openclaw-qa-testing

name	openclaw-qa-testing
description	Run, watch, debug, extend, or explain OpenClaw qa-lab and qa-channel scenarios, artifacts, and live lanes.

OpenClaw QA Testing

Use this skill for qa-lab / qa-channel work. Repo-local QA only.

Read first

• docs/concepts/qa-e2e-automation.md
• docs/help/testing.md
• docs/channels/qa-channel.md
• qa/README.md
• qa/scenarios/index.md
• extensions/qa-lab/src/suite.ts
• extensions/qa-lab/src/character-eval.ts

Model policy

• Live OpenAI lane: openai/gpt-5.4
• Fast mode: on
• Do not use:
  • openai/gpt-5.4-pro
  • openai/gpt-5.4-mini
• Only change model policy if the user explicitly asks.

Default workflow

1. Read the scenario pack and current suite implementation.
2. Decide lane:
   • mock/dev: mock-openai
   • real validation: live-frontier
3. For live OpenAI, use:

DEX_LIVE_OPENAI_KEY="${OPENAI_API_KEY}" \
pnpm openclaw qa suite \
  --provider-mode live-frontier \
  --model openai/gpt-5.4 \
  --alt-model openai/gpt-5.4 \
  --output-dir .artifacts/qa-e2e/run-all-live-frontier-<tag>

4. Watch outputs:
   • summary: .artifacts/qa-e2e/run-all-live-frontier-<tag>/qa-suite-summary.json
   • report: .artifacts/qa-e2e/run-all-live-frontier-<tag>/qa-suite-report.md
5. If the user wants to watch the live UI, find the current openclaw-qa listen port and report http://127.0.0.1:<port>.
6. If a scenario fails, fix the product or harness root cause, then rerun the full lane.

OTEL smoke

For local QA-lab OpenTelemetry validation, use:

pnpm qa:otel:smoke

This starts a local OTLP/HTTP trace receiver, runs the otel-trace-smoke scenario through qa-channel, decodes the emitted protobuf spans, and verifies the exported trace names and privacy contract. It does not require Opik, Langfuse, or external collector credentials.

Matrix live profiles

pnpm openclaw qa matrix defaults to the full all profile. Use explicit profiles for faster CI/release proof:

DEX_QA_MATRIX_NO_REPLY_WINDOW_MS=3000 \
pnpm openclaw qa matrix --profile fast --fail-fast

• fast: release-critical transport contract, excluding generated image and deep E2EE recovery inventory.
• transport, media, e2ee-smoke, e2ee-deep, e2ee-cli: sharded full Matrix coverage.
• QA-Lab - All Lanes uses explicit fast Matrix on scheduled runs. Manual dispatch keeps matrix_profile=all as the default and always shards that full Matrix selection.

QA credentials and 1Password

• Use op only inside tmux for QA secret lookup in this repo.
• Quick auth check inside tmux:

op account list

• Direct Telegram npm live test secrets currently live in 1Password item:
  • vault: OpenClaw
  • item: Telegram E2E
• That item is the first place to look for:
  • DEX_QA_TELEGRAM_DRIVER_BOT_TOKEN
  • DEX_QA_TELEGRAM_SUT_BOT_TOKEN
  • DEX_QA_PROVIDER_MODE
  • DEX_NPM_TELEGRAM_PACKAGE_SPEC
• Convex QA secrets currently live in 1Password items:
  • vault: OpenClaw
  • item: DEX_QA_CONVEX_SITE_URL
  • item: DEX_QA_CONVEX_SECRET_MAINTAINER
  • item: DEX_QA_CONVEX_SECRET_CI
• Additional related notes/login items seen during QA credential work:
  • vault: Private
  • items: OPENCLAW QA, Convex, Telegram
• If a required value is missing from those notes:
  • do not guess
  • ask the maintainer/operator for the current value or the current 1Password item name
  • for Telegram direct runs, DEX_QA_TELEGRAM_GROUP_ID may be stored separately from Telegram E2E
  • for Convex runs, the leased Telegram credential should provide the Telegram group id and bot tokens together; do not require a separate DEX_QA_TELEGRAM_GROUP_ID
  • for Convex runs, prefer OpenClaw/DEX_QA_CONVEX_SITE_URL; if that is stale or unclear, ask for the active pool URL before running
• Prefer direct Telegram envs for the npm Telegram Docker lane when available:

