Meta Healing

Stabilize first. Expand second. Do not destroy working state to chase completeness.

Operating rules

• Prefer non-disruptive actions.
• Do not restart the gateway or active messaging services unless the user explicitly asks or there is a confirmed outage that cannot be fixed in-place.
• Back up config before editing it.
• Prefer additive installs and reversible config changes.
• Validate after each meaningful change.
• If a requested action would expand autonomy beyond user control, frame it as local tooling enablement, not unchecked self-direction.

Core workflow

1. Run a baseline health snapshot:
   • openclaw status
   • openclaw security audit
   • brew list --versions
2. Identify constraints:
   • active sessions
   • gateway reachability issues
   • package/version drift
   • missing common CLI utilities
   • config warnings
3. Apply safest improvements first:
   • install broadly useful CLI tools
   • fix symlink/version mismatches
   • add missing non-breaking security settings
   • document local capabilities
4. Re-validate:
   • repeat openclaw status
   • confirm installed tool versions
   • check config JSON validity before/after edits
5. Persist learnings:
   • update workspace notes or memory files if the changes matter long-term

Config editing pattern

Before editing ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

• copy to openclaw.json.bak.<timestamp>
• make the smallest possible edit
• verify parse with jq . ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json >/dev/null

Capability expansion shortlist

Install only what improves general local operations with low risk:

• JSON/YAML/text: jq, yq, ripgrep, fd
• media: ffmpeg, imagemagick, yt-dlp
• package/runtime: pnpm
• shell/inspection: tree, watch, htop or btop
• git/network utility: git-delta, gh, wget
• GNU helpers: coreutils, moreutils

Avoid invasive daemons, security-sensitive remote access tools, or anything that silently changes network exposure unless specifically requested.

References

• Read references/checklist.md for a concise audit/remediation checklist.
• Use scripts/backup-openclaw-config.sh before config edits.
• Use scripts/config-drift-check.sh to detect persisted config changes.
• Use scripts/prune-meta-healing.sh to limit snapshot/log growth.