-sensitive command is ready, reuse the returned tbx_... id for later remote commands, sync the current checkout on every run, and stop it before handoff.

After the first successful reuse, the wrapper records the lease's base, dependency, and Testbox workflow fingerprint under .crabbox/testbox-leases/. Source-only edits keep reusing the warmed box. A changed merge base, lockfile, package-manager input, wrapper, or Testbox workflow fails closed and requires a fresh lease. Every run still syncs the current checkout. OPENCLAW_TESTBOX_ALLOW_STALE=1 is only for intentional diagnostics, not release proof.

Local test commands below are the normal trusted development path. Keep proof proportional to the touched contract.

For untrusted proof, lazily warm with --provider aws. Every run must set CRABBOX_ENV_ALLOW=CI, pass --provider aws --no-hydrate, and use a fresh temporary remote HOME before installing dependencies or running tests. Use a newly warmed lease dedicated to that untrusted source; never reuse a trusted or previously hydrated lease. Launch an installed trusted Crabbox binary from a clean trusted main checkout and fetch only the remote PR with --fresh-pr; never execute the untrusted checkout's wrapper or config locally. Unset CRABBOX_AWS_INSTANCE_PROFILE and fail closed unless resolved aws.instanceProfile is empty. Before any install/test, use trusted absolute-path tools to require an IMDSv2 token, prove the IAM credentials endpoint returns 404, and verify remote git rev-parse HEAD equals the full reviewed PR head SHA. Bind the lease to that SHA and stop/rewarm when the head changes. Upload trusted scripts/crabbox-untrusted-bootstrap.sh from clean main alongside --fresh-pr; it installs pinned Node/pnpm, verifies the SHA and package-manager pin, isolates HOME, installs dependencies, then executes the requested test. If the broker cannot prove no role or no remote PR exists, use secretless fork CI. Do not use hydrate-github, --no-sync, or a credential-hydrated Testbox workflow. Unset all CRABBOX_TAILSCALE* overrides, force --network public --tailscale=false, clear exit-node/LAN flags, and require crabbox inspect to report public networking with no Tailscale state before uploading any script.

Crabbox repository setup

The shared Crabbox skill owns portable lease, trust, sync, and cleanup procedures. This section owns the OpenClaw wrapper and workflow inputs. Routine task-needed Crabbox/Testbox use and task-owned worktrees do not require another confirmation; preserve unrelated work and existing credential, production, budget, and publication boundaries.

Run trusted OpenClaw remote proof through the wrapper from the repository root:

node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs run --help

Read .crabbox.yaml and the resolved provider before running. The repository default is blacksmith-testbox, with .github/workflows/ci-check-testbox.yml owning its prepared environment. Direct providers use .github/workflows/crabbox-hydrate.yml. Keep the resolved provider unless the requested proof requires another environment; capacity or hydration failure does not make a different provider equivalent.

The wrapper checks an executable sibling ../crabbox/bin/crabbox, then PATH, then the sibling of the Git common checkout. Verify the selected binary and its source rather than trusting a directory name. If it needs repair or is missing, use a clean task-owned checkout of Crabbox, build ./cmd/crabbox into a task-owned binary directory, and leave other checkouts and the operator's installed binary untouched. The existing OPENCLAW_CRABBOX_WRAPPER_IGNORE_REPO_BINARY=1 setting skips the first sibling candidate; a task binary on PATH then takes precedence over the common-checkout candidate. A dirty or occupied sibling is not a reason to stop and ask.

For a selected trusted Testbox lane:

node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs run --timing-json -- \
  CI=1 NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=4096 \
  OPENCLAW_TEST_PROJECTS_PARALLEL=6 OPENCLAW_VITEST_MAX_WORKERS=1 \
  OPENCLAW_TESTBOX=1 OPENCLAW_TESTBOX_REMOTE_RUN=1 \
  pnpm test <path-or-filter>

For several commands, warm once with node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs warmup --keep --timing-json, save the returned lease ID, and reuse it with run --id <tbx_id>. Stop the owned lease with node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs stop --id <tbx_id>; stop has no --timing-json.

• Warm from the task checkout. Claims belong to checkout paths; --reclaim deliberately transfers that ownership and never changes repository identity. Sparse staging uses the wrapper's ownership path. Do not sync or reclaim while another command owns the lease.
• Wrapper reuse requires the local SSH key created by Crabbox. A missing key requires a fresh warmup. Leases created directly by Blacksmith remain usable through blacksmith testbox run --id <tbx_id>, not Crabbox wrapper reuse.
• Every native Testbox run syncs again, including reused leases. --no-sync cannot preserve a remote baseline. Compare revisions in separate remote worktrees within one synced command; never switch refs in the synced root.
• Compound remote shell commands use bash -lc, not sh -lc; hydration can depend on Bash declarations. Testbox's workflow owns Chromium, so do not pass Crabbox --browser to that provider.
• Keep the lease fingerprint checks described above. No stale-lease override for release proof. Direct-provider flags such as --fresh-pr, --full-resync, --script*, --env-helper, capture/download flags, and --stop-after are not a substitute for the delegated Testbox workflow.

