fix: keep gateway watch sync tracing opt-in (#79110)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Gateway/performance: avoid resolving plugin auto-enable metadata twice in one runtime config pass, reducing repeated dashboard turn metadata scans. Thanks @shakkernerd.
 - Auth/providers: pass `config` and `workspaceDir` lookup context through to provider-id resolution so workspace-scoped auth aliases resolve correctly when no explicit alias map is supplied. Thanks @shakkernerd.
 - Gateway/performance: avoid importing `jiti` on native-loadable plugin startup paths, so compiled bundled plugin surfaces do not pay source-transform loader cost unless fallback loading is actually needed.
-- Gateway/diagnostics: add startup phase spans, active work labels, stale terminal bridge markers, and default sync-I/O tracing in `pnpm gateway:watch` so slow Gateway turns are easier to attribute from logs and stability diagnostics.
+- Gateway/diagnostics: add startup phase spans, active work labels, stale terminal bridge markers, and opt-in sync-I/O tracing in `pnpm gateway:watch` so slow Gateway turns are easier to attribute from logs and stability diagnostics.
 - Plugins/loader: preserve real compiled plugin module evaluation errors on the native fast path instead of treating every thrown `.js` module as a source-transform fallback miss. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - QA/Mantis: add `pnpm openclaw qa mantis slack-desktop-smoke` to run Slack live QA inside a Crabbox VNC desktop, open Slack Web, and capture desktop screenshots beside the Slack QA artifacts.
 - QA/Mantis: add an opt-in Discord thread attachment before/after scenario that creates a real thread, calls `message.thread-reply` with `filePath`, and captures baseline/candidate screenshot evidence.
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Plugins/runtime state: add `registerIfAbsent` for atomic keyed-store dedupe claims that return whether a plugin successfully claimed a key without overwriting an existing live value. Thanks @amknight.
 - Exec approvals: add a tree-sitter-backed shell command explainer for future approval and command-review surfaces. (#75004) Thanks @jesse-merhi.
 - Control UI/performance: record browser long animation frame or long task entries in the debug event log when supported, making slow dashboard renders easier to attribute from the UI.
-- Gateway/diagnostics: add startup phase spans, active work labels, stale terminal bridge markers, and default sync-I/O tracing in `pnpm gateway:watch` so slow Gateway turns are easier to attribute from logs and stability diagnostics.
+- Gateway/diagnostics: add startup phase spans, active work labels, stale terminal bridge markers, and opt-in sync-I/O tracing in `pnpm gateway:watch` so slow Gateway turns are easier to attribute from logs and stability diagnostics.
 - QA/Codex harness: add targeted live Docker/Testbox diagnostics, auth preflight checks, cache mount fixes, and app-server protocol checkout discovery so maintainer harness failures are easier to reproduce. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - QA/Mantis: add `pnpm openclaw qa mantis slack-desktop-smoke` to run Slack live QA inside a Crabbox VNC desktop, open Slack Web, and capture desktop screenshots beside the Slack QA artifacts.
 - QA/Mantis: add visual desktop tasks with Crabbox MP4 recording, screenshot capture, and optional image-understanding assertions, and preserve video artifacts in Mantis before/after reports.
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Gateway/watch: leave `OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO` disabled by default in `pnpm gateway:watch:raw` so watch mode avoids noisy Node sync-I/O stack traces unless explicitly requested.
 - Providers: preserve non-OK `text/event-stream` response bodies so provider HTTP errors keep their JSON detail instead of collapsing to generic streaming failures. Fixes #78180.
 - Gateway/auth: make explicit `trusted-proxy` mode fail closed instead of accepting local password fallback credentials after trusted-proxy identity checks fail. Fixes #78684.
 - Active memory: treat Google Chat `spaces/...` conversation ids as scoped targets instead of runnable channel names so recall runs no longer fail bundled-plugin dirName validation. Fixes #78918.

docs/help/debugging.md

@@ -96,9 +96,9 @@ add Node's sync I/O trace flag through the source runner:
 OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO=1 pnpm openclaw gateway --force
 ```
 
-`pnpm gateway:watch` enables this flag by default for the watched Gateway child.
-Set `OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO=0` to suppress Node sync I/O trace output in watch
-mode.
+`pnpm gateway:watch` leaves this flag disabled by default for the watched
+Gateway child. Set `OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO=1` when you explicitly want Node
+sync I/O trace output in watch mode.
 
 ## Gateway watch mode
 

scripts/watch-node.mjs

@@ -277,9 +277,6 @@ export async function runWatchMain(params = {}) {
   // The watcher owns process restarts; keep SIGUSR1/config reloads in-process
   // so inherited launchd/systemd markers do not make the child exit and stall.
   childEnv.OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN = "1";
-  if (isGatewayWatchCommand(deps.args) && childEnv.OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO === undefined) {
-    childEnv.OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO = "1";
-  }
   if (deps.args.length > 0) {
     childEnv.OPENCLAW_WATCH_COMMAND = deps.args.join(" ");
   }

src/infra/watch-node.test.ts

@@ -143,11 +143,19 @@ describe("watch-node script", () => {
             OPENCLAW_WATCH_MODE: "1",
             OPENCLAW_WATCH_SESSION: "1700000000000-4242",
             OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN: "1",
-            OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO: "1",
             OPENCLAW_WATCH_COMMAND: "gateway --force",
           }),
         }),
       );
+      expect(spawn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        "/usr/local/bin/node",
+        ["scripts/run-node.mjs", "gateway", "--force"],
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          env: expect.not.objectContaining({
+            OPENCLAW_TRACE_SYNC_IO: expect.any(String),
+          }),
+        }),
+      );
       fakeProcess.emit("SIGINT");
       const exitCode = await runPromise;
       expect(exitCode).toBe(130);