fix(install): --json preserves valid NDJSON for dynamic values (#128682)

* fix(install): preserve valid NDJSON for dynamic values

* fix(install): satisfy installer shell checks

scripts/install-cli.sh

@@ -161,10 +161,10 @@ cleanup_legacy_submodules() {
   local repo_dir="${1:-${OPENCLAW_GIT_DIR:-${OPENCLAW_EFFECTIVE_HOME}/openclaw}}"
   local legacy_dir="${repo_dir}/Peekaboo"
   if [[ -d "$legacy_dir" ]]; then
-    emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"legacy-submodule\",\"status\":\"start\",\"path\":\"${legacy_dir//\"/\\\"}\"}"
+    emit_json step name legacy-submodule status start path "$legacy_dir"
     log "Removing legacy submodule checkout: ${legacy_dir}"
     rm -rf "$legacy_dir"
-    emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"legacy-submodule\",\"status\":\"ok\",\"path\":\"${legacy_dir//\"/\\\"}\"}"
+    emit_json step name legacy-submodule status ok path "$legacy_dir"
   fi
 }
 
@@ -185,15 +185,63 @@ sha256_file() {
   fail "Missing sha256 tool (need sha256sum, shasum, or openssl)"
 }
 
+JSON_STRING=""
+quote_json_string() {
+  local value="${1:-}"
+  local char code escaped index
+  # Byte iteration escapes every C0 control without rewriting valid UTF-8 bytes.
+  # The final emitter can therefore guarantee one physical line per event.
+  local LC_ALL=C
+
+  JSON_STRING='"'
+  for ((index = 0; index < ${#value}; index++)); do
+    char="${value:index:1}"
+    case "$char" in
+      '"') JSON_STRING+='\"' ;;
+      \\) JSON_STRING+="\\\\" ;;
+      *)
+        printf -v code '%d' "'$char"
+        if ((code < 32)); then
+          printf -v escaped '\\u%04x' "$code"
+          JSON_STRING+="$escaped"
+        else
+          JSON_STRING+="$char"
+        fi
+        ;;
+    esac
+  done
+  JSON_STRING+='"'
+}
+
 emit_json() {
-  if [[ "$JSON" -eq 1 ]]; then
-    printf '%s\n' "$1"
+  if [[ "$JSON" -ne 1 ]]; then
+    return 0
   fi
+
+  local event="$1"
+  local key value output
+  shift
+  quote_json_string "$event"
+  output="{\"event\":${JSON_STRING}"
+  # `ok` is the installer's only non-string event field and belongs to done.
+  if [[ "$event" == "done" ]]; then
+    output+=',"ok":true'
+  fi
+  while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+    key="$1"
+    value="$2"
+    shift 2
+    quote_json_string "$key"
+    output+=",${JSON_STRING}:"
+    quote_json_string "$value"
+    output+="$JSON_STRING"
+  done
+  printf '%s}\n' "$output"
 }
 
 fail() {
   local msg="$1"
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"error\",\"message\":\"${msg//\"/\\\"}\"}"
+  emit_json error message "$msg"
   log "ERROR: $msg"
   exit 1
 }
@@ -220,7 +268,7 @@ preflight_fresh_git_disk_space() {
     return 0
   fi
 
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"disk-space\",\"status\":\"start\"}"
+  emit_json step name disk-space status start
   ancestor="$repo_dir"
   while [[ ! -e "$ancestor" ]]; do
     local parent
@@ -236,14 +284,14 @@ preflight_fresh_git_disk_space() {
 
   available_kib="$(available_disk_kib "$ancestor")"
   if [[ ! "$available_kib" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-    emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"disk-space\",\"status\":\"warn\",\"reason\":\"unreadable\"}"
+    emit_json step name disk-space status warn reason unreadable
     return 0
   fi
   if ((available_kib < FRESH_GIT_MIN_FREE_KIB)); then
     available_gib="$(awk -v kib="$available_kib" 'BEGIN { printf "%.1f", kib / 1048576 }')"
     fail "Fresh Git installs require at least 6 GiB of free disk space; only ${available_gib} GiB is available. Free disk space and retry."
   fi
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"disk-space\",\"status\":\"ok\"}"
+  emit_json step name disk-space status ok
 }
 
 has_sudo() {
@@ -256,11 +304,11 @@ is_root() {
 
 ensure_git() {
   if command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git","status":"ok"}'
+    emit_json step name git status ok
     return
   fi
 