The shared skill's command placeholders map to the focused commands in this guide. Its trusted bootstrap is scripts/crabbox-untrusted-bootstrap.sh; the untrusted path above invokes the installed trusted CLI, never the PR's wrapper. For an explicitly selected local-container lane, the existing example image is node:24-bookworm and the install command is corepack pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --store-dir .pnpm-store, followed by the chosen test. Keep --no-hydrate and a repository-local dependency store when host caches cannot cross filesystems. The OpenClaw broker login endpoint is https://crabbox.openclaw.ai; normal brokered validation does not require asking for AWS keys.

Live Gateway, channel, and agent-turn proof uses an isolated OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, a free port, and the real user path. Test-only plugin artifacts may use OPENCLAW_ALLOW_PLUGIN_INSTALL_OVERRIDES=1; that does not make them official installs. Before sharing WebVNC, inspect a screenshot of the working app. Keep proof media out of the product repository and compare source hashes before and after generator runs. If a final timing result is written but portal synchronization hangs, interrupt only the task wrapper and independently verify lease cleanup; never stop the operator's Gateway.

Routine local order

1. pnpm test:changed for changed-scope Vitest proof.
2. pnpm test <path-or-filter> for one file, directory, or explicit target.
3. pnpm test only when you intentionally need the full local Vitest suite.

Codex and other linked/sparse worktrees can run local tests and checks. When the dependency install is ready, use the normal commands above. If pnpm would reconcile a shared install, use the direct Node harnesses to bypass that package-manager preflight:

• Bounded focused proof with ready dependencies: node scripts/run-vitest.mjs <path-or-filter>.
• Changed typecheck/lint/guard proof: node scripts/check-changed.mjs.

For remote-environment proof, invoke node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs directly. Avoid local pnpm crabbox:run in linked worktrees because pnpm may reconcile dependencies before the remote wrapper starts.

Core commands

Maintained JavaScript tooling wrappers and root package commands use tsx's in-process transform cache. They skip its shared disk cache before the loader starts, and child tooling inherits that policy. This cache policy does not clean existing temporary directories, Node or Vitest caches, or other global caches. Standalone pnpm ui:build keeps native startup and applies the same preload to its post-build validators; it does not require TSX_DISABLE_CACHE in the invoking shell. Raw external tsx and node --import tsx invocations outside these launchers are unchanged.

Source tests and subprocess builds

Non-watch runs through pnpm test or scripts/run-vitest.mjs keep Vitest tests and runtime parents on TypeScript. Importing a declared subprocess entrypoint compiles the fixed test entry set and its workspace dependencies into one fresh invocation directory under .artifacts/vitest-workers/.

The nine declared application entries run as plain Node JavaScript without a TypeScript loader: SQLite read-only snapshots, database verification, Tailscale route ownership, the service relay, its POSIX and Windows anchors, the memory plugin's KNN child, and the session transcript archive and reconciliation workers. The same generation also compiles the fake-backend TUI fixture's four runtime roots together: the real TUI, embedded reply producer, reply metadata reader, and outbound normalizer. Shared chunks preserve their module and WeakMap identity. Generated TUI fixtures remain .mts files: Node launches them with --import tsx for their own syntax, while Bun handles that syntax natively without the Node loader. Only their runtime imports change. Package build entry paths and Vitest source parents stay unchanged. Other Worker-thread entries and arbitrary source CLI fixtures remain outside this declared set.

Preparation is lazy across both projects and shards. Config imports, listing tests, and tiny tests that do not import these declarations do not load the subprocess compiler or compile workers. A shard that needs a declaration requests the outer runner's single build through its existing Node IPC channel during module collection, before fixture hooks and readiness deadlines. Every finite invocation that needs a declaration pays for this fixed entry set; preparation timing is reported separately from child execution. The runner starts one short-lived native Node or Bun compiler child and joins it before returning the verified manifest to borrowers. The compiler module graph lives in that child, not the long-lived runner or Vitest worker. No shard can select a different build graph or adopt another invocation's output. The outer runner retains the generation until child close and process-group cleanup finish, then verifies it before reporting success. Standalone Vitest and watch runs retain source execution: its public close hooks run concurrently with pool shutdown, so compilation and artifact deletion require the repository runner's ownership. A lost owner or failed build fails the run. Disposal cancels pending compilation and joins it and every borrower before removing the directory. An uncertain compiler or borrower join retains the generation and fails the run. Abnormal termination can also leave an unused directory; later runs never adopt it.

Every preparation compiles current source; checkout dist/ is neither an input nor a fallback. Build errors, missing artifacts, and changes to recorded build inputs fail the run. Compilation includes the native subprocess fixtures before they impose resource limits. Third-party dependencies remain external except for the always-bundled OpenClaw packages. Each generation carries all seven fs-safe native helpers in its own private tree, using the package runtime's loader-relative layout. The package itself shares one native tree between runtime entries and its sealed worker; it does not copy a second tree beside that worker. The helpers' original source hashes are pinned before copying and verified alongside compiler output; missing or altered assets fail verification. The default stays off, and the existing off/auto/require opt-ins retain their behavior.

Watch mode deliberately keeps the existing live-source path, including tsx for Node subprocesses and native TypeScript handling for Bun. It creates no prepared generation, so a new child launch reads current source rather than reusing a compiled snapshot. Existing Vitest watch dependency tracking still determines when tests rerun.

Test wrapper runs end with a short [test] passed|failed|skipped ... in ... summary; Vitest's own duration line stays the per-shard detail.