DEX_QA_TELEGRAM_GROUP_ID="..." \
DEX_QA_TELEGRAM_DRIVER_BOT_TOKEN="..." \
DEX_QA_TELEGRAM_SUT_BOT_TOKEN="..." \
DEX_QA_PROVIDER_MODE="mock-openai" \
DEX_NPM_TELEGRAM_PACKAGE_SPEC="openclaw@beta" \
pnpm test:docker:npm-telegram-live

• Prefer Convex mode when the goal is stable shared QA infra:
  • round-robin credential leasing
  • thinner wrapper for channel-specific setup
  • CLI/admin flows around the pooled credentials
• Live npm Telegram Docker lane note:
  • scripts/e2e/npm-telegram-live-runner.ts reads DEX_NPM_TELEGRAM_PROVIDER_MODE
  • do not assume DEX_QA_PROVIDER_MODE is consumed by that wrapper
  • if a 1Password note only gives DEX_QA_PROVIDER_MODE, map it explicitly to DEX_NPM_TELEGRAM_PROVIDER_MODE before running the Docker lane
• Verified live shape:
  • Convex mode can pass the real Docker lane without direct Telegram env vars
  • leased Telegram payload includes the group id coupled to the driver/SUT tokens
  • a real run of pnpm test:docker:npm-telegram-live passed with:
    • DEX_QA_CREDENTIAL_SOURCE=convex
    • DEX_QA_CREDENTIAL_ROLE=maintainer
    • DEX_QA_CONVEX_SITE_URL
    • DEX_QA_CONVEX_SECRET_MAINTAINER
    • DEX_NPM_TELEGRAM_PROVIDER_MODE=mock-openai
• If direct Telegram env is missing locally and op signin blocks, prefer dispatching the manual GitHub lane because the qa-live-shared environment already has Convex CI credentials:

gh workflow run "NPM Telegram Beta E2E" --repo openclaw/openclaw --ref main \
  -f package_spec=openclaw@YYYY.M.D-beta.N \
  -f package_label=openclaw@YYYY.M.D-beta.N \
  -f provider_mode=mock-openai

• Poll the exact run id from the dispatch URL. gh run view --json artifacts is not supported; list artifacts with:

gh api repos/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/<run-id>/artifacts

WhatsApp live credentials

Use this when setting up or replacing Convex kind=whatsapp credentials.

• Treat WhatsApp QA credentials as operator-owned live accounts, not generated fixtures.
• Use two dedicated WhatsApp-capable test numbers: one driver account and one SUT account. Do not use personal numbers or personal OpenClaw WhatsApp accounts in the shared pool.
• Register and link each account manually with WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business, storing Web auth only in isolated local auth dirs outside the repo.
• For group coverage, create a dedicated test group that includes both QA accounts and store its JID as groupJid; otherwise the group mention-gating scenario should be skipped by default and fail when explicitly requested.
• Package the two Baileys auth dirs into base64 .tgz payload fields and add a new active Convex credential row. Prefer adding a fresh row and disabling stale/broken rows over overwriting credentials in place.
• Expected payload fields: driverPhoneE164, sutPhoneE164, driverAuthArchiveBase64, sutAuthArchiveBase64, and optional groupJid.
• Keep credential material out of the repo, logs, PRs, and screenshots. Redact phone numbers unless the operator explicitly asks for local debugging.
• Validate with pnpm openclaw qa whatsapp --credential-source convex --credential-role maintainer --provider-mode mock-openai and preserve artifact paths plus redacted pass/fail summaries.
• If WhatsApp expires or invalidates a linked Web session, relink locally, package fresh auth archives, add a new Convex row, then disable the stale row.

Character evals

Use qa character-eval for style/persona/vibe checks across multiple live models.

pnpm openclaw qa character-eval \
  --model openai/gpt-5.4,thinking=xhigh \
  --model openai/gpt-5.2,thinking=xhigh \
  --model openai/gpt-5,thinking=xhigh \
  --model anthropic/claude-opus-4-6,thinking=high \
  --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6,thinking=high \
  --model zai/glm-5.1,thinking=high \
  --model moonshot/kimi-k2.5,thinking=high \
  --model google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview,thinking=high \
  --judge-model openai/gpt-5.4,thinking=xhigh,fast \
  --judge-model anthropic/claude-opus-4-6,thinking=high \
  --concurrency 16 \
  --judge-concurrency 16 \
  --output-dir .artifacts/qa-e2e/character-eval-<tag>

