[Release] openclaw/openclaw v2026.3.7: openclaw 2026.3.7

OpenClaw v2026.3.7 introduces major enhancements to context engine plugins, persistent channel bindings for Discord/Telegram, multi-language UI support (Spanish), improved web search capabilities, and Docker containerization optimizations. The release includes a breaking change requiring explicit gateway auth mode configuration. Key additions enable alternative context management strategies, durable ACP thread routing, per-topic agent overrides, and enhanced security with config validation.

Key Points

• •ContextEngine plugin interface with full lifecycle hooks (bootstrap, ingest, assemble, compact, afterTurn, prepareSubagentSpawn, onSubagentEnded) enables alternative context management without core logic modification
• •Persistent Discord channel and Telegram topic bindings survive restarts with durable storage and consistent CLI/routing management
• •Per-topic agentId overrides in forum groups allow dedicated agents with isolated sessions per topic
• •Spanish (es) locale support added to Control UI with locale detection and lazy loading
• •Web search provider selection in onboarding wizard with SecretRef support and Perplexity Search API integration
• •SecretRef support for gateway.auth.token with auth-mode guardrails; BREAKING: explicit gateway.auth.mode now required when both token and password configured
• •Docker multi-stage build produces minimal runtime image without build tools/source; OPENCLAW_EXTENSIONS enables preinstalled extension dependencies
• •Plugin system enhancements: prependSystemContext/appendSystemContext for system prompt caching, allowPromptInjection hook policy validation, and compaction lifecycle events
• •Tool result truncation uses head+tail strategy to preserve diagnostics; diffs guidance moved to plugin skill path reducing prompt noise
• •Config validation now fails closed on errors preventing silent fallback to permissive defaults; hybrid search FTS5 BM25 relevance ordering fixed

Workflow Diagram

Concepts

Artifacts (6)

# BREAKING CHANGE: Explicit gateway.auth.mode required
# Set before upgrade when both token and password are configured

gateway:
  auth:
    mode: token  # or 'password'
    token: <SecretRef or string>
    password: <SecretRef or string>

# ContextEngine plugin slot with lifecycle hooks
plugins:
  entries:
    custom-context-engine:
      type: ContextEngine
      hooks:
        bootstrap: true
        ingest: true
        assemble: true
        compact: true
        afterTurn: true
        prepareSubagentSpawn: true
        onSubagentEnded: true

# Multi-stage Dockerfile for minimal runtime image
# Build args:
# - OPENCLAW_VARIANT=slim (uses bookworm-slim)
# - OPENCLAW_EXTENSIONS=extension1,extension2 (preinstall dependencies)

FROM node:20-bookworm AS builder
WORKDIR /build
COPY . .
RUN npm install
RUN npm run build

FROM node:20-bookworm-slim AS runtime
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /build/dist .
CMD ["node", "index.js"]

agents:
  defaults:
    compaction:
      postCompactionSections:
        - AGENTS
        - TOOLS
      recentTurnsPreserve: 5
      qualityGuardRetry: 3

/acp spawn --channel <channel-id> --thread auto --agent-id <agent-id>

# Supports Mac Unicode dash option prefixes
# Routes bound-topic follow-ups to ACP sessions
# Pins successful bind confirmations in-topic

plugins:
  entries:
    my-plugin:
      hooks:
        before_prompt_build:
          allowPromptInjection: false
        before_agent_start:
          allowPromptInjection: true
      config:
        prependSystemContext: "Custom system guidance"
        appendSystemContext: "Additional context"