Command	What it does
pnpm test	Explicit file/directory targets route through scoped Vitest lanes. Untargeted runs are full-suite proof: fixed shard groups expand to leaf configs for local parallel execution, with the expected shard fanout printed before starting. The extension group always expands to per-extension shard configs instead of one giant root-project process.
pnpm test:changed	Cheap smart changed-test run: precise targets from direct test edits, sibling *.test.ts files, explicit source mappings, and the local import graph. Broad/config/package changes are skipped unless they map to precise tests.
OPENCLAW_TEST_CHANGED_BROAD=1 pnpm test:changed	Explicit broad changed-test run; use when a test harness/config/package edit should fall back to Vitest's broader changed-test behavior.
pnpm test:force	Frees the configured OpenClaw gateway port (default 18789), then runs the full suite with an isolated gateway port so server tests do not collide with a running instance.
pnpm test:coverage	Emits an informational V8 coverage report for the default unit lane (vitest.unit.config.ts); no coverage thresholds are enforced.
pnpm test:coverage:changed	Unit coverage only for files changed since origin/main.
pnpm changed:lanes	Shows the architectural lanes triggered by the diff against origin/main.
pnpm check:changed	Runs the local changed formatting/typecheck/lint/guard plan, including targeted Vitest owner tests for selected paths. Use pnpm test:changed or pnpm test <target> for additional test proof matching the touched contract.

For native app changes, pnpm check:changed uses platform scope to select lint: Android selects pnpm android:lint (the Gradle ktlint checks), while Apple app changes retain Swift lint. Android-only changes do not select Swift lint or its missing-tool notice. Android framework/resource lint and runtime tests remain separate checks; Kotlin lint does not replace them.

Remote filesystem fixtures that execute GNU stat and readlink run locally only on Linux. The shared leading-@ file-tool scenario also runs against a portable remote-only bridge on every platform. Native Python helper coverage remains separate, including macOS; these fixture gates do not restrict the SSH backend's Gateway host.

Shared test state and process helpers

build-all, standalone tsdown builds, tsgo, SDK declaration preparation, package-boundary checks, and dependent lint use checkout-local ownership at .artifacts/dist-artifacts.lock. Ownership spans cleanup, generation, cache restoration, and the checks consuming those outputs; independent checkouts remain independent. Competing commands print a waiting message and wait for a live owner without an acquisition deadline. Compiler and build execution timeouts are unchanged. Standalone tsgo runs serialize, including source-only checks; the core test shard runner retains its explicit concurrency inside one owner. Do not delete dist manually while these commands are running. An abrupt owner or nested wrapper exit, or unverified child cleanup, retains the lock. A missing or unverifiable owner PID, or a recorded child-cleanup failure, fails acquisition promptly without reclaiming anything. PID death does not prove detached descendants stopped. Before manually removing an abandoned lock directory, inspect its owner.json and verify all associated build, compiler, and lint processes, including detached descendants, have stopped; then retry the command.

Local plugin lint and package-boundary compilation consume native declarations in packages/plugin-sdk/dist and seven separate plugin API trees in .artifacts/extension-package-boundary/plugins. Each declaration and compile owner validates its consumed source content, inherited config, selected compiler, and complete output inventory. Unrelated existing source or test edits retain cache hits. Resolution-topology changes invalidate conservatively, including new module candidates outside declared roots. Stale declarations get a full native emit after clearing only their build-info file; the successful emitted inventory then drives obsolete declaration pruning. Missing or tampered outputs invalidate the owner. The content records live under .artifacts/extension-package-boundary, outside packaged build cleanup. A warm run validates the records without emitting declarations.

Packaged SDK declarations belong to one staged owner shared by full, package, and ciArtifacts builds. It serializes the two canonical tsdown SDK groups on a miss and caches their complete staged generation. Each successful compiler supplies its source membership through a private staged receipt; missing receipts or inputs changed during compilation prevent publication. The shared input snapshot policy validates consumed bytes, inherited configuration, generator and manifest inputs, and resolution topology without starting a compiler on hits. Cache hits restore into fresh staging and pass the same entry and relative declaration closure checks before publication. Local preparation never overwrites packaged declarations or writes workspace forwarding bridges.

Plugin SDK declaration preparation and scripts/run-tsgo.mjs require child work to finish before reporting success. On POSIX, each verifies its own managed process group: leftover children are terminated and the command fails instead of allowing artifact stamps or downstream checks to proceed. Windows retains normal joined-launcher completion because strict group verification is unsupported there. This does not detect descendants that deliberately leave the managed groups.

On POSIX hosts, run-vitest (including project shards), plugin batches, test-live (including live shards), run-vitest-profile, and the TUI PTY watcher give each Vitest invocation an owned temporary namespace through TMPDIR, TMP, and TEMP. The namespace contains isolated homes, their JIT caches, SDK/shared-home allocation roots, and fallback SQLite state; its lifetime spans shared-worker files and module resets. The parent removes only that namespace after its child process group has stopped and output pipes have closed, including passing and failing runs, child crashes, caught SIGINT/SIGTERM signals, and watchdog termination where supported. Explicit state, profile output, and mirror artifacts outside the namespace remain untouched. Failed or unverified group joins retain the namespace and report the exact path for manual recovery. Windows and raw external invocations retain their existing behavior. Forced parent or supervisor death (such as SIGKILL) can prevent cleanup; descendants that intentionally escape the owned group can recreate removed paths. The wrappers do not sweep old directories or infer ownership from names, ages, or PIDs.

