What is the OpenClaw v2026.4.21 bootstrap order bug?

After upgrading to v2026.4.21, OpenClaw changed the priority order of bootstrap files. BOOTSTRAP.md now fires before SOUL.md when spawning subagents, causing agents to load the wrong identity file.

How do I fix the SOUL.md not loading after OpenClaw upgrade?

Delete BOOTSTRAP.md from the affected agent workspace directory. After removal, the agent will correctly load SOUL.md on spawn.

Which OpenClaw version introduced the bootstrap priority change?

Version 2026.4.21 introduced the bootstrap file priority change that causes BOOTSTRAP.md to override SOUL.md for subagent spawning.

Does the bootstrap bug affect all OpenClaw agents?

It affects any agent that has a BOOTSTRAP.md file in its workspace directory. Agents without BOOTSTRAP.md are unaffected.

Is there an official fix for OpenClaw bootstrap order issue 69994?

As of April 23, 2026, the issue is still open on GitHub (#69994). The workaround is to remove BOOTSTRAP.md from affected workspaces.

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⚠ IssueWide OpenLive

v2026.4.21 Upgrade Breaks Subagent Spawn: BOOTSTRAP.md Silently Overrides SOUL.md

After upgrading to OpenClaw v2026.4.21, subagent spawning loads BOOTSTRAP.md from agent workspaces instead of SOUL.md. The bootstrap priority order changed silently, causing agents to fire their BOOTSTRAP.md before loading their identity file (SOUL.md). Workaround: delete BOOTSTRAP.md from affected workspaces.

Product Idea from this Signal

A CLI tool that snapshots your OpenClaw state before updates, runs the upgrade in a sandboxed dry-run against your live config, and auto-rolls back if any health check fails

1667.8k ▲

OpenClaw ships updates every 2-3 days and each one risks breaking exec permissions, crashing the gateway, saturating CPU with plugin loading bugs, or silently deleting cron jobs. Four separate regressions in April 2026 alone (v2026.4.1 sandbox, v2026.4.5 CPU, v2026.4.14 memory timeouts, update command wiping Feishu and crons) hit thousands of self-hosters with no rollback path. The built-in openclaw doctor only validates config schema after the fact. This tool wraps the entire update lifecycle: snapshot state, dry-run the upgrade against your actual agent/cron/channel config, diff the before/after, and block or auto-rollback if anything regresses.

CLIOPEN-SOURCEDEVTOOLSELF-HOSTEDRELIABILITY

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