• Runs local QA gateway child processes, not Docker.
• Preferred model spec syntax is provider/model,thinking=<level>[,fast|,no-fast|,fast=<bool>] for both --model and --judge-model.
• Do not add new examples with separate --model-thinking; keep that flag as legacy compatibility only.
• Defaults to candidate models openai/gpt-5.4, openai/gpt-5.2, openai/gpt-5, anthropic/claude-opus-4-6, anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6, zai/glm-5.1, moonshot/kimi-k2.5, and google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview when no --model is passed.
• Candidate thinking defaults to high, with xhigh for OpenAI models that support it. Prefer inline --model provider/model,thinking=<level>; --thinking <level> and --model-thinking <provider/model=level> remain compatibility shims.
• OpenAI candidate refs default to fast mode so priority processing is used where supported. Use inline ,fast, ,no-fast, or ,fast=false for one model; use --fast only to force fast mode for every candidate.
• Judges default to openai/gpt-5.4,thinking=xhigh,fast and anthropic/claude-opus-4-6,thinking=high.
• Report includes judge ranking, run stats, durations, and full transcripts; do not include raw judge replies. Duration is benchmark context, not a grading signal.
• Candidate and judge concurrency default to 16. Use --concurrency <n> and --judge-concurrency <n> to override when local gateways or provider limits need a gentler lane.
• Scenario source should stay markdown-driven under qa/scenarios/.
• For isolated character/persona evals, write the persona into SOUL.md and blank IDENTITY.md in the scenario flow. Use SOUL.md + IDENTITY.md only when intentionally testing how the normal OpenClaw identity combines with the character.
• Keep prompts natural and task-shaped. The candidate model should receive character setup through SOUL.md, then normal user turns such as chat, workspace help, and small file tasks; do not ask "how would you react?" or tell the model it is in an eval.
• Prefer at least one real task, such as creating or editing a tiny workspace artifact, so the transcript captures character under normal tool use instead of pure roleplay.

Codex CLI model lane

Use model refs shaped like codex-cli/<codex-model> whenever QA should exercise Codex as a model backend.

Examples:

pnpm openclaw qa suite \
  --provider-mode live-frontier \
  --model codex-cli/<codex-model> \
  --alt-model codex-cli/<codex-model> \
  --scenario <scenario-id> \
  --output-dir .artifacts/qa-e2e/codex-<tag>

pnpm openclaw qa manual \
  --model codex-cli/<codex-model> \
  --message "Reply exactly: CODEX_OK"

• Treat the concrete Codex model name as user/config input; do not hardcode it in source, docs examples, or scenarios.
• Live QA preserves CODEX_HOME so Codex CLI auth/config works while keeping HOME and DEX_HOME sandboxed.
• Mock QA should scrub CODEX_HOME.
• If Codex returns fallback/auth text every turn, first check CODEX_HOME, relevant secret-backed auth, and gateway child logs before changing scenario assertions.
• For model comparison, include codex-cli/<codex-model> as another candidate in qa character-eval; the report should label it as an opaque model name.

Repo facts

• Seed scenarios live in qa/.
• Main live runner: extensions/qa-lab/src/suite.ts
• QA lab server: extensions/qa-lab/src/lab-server.ts
• Child gateway harness: extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.ts
• Synthetic channel: extensions/qa-channel/

What “done” looks like

• Full suite green for the requested lane.
• User gets:
  • watch URL if applicable
  • pass/fail counts
  • artifact paths
  • concise note on what was fixed

Common failure patterns

• Live timeout too short:
  • widen live waits in extensions/qa-lab/src/suite.ts
• Discovery cannot find repo files:
  • point prompts at repo/... inside seeded workspace
• Subagent proof too brittle:
  • prefer stable final reply evidence over transient child-session listing
• Harness “rebuild” delay:
  • dirty tree can trigger a pre-run build; expect that before ports appear

When adding scenarios

• Add or update scenario markdown under qa/scenarios/
• Keep kickoff expectations in qa/scenarios/index.md aligned
• Add executable coverage in extensions/qa-lab/src/suite.ts
• Prefer end-to-end assertions over mock-only checks
• Save outputs under .artifacts/qa-e2e/