• src/test-utils/openclaw-test-state.ts: use from Vitest when a test needs an isolated HOME, OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH, config fixture, workspace, agent dir, or auth-profile store.
• pnpm test:env-mutations:report: non-blocking report of tests/harnesses that mutate HOME, OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH, OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR, or related env keys directly. Use it to find migration candidates for the shared test-state helper.
• test/helpers/openclaw-test-instance.ts: process-level E2E tests needing a running Gateway, CLI env, log capture, and cleanup in one place.
• Docker/Bash E2E lanes that source scripts/lib/docker-e2e-image.sh can pass docker_e2e_test_state_shell_b64 <label> <scenario> into the container and decode it with scripts/lib/openclaw-e2e-instance.sh; multi-home scripts can pass docker_e2e_test_state_function_b64 and call openclaw_test_state_create <label> <scenario> in each flow. node --import tsx scripts/lib/openclaw-test-state.mts -- create --label <name> --scenario <name> --env-file <path> --json writes a sourceable host env file (the -- before create keeps newer Node runtimes from treating --env-file as a Node flag). Lanes that launch a Gateway can source scripts/lib/openclaw-e2e-instance.sh for entrypoint resolution, mock OpenAI startup, foreground/background launch, readiness probes, state env export, log dumps, and process cleanup.

Control UI, TUI, and extension lanes

• Control UI mocked E2E: pnpm test:ui:e2e runs the Vitest + Playwright lane that starts the Vite Control UI and drives a real Chromium page against a mocked Gateway WebSocket. Tests live in ui/src/**/*.e2e.test.ts; shared mocks/controls live in ui/src/test-helpers/control-ui-e2e.ts. pnpm test:e2e includes this lane. Use Testbox/Crabbox only when clean Linux/browser parity is part of the proof. In a linked worktree, node scripts/run-vitest.mjs run --config test/vitest/vitest.ui-e2e.config.ts --configLoader runner ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.messaging.e2e.test.ts avoids pnpm dependency reconciliation for a targeted local run.
• TUI PTY tests: node scripts/run-vitest.mjs run --config test/vitest/vitest.tui-pty.config.ts runs the fast fake-backend PTY lane. OPENCLAW_TUI_PTY_INCLUDE_LOCAL=1 or pnpm tui:pty:test:watch --mode local runs the slower tui --local smoke, which mocks only the external model endpoint. CI also sets OPENCLAW_TUI_PTY_USE_BUILT_CLI=1 after building dist/; use that flag only when exact-head built artifacts already exist. Assert stable visible text or fixture calls, not raw ANSI snapshots.
• pnpm test:extensions and pnpm test extensions run all extension/plugin shards. Heavy channel plugins, the browser plugin, and OpenAI run as dedicated shards; other plugin groups stay batched. pnpm test extensions/<id> runs one bundled plugin lane.
• Browser native host: node scripts/run-vitest.mjs extensions/browser/src/browser/extension-install.native-host.e2e.test.ts runs the real native messaging launcher on macOS or Linux against built dist with synthetic installation state; it does not launch Chrome or a Gateway. Windows skips this POSIX process proof because native bootstrap uses manual pairing there. The E2E owner prepares artifacts before workers. With an already-built candidate, prefix the command with OPENCLAW_E2E_USE_PREBUILT_DIST=1 to reuse it; missing artifacts fail the test. This case belongs to pnpm test:e2e, not the browser source shard or untargeted pnpm test unit suite. Linux CI runs it explicitly in build-artifacts and validates a JSON report proving the exact named test passed. The workflow skips only frozen historical checkouts missing this test file; that skip is unavailable proof, not a pass or coverage.
• Source files with sibling tests map to that sibling before falling back to wider directory globs. Helper edits under src/channels/plugins/contracts/test-helpers, src/plugin-sdk/test-helpers, and src/plugins/contracts use a local import graph to run importing tests instead of broad-running every shard when the dependency path is precise.
• Contract directory targets fan out to their contract lanes: pnpm test src/channels/plugins/contracts runs the four channel contract configs and pnpm test src/plugins/contracts runs the plugin contracts config, since the generic channels/plugins projects exclude contracts/**.
• auto-reply splits into three dedicated configs (core, top-level, reply) so the reply harness does not dominate the lighter top-level status/token/helper tests.
• Selected plugin-sdk and commands test files route through dedicated light lanes that keep only test/setup.ts, leaving runtime-heavy cases on their existing lanes.
• Base Vitest config defaults to pool: "threads" and isolate: false, with the shared non-isolated runner enabled across repo configs.
• pnpm test:channels runs vitest.channels.config.ts.

Retained mocked Control UI proof

Ordinary mocked browser screenshots, recordings, and reports use fresh directories for each test attempt or standalone capture invocation. The Node-only createControlUiE2eArtifactDir(scope, parentDir?) helper in ui/src/test-helpers/control-ui-e2e-artifacts.ts prints the actual allocated path. An explicit parent wins; otherwise it uses the trimmed existing OPENCLAW_UI_E2E_ARTIFACT_DIR, then the repository's .artifacts/control-ui-e2e parent. Existing feature-specific directory controls and script output arguments select parents, with unique children beneath them. Explicit screenshot filename controls preserve the basename and print the relocated path.

