`pushMetaToMonitor` and `resolveAgentId` were both calling
`api.runtime?.config?.loadConfig?.()` to read the agent list. That
deprecated path (openclaw warns at gateway start:
"plugin runtime config.loadConfig() is deprecated; use config.current()")
synchronously rebuilds the full plugin-metadata snapshot — realpathSync
walks every plugin's package.json + manifest + source up the directory
tree, hashWatchedFiles fingerprints every watched plugin file, and
discoverInDirectory re-scans every `dist/extensions/<plugin>` (~100 of
them on prod t2). Each rebuild costs ~6-7s of gateway CPU.
`pushMetaToMonitor` fires every `reportIntervalSec` (default 30s)
from `hooks/gateway-start.js`. With 100 plugins that put the gateway
into a chronic ~22-30% CPU baseline even with zero agent activity. V8
profile 2026-05-27 08:14:00 60s window (0 turns, 2 metadata pushes
during): lstat 44.2%, statSync(buildInstalledManifestRegistryIndexKey)
6.9%, hashWatchedFiles via memo key 1.7%, all routed through
`readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexInstallRecordsSync` -> per-plugin
`discoverInDirectory`.
Switching to `(api as any).config ?? api.runtime?.config?.loadConfig?.()`
reads from the snapshot cache the gateway already maintains — the same
pattern already used elsewhere in this file (e.g. the calendar wakeAgent
dispatcher at line 284). Same change applied to `resolveAgentId` (only
runs once at start, but same anti-pattern).
This is a plugin-side perf workaround. The underlying openclaw bug is
that `loadConfig()` rebuilds the snapshot rather than returning the
cached one — a chronic 'all sync cache validity checks pay the full
discovery cost' design issue worth pushing upstream separately (the
walks per-call cost we measured here is unrelated to and amplifies any
agent-turn-triggered walk path).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
hzhang
686f2c7cb0