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git","status":"start"}'
+  emit_json step name git status start
   log "Installing Git (required for npm installs)..."
 
   case "$(os_detect)" in
@@ -316,7 +364,7 @@ ensure_git() {
     fail "Git install failed. Install git manually and retry."
   fi
 
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git","status":"ok"}'
+  emit_json step name git status ok
 }
 
 parse_args() {
@@ -688,10 +736,10 @@ install_alpine_node() {
   local required_version
   local sqlite_version
 
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"node\",\"status\":\"start\",\"method\":\"apk\"}"
+  emit_json step name node status start method apk
   if try_link_usable_node_runtime_from_path; then
     installed_version="$("$(node_bin)" -v 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)"
-    emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"node\",\"status\":\"ok\",\"method\":\"system\",\"version\":\"${installed_version}\"}"
+    emit_json step name node status ok method system version "$installed_version"
     return
   fi
 
@@ -718,7 +766,7 @@ install_alpine_node() {
   fi
 
   installed_version="$("$(node_bin)" -v 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)"
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"node\",\"status\":\"ok\",\"method\":\"apk\",\"version\":\"${installed_version}\"}"
+  emit_json step name node status ok method apk version "$installed_version"
 }
 
 set_pnpm_cmd() {
@@ -1090,11 +1138,11 @@ install_node() {
   fi
 
   if linked_node_is_usable; then
-    emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"node\",\"status\":\"skip\",\"path\":\"${dir//\"/\\\\\\\"}\"}"
+    emit_json step name node status skip path "$dir"
     return
   fi
 
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"node\",\"status\":\"start\",\"version\":\"${NODE_VERSION}\"}"
+  emit_json step name node status start version "$NODE_VERSION"
   log "Installing Node ${NODE_VERSION} (user-space)..."
 
   mkdir -p "${PREFIX}/tools"
@@ -1135,7 +1183,7 @@ install_node() {
     sqlite_version="$(linked_node_sqlite_version)"
     fail "Installed Node ${NODE_VERSION} must provide Node >= ${required_version} with WAL-reset-safe SQLite; found Node ${installed_version}, SQLite ${sqlite_version}. Re-run with --node-version 24.19.0 (or newer)"
   fi
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"node\",\"status\":\"ok\",\"version\":\"${NODE_VERSION}\"}"
+  emit_json step name node status ok version "$NODE_VERSION"
 }
 
 ensure_pnpm() {
@@ -1149,27 +1197,27 @@ ensure_pnpm() {
   fi
 
   if [[ -x "$(node_dir)/bin/corepack" ]]; then
-    emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"pnpm\",\"status\":\"start\",\"method\":\"corepack\"}"
+    emit_json step name pnpm status start method corepack
     log "Installing pnpm via Corepack..."
     "$(node_dir)/bin/corepack" enable >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
     # Corepack downloads fail hard on npm registry key rotation (its bundled
     # signature set goes stale); the npm fallback below must stay reachable.
     if "$(node_dir)/bin/corepack" prepare pnpm@11 --activate; then
       if detect_pnpm_cmd && pnpm_cmd_is_ready && [[ "$("${PNPM_CMD[@]}" --version 2>/dev/null || true)" =~ ^11\. ]]; then
-        emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"pnpm\",\"status\":\"ok\"}"
+        emit_json step name pnpm status ok
         return 0
       fi
     else
-      emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"pnpm\",\"status\":\"warn\",\"reason\":\"corepack-failed\"}"
+      emit_json step name pnpm status warn reason corepack-failed
       log "Corepack could not provision pnpm; falling back to npm."
     fi
   fi
 