Keep capture gates independent from allocation: OPENCLAW_CAPTURE_UI_PROOF, OPENCLAW_UI_E2E_RECORD, and output-presence gates retain their existing meanings. Allocate during scenario execution or beforeEach, and pass the same owner to shared capture helpers so screenshots, reports, and video stay together. Distinguish stage names within an attempt. Close the browser context before finalizing video.

Successful and failed evidence is retained. Cleanup is manual: remove only exact directories that you own and have finished reviewing. Never recursively delete the shared parent before a replay. Disposable build/media fixtures and temporary raw video have their own cleanup. New captures cannot recover overwritten evidence; do not describe a replay as recovery of lost files.

Timeout diagnostics allocate fresh children beneath the existing OPENCLAW_UI_E2E_DIAGNOSTIC_DIR or default timeout directory, keeping each PNG and JSON report together. Mantis allocates an invocation directory for setup logs, capture attempts, and its report; the builder preserves each attempt's relative paths and refuses to overwrite an existing report.

Separate output owners remain: real-Gateway suites, chat-outbox-*, and chat-attachment-read-lifecycle. Do not assume those owners have the ordinary mocked proof retention guarantee.

Gateway and E2E

• Gateway tests are included in the untargeted pnpm test full suite; run them alone with pnpm test:gateway.
• pnpm test:e2e: repo E2E aggregate = pnpm test:e2e:gateway && pnpm test:e2e:agent-plugin-gateway && pnpm test:ui:e2e.
• pnpm test:e2e:gateway: gateway end-to-end smoke tests (multi-instance WS/HTTP/node pairing). Defaults to threads + isolate: false with one worker in vitest.e2e.config.ts; opt into parallelism with OPENCLAW_E2E_WORKERS=<n> (capped at 16), and enable verbose logs with OPENCLAW_E2E_VERBOSE=1. Broad runs prepare the shared runtime once, then use four sequential Vitest shards in fresh processes to bound worker memory. The worker limit applies within each process; ordinary test failures are retained while remaining shards finish. Explicit filters, watch mode, caller-supplied shards, coverage, and report-output options keep one direct invocation.
• pnpm test:live: provider live tests (Claude/Minimax/DeepSeek/z.ai/etc, gated by *.live.test.ts). Requires API keys and LIVE=1 (or OPENCLAW_LIVE_TEST=1) to unskip; verbose output with OPENCLAW_LIVE_TEST_QUIET=0.

Full Docker suite (pnpm test:docker:all)

Builds the shared live-test image, packs OpenClaw once as an npm tarball, builds/reuses a bare Node/Git runner image plus a functional image that installs that tarball into /app, then runs Docker smoke lanes through a weighted scheduler. scripts/package-openclaw-for-docker.mjs is the stable local/CI package packer entrypoint and validates the tarball plus dist/postinstall-inventory.json before Docker consumes it.

• Bare image (OPENCLAW_DOCKER_E2E_BARE_IMAGE): installer/update/plugin-dependency lanes; mounts the prebuilt tarball instead of copied repo sources.
• Functional image (OPENCLAW_DOCKER_E2E_FUNCTIONAL_IMAGE): normal built-app functionality lanes.
• Lane definitions: scripts/lib/docker-e2e-scenarios.mts. Planner: scripts/lib/docker-e2e-plan.mts. Executor: scripts/test-docker-all.mjs.
• node scripts/test-docker-all.mjs --plan-json emits the scheduler-owned CI plan (lanes, image kinds, package/live-image needs, state scenarios, credential checks) without building or running Docker.

Scheduling knobs (env vars, defaults in parentheses):

Env var	Default	Purpose
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_PARALLELISM	10	Process slots.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_TAIL_PARALLELISM	10	Provider-sensitive tail pool.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LIVE_LIMIT	9	Heavy live-provider lane cap.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_NPM_LIMIT	5	npm-resource lane cap.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_SERVICE_LIMIT	7	Service-resource lane cap.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LIVE_CLAUDE_LIMIT / _CODEX_LIMIT / _GEMINI_LIMIT / _DROID_LIMIT / _OPENCODE_LIMIT	4	Per-provider heavy-lane caps.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LIVE_OPENAI_LIMIT / _TELEGRAM_LIMIT	1	Narrower per-provider caps.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_WEIGHT_LIMIT / OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_DOCKER_LIMIT	-	Override for larger hosts.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_START_STAGGER_MS	2000	Delay between lane starts, avoids local Docker daemon create storms.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LANE_TIMEOUT_MS	7,200,000 (120 min)	Per-lane fallback timeout; selected live/tail lanes use tighter caps.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LIVE_RETRIES	1	Retries for transient live-provider failures.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_DRY_RUN	off	Print the lane manifest without running Docker.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_STATUS_INTERVAL_MS	30000	Active-lane status print interval.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_TIMINGS	on	Reuse .artifacts/docker-tests/lane-timings.json for longest-first ordering; set to 0 to disable.
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_LIVE_MODE	-	skip for deterministic/local lanes only, only for live-provider lanes only. Aliases: pnpm test:docker:local:all, pnpm test:docker:live:all. Live-only mode merges main and tail live lanes into one longest-first pool so provider buckets pack Claude/Codex/Gemini work together.
OPENCLAW_LIVE_CLI_BACKEND_SETUP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS	180	CLI backend Docker setup timeout.

Env var pattern for resource caps is OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_<RESOURCE>_LIMIT (resource name uppercased, non-alphanumerics collapsed to _).

