BREAKING CHANGE: Convert repository to IronClaw-only package with strict
external dependency on globally installed `openclaw` runtime.
### Changes
- Remove entire OpenClaw core source from repository (src/agents/*, src/acp/*,
src/commands/*, and related modules)
- Implement CLI delegation: non-bootstrap commands now delegate to global
`openclaw` binary via external contract
- Remove local OpenClaw path resolution from web app; always spawn global
`openclaw` binary instead of local scripts
- Rename package.json scripts: `pnpm openclaw` → `pnpm ironclaw`,
`openclaw:rpc` → `ironclaw:rpc`
- Update bootstrap flow to verify and install global OpenClaw when missing
- Migrate web workspace/profile logic to align with OpenClaw state paths
- Add migration contract tests for stream-json, session subscribe, and profile
resolution behaviors
- Update build/release pipeline for IronClaw-only artifacts
- Update documentation for new peer + global installation model
### Architecture
IronClaw is now strictly a frontend/UI/bootstrap layer:
- `npx ironclaw` bootstraps OpenClaw (if missing), runs guided onboarding
- IronClaw UI serves on localhost:3100
- OpenClaw Gateway runs on standard port 18789
- Communication via stable CLI contracts and Gateway WebSocket protocol only
### Migration
Users must have `openclaw` installed globally:
npm install -g openclaw
Existing IronClaw profiles and sessions remain compatible through gateway
protocol stability.
Refs: bootstrap_dev_testing, ironclaw_frontend_split, strict-external-openclaw
Rebrand the project from the OpenClaw/Lobster identity to Ironclaw with
a new iron-metallic visual language across CLI and web UI.
## CLI identity
- Rename default CLI name from `openclaw` to `ironclaw` (keep `openclaw`
in KNOWN_CLI_NAMES and regex for backward compat)
- Set process.title to `ironclaw`; update all `[openclaw]` log prefixes
to `[ironclaw]`
- Add `IRONCLAW_*` env var checks (IRONCLAW_HIDE_BANNER,
IRONCLAW_NO_RESPAWN, IRONCLAW_NODE_OPTIONS_READY,
IRONCLAW_TAGLINE_INDEX) with fallback to legacy `OPENCLAW_*` variants
## Animated ASCII banner
- Replace the old lobster block-art with a figlet "ANSI Shadow" font
IRONCLAW ASCII wordmark
- Add `gradient-string` dependency for terminal gradient rendering
- Implement iron shimmer animation: a bright highlight sweeps across the
ASCII art (~2.5 s at 12 fps, 3 full gradient cycles) using a rotating
iron-to-silver color array
- Make `emitCliBanner` async to support the animation; update all call
sites (preaction hook, route, run-main) to await it
- Move banner emission earlier in `runCli()` so it appears for all
invocations (bare command, subcommands, help) with the existing
bannerEmitted guard preventing double-emission
## Iron palette and theme
- Rename LOBSTER_PALETTE → IRON_PALETTE in `src/terminal/palette.ts`
with new cool-steel color tokens (steel grey accent, bright silver
highlight, dark iron dim, steel bl info)
- Re-export LOBSTER_PALETTE as backward-compatible alias
- Update `src/terminal/theme.ts` to import and use IRON_PALETTE
## Tagline cleanup
- Remove lobster-themed, Apple-specific, and platform-joke taglines
- Fix smart-quote and em-dash formatting across remaining taglines
- Add "Holiday taglines" comment grouping for date-gated entries
## Web UI
- Add `framer-motion`, `fuse.js`, and `next-themes` to web app deps
- Add custom font files: Bookerly (regular/bold/italic), SpaceGrotesk
(light/regular/medium/semibold/bold), FoundationTitlesHand
- Update chat panel labels: "OpenClaw Chat" → "Ironclaw Chat",
"Message OpenClaw..." → "Message Ironclaw..."
- Update sidebar header: "OpenClaw Dench" → "Ironclaw"
- CSS formatting cleanup: expand single-lins, add consistent
blank lines between selector blocks, normalize child combinator
spacing (li > ul → li>ul)
## Problem
The clawdbot-gateway systemd service was crash-looping on Linux (Fedora 42,
aarch64) with the error:
error: unknown command '/usr/bin/node-22'
After ~20 seconds of runtime, the gateway would exit with status 1/FAILURE
and systemd would restart it, repeating the cycle indefinitely (80+ restarts
observed).
## Root Cause Analysis
### Investigation Steps
1. Examined systemd service logs via `journalctl --user -u clawdbot-gateway.service`
2. Found the error appeared consistently after the service had been running
for 20-30 seconds
3. Added debug logging to trace argv at parseAsync() call
4. Discovered that argv was being passed to Commander.js with the node binary
and script paths still present: `["/usr/bin/node-22", "/path/to/entry.js", "gateway", "--port", "18789"]`
5. Traced the issue to the lazy subcommand registration logic in runCli()
### The Bug
The lazy-loading logic for subcommands was gated behind `hasHelpOrVersion(parseArgv)`:
```typescript
if (hasHelpOrVersion(parseArgv)) {
const primary = getPrimaryCommand(parseArgv);
if (primary) {
const { registerSubCliByName } = await import("./program/register.subclis.js");
await registerSubCliByName(program, primary);
}
}
```
This meant that when running `clawdbot gateway --port 18789` (without --help
or --version), the `gateway` subcommand was never registered before
`program.parseAsync(parseArgv)` was called. Commander.js would then try to
parse the arguments without knowing about the gateway command, leading to
parse errors.
The error message "unknown command '/usr/bin/node-22'" appeared because
Commander was treating the first positional argument as a command name due to
argv not being properly stripped on non-Windows platforms in some code paths.
## The Fix
Remove the `hasHelpOrVersion()` gate and always register the primary
subcommand when one is detected:
```typescript
// Register the primary subcommand if one exists (for lazy-loading)
const primary = getPrimaryCommand(parseArgv);
if (primary) {
const { registerSubCliByName } = await import("./program/register.subclis.js");
await registerSubCliByName(program, primary);
}
```
This ensures that subcommands like `gateway` are properly registered before
parsing begins, regardless of what flags are present.
## Environment
- OS: Fedora 42 (Linux 6.15.9-201.fc42.aarch64)
- Arch: aarch64
- Node: /usr/bin/node-22 (symlink to node-22)
- Deployment: systemd user service
- Runtime: Gateway started via `clawdbot gateway --port 18789`
## Why This Should Be Merged
1. **Critical Bug**: The gateway service cannot run reliably on Linux without
this fix, making it a blocking issue for production deployments via systemd.
2. **Affects All Non-Help Invocations**: Any direct subcommand invocation
(gateway, channels, etc.) without --help/--version is broken.
3. **Simple & Safe Fix**: The change removes an unnecessary condition that was
preventing lazy-loading from working correctly. Subcommands should always be
registered when detected, not just for help/version requests.
4. **No Regression Risk**: The fix maintains the lazy-loading behavior (only
loads the requested subcommand), just ensures it works in all cases instead
of only help/version scenarios.
5. **Tested**: Verified that the gateway service now runs stably for extended
periods (45+ seconds continuous runtime with no crashes) after applying this
fix.
Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Add shared parseBooleanValue()/isTruthyEnvValue() and apply across CLI, gateway, memory, and live-test flags for consistent env handling.
Introduce route-first fast paths, lazy subcommand registration, and deferred plugin loading to reduce CLI startup overhead.
Centralize config validation via ensureConfigReady() and add config caching/deferred shell env fallback for fewer IO passes.
Harden logger initialization/imports and add focused tests for argv, boolean parsing, frontmatter, and CLI subcommands.