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"pnpm\",\"status\":\"start\",\"method\":\"npm\"}"
+  emit_json step name pnpm status start method npm
   log "Installing pnpm via npm..."
   "$(npm_bin)" install -g --prefix "$PREFIX" pnpm@11
   detect_pnpm_cmd || true
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"pnpm\",\"status\":\"ok\"}"
+  emit_json step name pnpm status ok
   return 0
 }
 
@@ -1201,7 +1249,7 @@ fix_npm_prefix_if_needed() {
   done
 
   export PATH="${target}/bin:${PATH}"
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"npm-prefix\",\"status\":\"ok\",\"prefix\":\"${target//\"/\\\"}\"}"
+  emit_json step name npm-prefix status ok prefix "$target"
   log "Configured npm prefix to ${target}"
 }
 
@@ -1376,7 +1424,7 @@ install_openclaw() {
   npm_cmd="$(npm_bin)"
   local npm_cwd="$PWD"
   lifecycle_arg="$(npm_lifecycle_allow_arg "$npm_cmd" "$install_spec" "$npm_cwd")" || return 1
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"openclaw\",\"status\":\"start\",\"version\":\"${requested}\"}"
+  emit_json step name openclaw status start version "$requested"
   log "Installing OpenClaw (${requested})..."
   if [[ "$SET_NPM_PREFIX" -eq 1 ]]; then
     fix_npm_prefix_if_needed
@@ -1391,7 +1439,7 @@ install_openclaw() {
   if ! env -u NPM_CONFIG_BEFORE -u npm_config_before -u NPM_CONFIG_MIN_RELEASE_AGE -u npm_config_min_release_age -u npm_config_min-release-age "$npm_cmd" "${npm_install_args[@]}" || [[ ! -f "$installed_entry" || -e "$install_guard" ]]; then
     log "npm install openclaw@${resolved_requested} did not produce a usable package; retrying once"
     if ! env -u NPM_CONFIG_BEFORE -u npm_config_before -u NPM_CONFIG_MIN_RELEASE_AGE -u npm_config_min_release_age -u npm_config_min-release-age "$npm_cmd" "${npm_install_args[@]}" || [[ ! -f "$installed_entry" || -e "$install_guard" ]]; then
-      emit_json '{"event":"error","message":"npm install did not produce a usable OpenClaw package"}'
+      emit_json error message "npm install did not produce a usable OpenClaw package"
       log "ERROR: npm install did not produce a usable OpenClaw package"
       return 1
     fi
@@ -1403,7 +1451,7 @@ install_openclaw() {
 set -euo pipefail
 exec "${PREFIX}/tools/node/bin/node" "$(node_dir)/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/entry.js" "\$@"
 EOF
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"openclaw\",\"status\":\"ok\",\"version\":\"${requested}\"}"
+  emit_json step name openclaw status ok version "$requested"
 }
 
 ensure_pnpm_git_prepare_allowlist() {
@@ -1534,18 +1582,18 @@ install_openclaw_from_git() {
     repo_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "$repo_dir")" && pwd -P)/$(basename "$repo_dir")"
   fi
 
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"openclaw\",\"status\":\"start\",\"method\":\"git\",\"repo\":\"${repo_url//\"/\\\"}\"}"
+  emit_json step name openclaw status start method git repo "$repo_url"
   if [[ -d "$repo_dir/.git" ]]; then
     log "Installing Openclaw from git checkout: ${repo_dir}"
   else
     log "Installing Openclaw from GitHub (${repo_url})..."
   fi
 