Other behavior: the runner preflights Docker by default, cleans stale OpenClaw E2E containers, shares provider CLI tool caches between compatible lanes, and stops scheduling new pooled lanes after the first failure unless OPENCLAW_DOCKER_ALL_FAIL_FAST=0 is set. If one lane exceeds the effective weight/resource cap on a low-parallelism host, it can still start from an empty pool and run alone until it releases capacity. Per-lane logs, summary.json, failures.json, and phase timings write under .artifacts/docker-tests/<run-id>/; use pnpm test:docker:timings <summary.json> to inspect slow lanes and pnpm test:docker:rerun <run-id|summary.json|failures.json> to print cheap targeted rerun commands.

Notable Docker lanes

Command	Verifies
pnpm test:docker:browser-cdp-snapshot	Chromium-backed source E2E container with raw CDP + isolated Gateway; browser doctor --deep CDP role snapshots include link URLs, cursor-promoted clickables, iframe refs, and frame metadata.
pnpm test:docker:skill-install	Installs the packed tarball in a bare Docker runner with skills.install.allowUploadedArchives: false, resolves a current skill slug from live ClawHub search, installs via openclaw skills install, and verifies SKILL.md, .clawhub/origin.json, .clawhub/lock.json, and skills info --json.
pnpm test:docker:live-cli-backend:claude, :claude:resume, :claude:cache, :claude:mcp	Focused CLI backend live probes; :claude:cache settles the no-tool prompt shape, then requires at least 90% prompt-cache reuse on the following dirty-workspace resume and on the steady resume after a thinking-level change. Gemini has matching :resume and :mcp aliases.
pnpm test:docker:openwebui	Dockerized OpenClaw + Open WebUI: sign in, check /api/models, run a real proxied chat through /api/chat/completions. Requires a usable live model key and pulls an external image; not expected to be CI-stable like the unit/e2e suites.
pnpm test:docker:mcp-channels	Seeded Gateway container plus a client container spawning openclaw mcp serve: routed conversation discovery, transcript reads, attachment metadata, live event queue behavior, outbound send routing, and Claude-style channel + permission notifications over the real stdio bridge (assertion reads raw stdio MCP frames directly).
pnpm test:docker:upgrade-survivor	Installs the packed tarball over a dirty old-user fixture, runs package update plus non-interactive doctor without live provider/channel keys, starts a loopback Gateway, checks agents/channel config/plugin allowlists/workspace/session state/stale legacy plugin dependency state/startup/RPC status survive.
pnpm test:docker:published-upgrade-survivor	Installs openclaw@latest by default, seeds realistic existing-user files, configures via a baked openclaw config set recipe, updates to the packed tarball, runs non-interactive doctor, writes .artifacts/upgrade-survivor/summary.json, checks /healthz, /readyz, RPC status. Override with OPENCLAW_UPGRADE_SURVIVOR_BASELINE_SPEC, expand a matrix with OPENCLAW_UPGRADE_SURVIVOR_BASELINE_SPECS, or add scenario fixtures with OPENCLAW_UPGRADE_SURVIVOR_SCENARIOS=reported-issues (includes configured-plugin-installs and stale-source-plugin-shadow). Package Acceptance exposes these as published_upgrade_survivor_baseline(s) / _scenarios and resolves meta tokens like last-stable-4 or all-since-2026.4.23.
pnpm test:docker:update-migration	Published-upgrade survivor harness in the plugin-deps-cleanup scenario, starting at the latest stable release by default. The Update Migration workflow pins that baseline before fanout; pass baselines=all-since-2026.4.23 for an explicit historical cleanup replay.
pnpm test:docker:plugins	Install/update smoke for local path, file:, npm registry packages with hoisted dependencies, git moving refs, ClawHub fixtures, marketplace updates, and Claude-bundle enable/inspect.

Sandbox compatibility lanes

Command	Verifies
pnpm test:e2e:openshell	Real OpenShell gateway, isolated control-plane workspace, custom image, remote and mirrored filesystems, eight-way mixed exec/file stress, exact host/remote inventories, failure recovery, SSH cleanup, protected host metadata, and deny/allow network policies.
pnpm test:docker:package-install	Packed OpenClaw npm artifact installation into a clean global prefix, then CLI version and help startup from the installed package.
pnpm test:docker:openai-web-search-minimal	Mocked TLS endpoint with a private test CA, isolated Gateway startup, and web-search request handling through the configured certificate trust path.
pnpm test:docker:browser-cdp-snapshot	Chromium startup, raw CDP connectivity, isolated Gateway browser commands, doctor output, and accessibility snapshot roles.
pnpm test:docker:kitchen-sink-rpc	Installed plugin commands and catalog tools, read-only Gateway RPC traversal, authentication boundaries, channel lifecycle, and resource ceilings.
pnpm test:docker:kitchen-sink-plugin	Packaged and registry plugin install flows, plugin execution, expected unsupported-version failures, ClawHub fallback, and npm-to-ClawHub migration.

