fix(telemetry): suppress reporting from automated environments (#129155)

CI jobs are not installs; unchecked they outnumber operators by orders of
magnitude and make version and platform counts meaningless. A configured
telemetry endpoint still reports, so update-path E2E lanes keep working.

docs/gateway/telemetry.md

@@ -165,6 +165,19 @@ even when `telemetry.enabled` is `true`. `DO_NOT_TRACK` does not disable the
 daily update check: OpenClaw sends the update-only `GET` request without a
 feature-statistics body.
 
+## Automated environments
+
+OpenClaw sends nothing when it detects an automated environment, meaning the
+`CI` environment variable is set to a truthy value. Continuous integration jobs
+are not installations: they would outnumber real operators by orders of
+magnitude and make version and platform counts meaningless, and your pipeline
+should not report to us on every job.
+
+This applies to both tiers, so a CI job sends no update check and no feature
+statistics. Setting `OPENCLAW_TELEMETRY_ENDPOINT` overrides the suppression,
+because a configured endpoint means the run is deliberately exercising this
+path.
+
 ## Disable every automatic update request
 
 To go fully dark, disable the existing startup update check:

src/cli/telemetry-cli.ts

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { runCommandWithRuntime } from "./cli-utils.js";
 
 const TELEMETRY_REASON_LABELS = {
   enabled: "enabled in configuration",
+  "automated-environment": "disabled in an automated environment (CI is set)",
   "do-not-track": "disabled by DO_NOT_TRACK",
   "config-disabled": "disabled in configuration",
   "never-asked": "consent has not been requested",

src/infra/telemetry.test.ts

@@ -12,7 +12,11 @@ import {
   type OpenClawTestState,
 } from "../test-utils/openclaw-test-state.js";
 import { VERSION } from "../version.js";
-import { buildTelemetryPayload, checkTelemetryUpdate } from "./telemetry.js";
+import {
+  buildTelemetryPayload,
+  checkTelemetryUpdate,
+  resolveTelemetryStatus,
+} from "./telemetry.js";
 
 const NOW = Date.parse("2026-08-23T12:00:00.000Z");
 const DAY_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
@@ -86,6 +90,7 @@ describe("anonymous telemetry", () => {
       layout: "state-only",
       prefix: "openclaw-telemetry-",
       env: {
+        CI: undefined,
         DO_NOT_TRACK: undefined,
         OPENCLAW_NIX_MODE: undefined,
         OPENCLAW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE: undefined,
@@ -360,6 +365,35 @@ describe("anonymous telemetry", () => {
     expect(readConfigMachineState(TELEMETRY_STATE_KEY)).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
+  it("never sends a request from an automated environment", async () => {
+    setTestEnvValue("CI", "true");
+
+    await expect(
+      checkTelemetryUpdate(createFeatureConfig(), {
+        surface: "gateway",
+        fetchImpl: globalThis.fetch,
+        nowMs: NOW,
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toBeNull();
+
+    expect(mockHttp.requests()).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(readConfigMachineState(TELEMETRY_STATE_KEY)).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(resolveTelemetryStatus(createFeatureConfig()).reason).toBe("automated-environment");
+  });
+
+  it("still reports from an automated environment when an endpoint is configured for it", async () => {
+    const customEndpoint = "https://telemetry.example.invalid/api/latest-version";
+    setTestEnvValue("CI", "true");
+    setTestEnvValue("OPENCLAW_TELEMETRY_ENDPOINT", customEndpoint);
+    mockHttp.intercept({ url: customEndpoint, reply: { json: { version: "2026.8.24" } } });
+
+    await expect(
+      checkTelemetryUpdate({}, { surface: "gateway", fetchImpl: globalThis.fetch, nowMs: NOW }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ version: "2026.8.24" });
+
+    expect(mockHttp.requests()).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
   it("never sends a request for Nix-managed installations", async () => {
     setTestEnvValue("OPENCLAW_NIX_MODE", "1");
 

src/infra/telemetry.ts

@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ type TelemetryPayload = {
 
 type TelemetryStatusReason =
   | "enabled"
+  | "automated-environment"
   | "do-not-track"
   | "config-disabled"
   | "never-asked"
@@ -73,10 +74,24 @@ const TelemetryResponseSchema = z.object({
 let lastFailedAttempt: { at: number; endpoint: string; stateDirectory?: string } | undefined;
 let inFlightUpdate: Promise<TelemetryUpdate | null> | undefined;
 
+/**
+ * CI jobs are not installs. Left unchecked they outnumber operators by orders of
+ * magnitude and make version and platform counts meaningless, and someone else's
+ * pipeline should not report to us on every job either. A configured endpoint
+ * means the caller is deliberately exercising this path, so it still reports.
+ */
+function isAutomatedEnvironment(): boolean {
+  if (process.env.OPENCLAW_TELEMETRY_ENDPOINT?.trim()) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return isTruthyEnvValue(process.env.CI);
+}
+
 function isUpdateCheckDisabled(config: OpenClawConfig): boolean {
   return (
     config.update?.checkOnStart === false ||
     isTruthyEnvValue(process.env.OPENCLAW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE) ||
+    isAutomatedEnvironment() ||
     resolveIsNixMode()
   );
 }
@@ -132,7 +147,9 @@ export function resolveTelemetryStatus(config: OpenClawConfig): {
   lastPingAt?: number;
 } {
   let reason: TelemetryStatusReason;
-  if (isUpdateCheckDisabled(config)) {
+  if (isAutomatedEnvironment()) {
+    reason = "automated-environment";
+  } else if (isUpdateCheckDisabled(config)) {
     reason = "update-disabled";
   } else if (isDoNotTrackEnabled()) {
     reason = "do-not-track";