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-tools","status":"start"}'
+  emit_json step name git-tools status start
   ensure_git
   ensure_pnpm
   ensure_pnpm_binary_for_scripts
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-tools","status":"ok"}'
+  emit_json step name git-tools status ok
 
   if [[ -d "$repo_dir/.git" ]] &&
     ! git --git-dir="$repo_dir/.git" --work-tree="$repo_dir" rev-parse --verify --quiet 'HEAD^{commit}' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
@@ -1556,17 +1604,17 @@ install_openclaw_from_git() {
     :
   elif [[ -d "$repo_dir" ]]; then
     if [[ -z "$(ls -A "$repo_dir" 2>/dev/null || true)" ]]; then
-      emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-clone","status":"start"}'
+      emit_json step name git-clone status start
       clone_git_checkout_transactionally "$repo_url" "$repo_dir"
-      emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-clone","status":"ok"}'
+      emit_json step name git-clone status ok
       fresh_checkout=1
     else
       fail "Git install dir exists but is not a git repo: ${repo_dir}"
     fi
   else
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-clone","status":"start"}'
+    emit_json step name git-clone status start
     clone_git_checkout_transactionally "$repo_url" "$repo_dir"
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-clone","status":"ok"}'
+    emit_json step name git-clone status ok
     fresh_checkout=1
   fi
 
@@ -1575,15 +1623,15 @@ install_openclaw_from_git() {
   if [[ -z "$(git -C "$repo_dir" status --porcelain 2>/dev/null || true)" ]]; then
     log "Using git ref: ${git_ref}"
     if [[ "$fresh_checkout" -eq 0 ]]; then
-      emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-update","status":"start"}'
+      emit_json step name git-update status start
     fi
     checkout_git_openclaw_ref "$repo_dir" "$git_ref"
     if [[ "$fresh_checkout" -eq 0 ]]; then
-      emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-update","status":"ok"}'
+      emit_json step name git-update status ok
     fi
   else
     log "Repo is dirty; skipping git checkout/update"
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"git-update","status":"warn","reason":"dirty"}'
+    emit_json step name git-update status warn reason dirty
   fi
 
   if [[ -n "${REQUIRED_COMPATIBLE_VERSION:-}" ]]; then
@@ -1601,20 +1649,20 @@ install_openclaw_from_git() {
 
   local install_lockfile_flag
   install_lockfile_flag="$(git_install_lockfile_flag "$repo_dir" "$git_ref")"
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"dependencies","status":"start"}'
+  emit_json step name dependencies status start
   CI="${CI:-true}" run_pnpm -C "$repo_dir" install "$install_lockfile_flag"
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"dependencies","status":"ok"}'
+  emit_json step name dependencies status ok
 
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"control-ui","status":"start"}'
+  emit_json step name control-ui status start
   if ! run_pnpm -C "$repo_dir" ui:build; then
     log "UI build failed; continuing (CLI may still work)"
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"control-ui","status":"warn"}'
+    emit_json step name control-ui status warn
   else
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"control-ui","status":"ok"}'
+    emit_json step name control-ui status ok
   fi
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"cli-build","status":"start"}'
+  emit_json step name cli-build status start
   run_pnpm -C "$repo_dir" build
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"cli-build","status":"ok"}'
+  emit_json step name cli-build status ok
 
   mkdir -p "${PREFIX}/bin"
   publish_executable_wrapper "${PREFIX}/bin/openclaw" <<EOF
@@ -1622,7 +1670,7 @@ install_openclaw_from_git() {
 set -euo pipefail
 exec "${PREFIX}/tools/node/bin/node" "${repo_dir}/dist/entry.js" "\$@"
 EOF
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"step\",\"name\":\"openclaw\",\"status\":\"ok\",\"method\":\"git\"}"
+  emit_json step name openclaw status ok method git
 }
 
 is_gateway_daemon_loaded() {
@@ -1670,15 +1718,15 @@ refresh_gateway_service_if_loaded() {
   fi
 
   if ! is_gateway_daemon_loaded "$claw"; then
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"gateway-service","status":"skip","reason":"not-loaded"}'
+    emit_json step name gateway-service status skip reason not-loaded
     return 0
   fi
 
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"gateway-service","status":"start"}'
+  emit_json step name gateway-service status start
   log "Refreshing loaded gateway service..."
 