Local PR gate

For local PR land/gate checks, run:

• pnpm check:changed
• pnpm check
• pnpm check:test-types
• pnpm build
• pnpm test
• pnpm check:docs

If pnpm test flakes on a loaded host, rerun once before treating it as a regression, then isolate with pnpm test <path/to/test>. For memory-constrained hosts:

• OPENCLAW_VITEST_MAX_WORKERS=1 pnpm test
• OPENCLAW_VITEST_FS_MODULE_CACHE_PATH=/tmp/openclaw-vitest-cache pnpm test:changed

JSON reports across native processes

For a multi-project or chunked run, explicitly request native JSON with an output file, for example:

pnpm test test/vitest/vitest.unit-fast-isolated.config.ts test/vitest/vitest.agents-embedded-agent.config.ts --reporter=verbose --reporter=json --outputFile=.artifacts/test-results.json

The project runner and plugin batch runner give each attempt separate native JSON and blob files, then publish the requested JSON from Vitest's native report merge. They print a companion <output>.reports-<unique> directory. Keep that directory: it contains original reports, per-attempt coverage files when coverage is enabled, and an index.json with child exit codes, signals, timeouts and unstarted work. Only the accepted retry attempt contributes to the aggregate.

The aggregate preserves the accepted case inventory, but is not a lossless replacement for the originals. Native merging does not restore snapshot summaries or JSON coverageMap, and its startTime is the merge time. Passing snapshot tests still succeed. Read native originals for those details and the index for process outcomes: JSON success does not encode every wrapper or unhandled-error failure. Separate built-in coverage reports remain per attempt in the companion directory. Custom coverage providers/reporters and coverage reporter tuple options require separate invocations with unique destinations.

A complete failed-test aggregate is retained with a failing command exit. Missing or invalid evidence, cancellation, unstarted required work, or publication failure does not publish a complete aggregate; an existing output file is not proof of the new run. The diagnostic prints the retained report-set location. Report sets are not automatically swept.

Overlapping selections can share native task IDs, so merging them can replace independent failure details even when case counts match. Such report sets retain their originals and fail publication. Select each configuration once, or run overlapping selections separately with distinct output files.

This ownership applies to explicit CLI JSON file requests with named, file-based Node projects and native console reporters. Scalar --outputFile and --outputFile.json both work. Config-owned reporter options, other file formats, custom reporters and inline/browser project composition require separate native invocations with unique output destinations. Do not assume those outputs are aggregated. Single-process and console-only runs keep their existing native behavior. Native help and other non-test controls stay with the child CLI and do not allocate report sets. run --version still runs tests, as it does in native Vitest. Config-only reporters are not intercepted: multiple children can still overwrite the same configured file. Run those configurations separately with distinct paths; adding --reporter=json alone does not override a reporter tuple's own outputFile.

Test performance tooling

• pnpm test:perf:imports: enables Vitest import-duration + import-breakdown reporting, while still using scoped lane routing for explicit file/directory targets. pnpm test:perf:imports:changed scopes the same profiling to files changed since origin/main.
• pnpm test:perf:changed:bench -- --ref <git-ref> benchmarks the routed changed-mode path against the native root-project run for the same committed git diff; pnpm test:perf:changed:bench -- --worktree benchmarks the current worktree change set without committing first.
• pnpm test:perf:profile:main writes a CPU profile for the Vitest main thread; pnpm test:perf:profile:runner writes CPU + heap profiles for each unit worker. Both print their output directory (a temporary directory by default). Use -- --output-dir <dir> or OPENCLAW_VITEST_PROFILE_DIR to retain profiles at a chosen location.
• pnpm test:perf:groups --full-suite --allow-failures --output .artifacts/test-perf/baseline-before.json: runs every full-suite Vitest leaf config serially and writes grouped duration data plus per-config JSON/log artifacts. Full-suite reports isolate files by default so retained module graphs and GC pauses from earlier files are not charged to later assertions; pass -- --no-isolate only when intentionally profiling shared-worker accumulation. pnpm test:perf:groups:compare .artifacts/test-perf/baseline-before.json .artifacts/test-perf/after-agent.json compares grouped reports after a performance-focused change.
• Full, extension, and include-pattern shard runs update local timing data in .artifacts/vitest-shard-timings.json; later whole-config runs use those timings to balance slow and fast shards. Include-pattern CI shards append the shard name to the timing key, which keeps filtered shard timings visible without replacing whole-config timing data. Set OPENCLAW_TEST_PROJECTS_TIMINGS=0 to ignore the local timing artifact.
• pnpm ci:timings:refit: regenerate committed config/ci-test-timings.json from the last five successful main CI runs; add --dry-run to preview the changed-entry table. This file owns per-file UI E2E and per-profile compact-group weights, unlike the gitignored .artifacts/vitest-shard-timings.json whole-config timing cache. Independent CI shards use only the committed weights, never that cache. See CI timing refits for the daily refresh and sampling rules.

Runner profiling preserves the selected forks or threads pool, isolation, environment, and custom runners extending Vitest's TestRunner. Capture starts in a Node preload before Vitest worker imports, spans all files assigned to that worker, and finishes both profile files in awaited worker cleanup before teardown is acknowledged. It does not depend on exit-time profile flushing. Root global setup configures every selected project without replacing its reporters or setup. Main capture spans Vitest/Vite startup through run completion and close. Process termination before cleanup, bootstrap failures before runner construction, and teardown timeouts can still prevent output. Browser/VM pools, custom runners without onCleanupWorkerContext, and additional native --cpu-prof/--heap-prof flags are rejected for runner profiling.

