openclaw/.cursor/plans/workspace_profile_support_7e8600ec.plan.md

name	overview	todos	isProject
Workspace profile support	Add full workspace profile and custom path support to the Ironclaw web app and the dench SKILL.md, so they respect OPENCLAW_PROFILE, OPENCLAW_HOME, OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, and per-agent workspace config — matching the CLI's existing resolution logic.	id content status centralize-helpers Add resolveOpenClawStateDir() to apps/web/lib/workspace.ts and update resolveWorkspaceRoot() with OPENCLAW_PROFILE + OPENCLAW_HOME + OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR support pending id content status fix-api-routes Replace all hardcoded join(homedir(), '.openclaw', ...) in ~13 web app API routes/lib files with the new shared helpers pending id content status fix-empty-state-ui Make empty-state.tsx show the resolved workspace path dynamically instead of hardcoded ~/.openclaw/workspace pending id content status fix-system-prompt Replace hardcoded ~/.openclaw/web-chat/ in system-prompt.ts line 173 with a dynamic path from the state dir context pending id content status skill-substitution Add workspace path substitution in buildWorkspaceSkillSnapshot() so injected SKILL.md content replaces ~/.openclaw/workspace with the actual resolved workspace dir pending id content status tree-api-profile Expose active profile name in the tree API response so the UI can show profile-aware workspace labels pending	false

Full Workspace Profile and Custom Path Support

Problem

The CLI core (src/agents/workspace.ts, src/config/paths.ts) already resolves workspace paths dynamically via OPENCLAW_PROFILE, OPENCLAW_HOME, OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, and per-agent config — but the web app (apps/web/) and the injected dench skill (skills/dench/SKILL.md) hardcode ~/.openclaw and ~/.openclaw/workspace everywhere, ignoring profiles entirely.

35 hardcoded ~/.openclaw references in SKILL.md, and ~15 hardcoded paths across the web app API routes and UI.

Approach

1. Centralize path resolution in the web app

Create two new helpers in apps/web/lib/workspace.ts and update the existing resolveWorkspaceRoot():

• **resolveOpenClawStateDir()** — mirrors src/config/paths.ts:resolveStateDir() logic: checks OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR env var, then OPENCLAW_HOME, falls back to ~/.openclaw. Returns the base state directory (e.g. ~/.openclaw).
• **Update resolveWorkspaceRoot()**— addOPENCLAW_PROFILEawareness between theOPENCLAW_WORKSPACE check and the fallback:
  1. OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE env var (existing)
  2. OPENCLAW_PROFILE -> <stateDir>/workspace-<profile> (new)
  3. <stateDir>/workspace (existing, but now uses resolveOpenClawStateDir() instead of hardcoded ~/.openclaw)

export function resolveOpenClawStateDir(): string {
  const override = process.env.OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR?.trim();
  if (override) return override.startsWith("~") ? join(homedir(), override.slice(1)) : override;
  const home = process.env.OPENCLAW_HOME?.trim() || homedir();
  return join(home, ".openclaw");
}

export function resolveWorkspaceRoot(): string | null {
  const stateDir = resolveOpenClawStateDir();
  const profile = process.env.OPENCLAW_PROFILE?.trim();
  const candidates = [
    process.env.OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE,
    profile && profile.toLowerCase() !== "default" ? join(stateDir, `workspace-${profile}`) : null,
    join(stateDir, "workspace"),
  ].filter(Boolean) as string[];

  for (const dir of candidates) {
    if (existsSync(dir)) return dir;
  }
  return null;
}

2. Replace all hardcoded paths in web app API routes

Every file below uses join(homedir(), ".openclaw", ...) directly. Replace with calls to resolveOpenClawStateDir() or resolveWorkspaceRoot():

File	What to change
apps/web/app/api/workspace/tree/route.ts	join(home, ".openclaw", "skills") and join(home, ".openclaw") -> resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/workspace/virtual-file/route.ts	All 6 hardcoded paths in resolveVirtualPath() and isSafePath() -> derive from resolveWorkspaceRoot() and resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/skills/route.ts	join(openclawDir, "skills") and join(openclawDir, "workspace", "skills") -> use both helpers
apps/web/app/api/sessions/route.ts	resolveOpenClawDir() local helper -> use shared resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/memories/route.ts	join(homedir(), ".openclaw", "workspace") -> resolveWorkspaceRoot()
apps/web/app/api/cron/jobs/route.ts	Module-level CRON_DIR and agentsDir -> derive from resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/cron/runs/search-transcript/route.ts	agents dir -> resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/cron/runs/[sessionId]/route.ts	agents dir -> resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/cron/jobs/[jobId]/runs/route.ts	if hardcoded -> resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/web-sessions/route.ts	WEB_CHAT_DIR -> derive from resolveOpenClawStateDir()
apps/web/app/api/web-sessions/[id]/route.ts	same
apps/web/app/api/web-sessions/[id]/messages/route.ts	same
apps/web/lib/active-runs.ts	WEB_CHAT_DIR -> derive from resolveOpenClawStateDir()

3. Update the UI empty state

In apps/web/app/components/workspace/empty-state.tsx (line 128): the hardcoded ~/.openclaw/workspace display string should be dynamic. Two options:

• Option A: Pass the resolved workspace path from the tree API response (it already returns workspaceRoot). The empty state can show that or a user-friendly tilde-collapsed version.
• Option B: Add an API endpoint or server component that returns the expected workspace path.

Option A is simplest — the tree API already returns openclawDir and workspaceRoot. Thread the expected path into the empty state component.

4. Fix hardcoded path in system prompt

In src/agents/system-prompt.ts line 173: the hardcoded ~/.openclaw/web-chat/ should use the workspaceDir parameter (or derive from the state dir that's already available in the prompt builder context). Replace with a template string that references the actual state directory.

5. Add workspace variable substitution for injected SKILL.md content

The dench SKILL.md has 35 instances of ~/.openclaw/workspace. Since this content is injected verbatim into the system prompt via readSkillContent(), we need a substitution mechanism.

In src/agents/skills/workspace.ts around line 271 where readSkillContent() is called for injected skills:

// After reading content, substitute workspace path placeholders
const content = readSkillContent(entry.skill.filePath);
if (content) {
  const resolved = content.replaceAll("~/.openclaw/workspace", workspaceDir);
  injectedSkills.push({ name: entry.skill.name, content: resolved });
}

This requires threading workspaceDir into buildWorkspaceSkillSnapshot() — which it already receives as its first argument.

Then update skills/dench/SKILL.md to use ~/.openclaw/workspace as a canonical placeholder (it already does), and the substitution will replace it with the actual resolved path at injection time. No changes needed to the SKILL.md content itself.

6. Expose workspace info in the tree API response

The tree API (apps/web/app/api/workspace/tree/route.ts) already returns workspaceRoot and openclawDir. Consider also returning profile (from OPENCLAW_PROFILE) so the UI can display profile-aware context (e.g. "Workspace (staging)" in the sidebar).