   if ! "$claw" gateway install --force >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"gateway-service","status":"warn","reason":"install-failed"}'
+    emit_json step name gateway-service status warn reason install-failed
     log "Warning: gateway service refresh failed; continuing."
     return 0
   fi
@@ -1686,7 +1734,7 @@ refresh_gateway_service_if_loaded() {
   # `gateway install --force` activates the replacement service. A second
   # restart can kill startup migrations and strand their lock until expiry.
   "$claw" gateway status --probe --json >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-  emit_json '{"event":"step","name":"gateway-service","status":"ok"}'
+  emit_json step name gateway-service status ok
 }
 
 main() {
@@ -1727,7 +1775,7 @@ main() {
   commit_wrapper_backup
 
   refresh_gateway_service_if_loaded
-  emit_json "{\"event\":\"done\",\"ok\":true,\"version\":\"${installed_version//\"/\\\"}\"}"
+  emit_json "done" version "$installed_version"
   log "OpenClaw installed (${installed_version})."
 
   if [[ "$RUN_ONBOARD" -eq 1 ]]; then

test/scripts/install-cli.test.ts

@@ -207,6 +207,62 @@ describe("install-cli.sh", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("round-trips dynamic installer values through independent NDJSON records", () => {
+    const root = tempDirs.make("openclaw-install-cli-json-events-");
+    const dynamicValue = `quote"\\lobster🦞${String.fromCharCode(
+      ...Array.from({ length: 31 }, (_, index) => index + 1),
+    )}end`;
+    const repo = join(root, dynamicValue);
+    const legacyDir = join(repo, "Peekaboo");
+    const fakeNode = join(root, "node");
+    mkdirSync(legacyDir, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(fakeNode, '#!/bin/bash\nprintf "%s" "$EVENT_VALUE"\n');
+    chmodSync(fakeNode, 0o755);
+
+    const success = runInstallCliShell(
+      [
+        "set -euo pipefail",
+        `cd ${JSON.stringify(process.cwd())}`,
+        `source ${JSON.stringify(SCRIPT_PATH)}`,
+        "JSON=1",
+        'cleanup_legacy_submodules "$REPO"',
+        "try_link_usable_node_runtime_from_path() { return 0; }",
+        `node_bin() { printf '%s\\n' ${JSON.stringify(fakeNode)}; }`,
+        "install_alpine_node",
+        'emit_json done version "$EVENT_VALUE"',
+      ].join("\n"),
+      { EVENT_VALUE: dynamicValue, REPO: repo },
+    );
+
+    expect(success.status, success.stderr || success.stdout).toBe(0);
+    expect(existsSync(legacyDir)).toBe(false);
+    const successLines = success.stdout.trimEnd().split("\n");
+    expect(successLines).toHaveLength(5);
+    const successEvents = successLines.map((line) => JSON.parse(line) as Record<string, unknown>);
+    expect(successEvents).toEqual([
+      { event: "step", name: "legacy-submodule", status: "start", path: legacyDir },
+      { event: "step", name: "legacy-submodule", status: "ok", path: legacyDir },
+      { event: "step", name: "node", status: "start", method: "apk" },
+      { event: "step", name: "node", status: "ok", method: "system", version: dynamicValue },
+      { event: "done", ok: true, version: dynamicValue },
+    ]);
+
+    const failure = runInstallCliShell(
+      [
+        "set -euo pipefail",
+        `cd ${JSON.stringify(process.cwd())}`,
+        `source ${JSON.stringify(SCRIPT_PATH)}`,
+        "JSON=1",
+        'fail "$EVENT_VALUE"',
+      ].join("\n"),
+      { EVENT_VALUE: dynamicValue },
+    );
+
+    expect(failure.status).toBe(1);
+    expect(failure.stdout.trimEnd().split("\n")).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(JSON.parse(failure.stdout)).toEqual({ event: "error", message: dynamicValue });
+  });
+
   it("rejects a git checkout without a commit before updating it", () => {
     const result = runInstallCliShell(`
       set -euo pipefail