Forward Vitest options after the profiler separator. Forwarded options use Vitest's native CLI validation before loading config. Config-only settings, such as runner and globalSetup, belong in the Vitest config file, not CLI flags. For example:

pnpm test:perf:profile:runner -- --output-dir .artifacts/profiles -- --config test/vitest/vitest.unit.config.ts --pool threads

pnpm test:extensions:memory profiles built plugin index entries from dist/extensions (including nested dist output) and package-local extensions/<id>/dist output; TypeScript source entries are excluded. Root artifacts take precedence when both builds exist. Selecting an already-built plugin with --extension <id> reuses its output without requiring unrelated plugin builds; build the plugin package first if its output is not supplied by pnpm build.

Native imports also need the plugin's declared dependencies and a resolvable openclaw host package. The profiler does not install or link dependencies: missing dependencies remain import failures in the JSON report and cause a nonzero exit.

Benchmarks

pnpm tsx scripts/bench-model.ts --runs 10

Optional env: MINIMAX_API_KEY, MINIMAX_BASE_URL, MINIMAX_MODEL, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. Default prompt: "Reply with a single word: ok. No punctuation or extra text."

pnpm test:startup:bench
pnpm test:startup:bench:smoke
pnpm test:startup:bench:save
pnpm test:startup:bench:update
pnpm test:startup:bench:check
pnpm tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --runs 12
pnpm tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --preset real --case status --case gatewayStatus --runs 3
pnpm tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --entry openclaw.mjs --entry-secondary dist/entry.js --preset all

Presets:

• startup: --version, --help, health, health --json, status --json, status
• real: health, status, status --json, sessions, sessions --json, tasks --json, tasks list --json, tasks audit --json, agents list --json, gateway status, gateway status --json, gateway health --json, config get gateway.port
• all: both presets combined

Output includes sampleCount, avg, p50, p95, min/max, exit-code/signal distribution, and max RSS per command. --cpu-prof-dir / --heap-prof-dir write V8 profiles per run.

Saved output: pnpm test:startup:bench:smoke writes .artifacts/cli-startup-bench-smoke.json; pnpm test:startup:bench:save writes .artifacts/cli-startup-bench-all.json (runs=5 warmup=1). Checked-in fixture: test/fixtures/cli-startup-bench.json, refreshed by pnpm test:startup:bench:update, compared by pnpm test:startup:bench:check.

Defaults to the built CLI entry at dist/entry.js; run pnpm build first. Pass --entry scripts/run-node.mjs to measure the source runner instead, and keep those results separate from built-entry baselines.

pnpm test:startup:gateway -- --runs 5 --warmup 1
pnpm test:startup:gateway -- --case skipChannels --case fiftyPlugins --runs 5
node --import tsx scripts/bench-gateway-startup.ts --case default --runs 5 --output .artifacts/gateway-startup.json

Case ids: default, skipChannels (channel startup skipped), oneInternalHook, allInternalHooks, fiftyPlugins (50 manifest plugins), fiftyStartupLazyPlugins (50 startup-lazy manifest plugins).

Output includes first process output, /healthz, /readyz, HTTP listen log time, Gateway ready log time, CPU time, CPU core ratio, max RSS, heap, startup trace metrics, event-loop delay, and plugin lookup-table detail metrics. The script sets OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_STARTUP_TRACE=1 in the child Gateway environment.

/healthz is liveness (HTTP server can answer). /readyz is usable readiness (startup plugin sidecars, channels, and ready-critical post-attach work have settled). Startup hooks dispatch asynchronously and are not part of the readiness guarantee. Ready log time is the Gateway's internal timestamp, useful for process-side attribution but not a substitute for the external /readyz probe.

Use JSON output or --output when comparing changes. Use --cpu-prof-dir only after trace output points at import, compile, or CPU-bound work that phase timings alone cannot explain.

macOS and Linux only (uses SIGUSR1 for in-process restarts; fails immediately on Windows). Same built-entry default and --entry scripts/run-node.mjs override as gateway startup above.

pnpm test:restart:gateway -- --case skipChannels --runs 1 --restarts 5
pnpm test:restart:gateway -- --case default --runs 3 --restarts 3 --warmup 1

Case ids: skipChannels, skipChannelsAcpxProbe (ACPX startup probe on), skipChannelsNoAcpxProbe (probe off), default, fiftyPlugins.

Output includes next /healthz, next /readyz, downtime, restart ready timing, CPU, RSS, startup trace metrics for the replacement process, and restart trace metrics for signal handling, active-work drain, close phases, next start, ready timing, and memory snapshots. The script sets OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_STARTUP_TRACE=1 and OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_RESTART_TRACE=1.

Use this benchmark when a change touches restart signaling, close handlers, startup-after-restart, sidecar shutdown, service handoff, or readiness after restart. Start with skipChannels to isolate Gateway mechanics from channel startup; use default or plugin-heavy cases only after the narrow case explains the restart path. Trace metrics are attribution hints, not verdicts — judge a restart change from multiple samples, the matching owner span, /healthz//readyz behavior, and the user-visible restart contract.

Onboarding E2E (Docker)

Optional; only needed for containerized onboarding smoke tests. Full cold-start flow in a clean Linux container:

scripts/e2e/onboard-docker.sh

Drives the interactive wizard via a pseudo-tty, verifies config/workspace/session state, then starts the gateway and runs openclaw health.

QR import smoke (Docker)

Ensures the maintained QR runtime helper loads under the supported Docker Node runtimes (Node 24 default, Node 22 compatible):

pnpm test:docker:qr

Related

• Testing
• Testing live
• Testing updates and plugins