fix: lazy OpenAI client + canonical workspace detection from openclaw.json

Move OpenAI client initialization from module top-level to a lazy
singleton (lib/openai.ts) called inside route handlers. Prevents build
errors when gateway env vars aren't set. Also adds openclaw.json
agents.defaults.workspace as the first workspace detection source,
before falling back to filesystem paths.

Inspired by PR #21 (cherry-picked the good parts, skipped the fragile
cli-utils rewrite and the agents-registry simplification that dropped
sub-agents). Bumps to v0.8.8.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

app/api/chat/[id]/route.ts

@@ -3,14 +3,8 @@ export const runtime = 'nodejs'
 import { getAgent } from '@/lib/agents'
 import { validateChatMessages } from '@/lib/validation'
 import { hasImageContent, extractImageAttachments, buildTextPrompt, sendViaOpenClaw } from '@/lib/anthropic'
-import OpenAI from 'openai'
-import { gatewayBaseUrl } from '@/lib/env'
-
-// Route through the OpenClaw gateway — no separate API key needed
-const openai = new OpenAI({
-  baseURL: gatewayBaseUrl(),
-  apiKey: process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN,
-})
+import { getOpenAIClient } from '@/lib/openai'
+import type OpenAI from 'openai'
 
 const GATEWAY_TOKEN = process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN || ''
 
@@ -18,6 +12,7 @@ export async function POST(
   request: Request,
   { params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }
 ) {
+  const openai = getOpenAIClient()
   const { id } = await params
   const agent = await getAgent(id)
 

app/api/kanban/chat/[id]/route.ts

@@ -1,13 +1,8 @@
 export const runtime = 'nodejs'
 
 import { getAgent } from '@/lib/agents'
-import OpenAI from 'openai'
-import { gatewayBaseUrl } from '@/lib/env'
-
-const openai = new OpenAI({
-  baseURL: gatewayBaseUrl(),
-  apiKey: process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN,
-})
+import { getOpenAIClient } from '@/lib/openai'
+import type OpenAI from 'openai'
 
 const MAX_TITLE = 500
 const MAX_DESC = 5000
@@ -27,6 +22,7 @@ export async function POST(
   request: Request,
   { params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }
 ) {
+  const openai = getOpenAIClient()
   const { id } = await params
   const agent = await getAgent(id)
 

app/api/transcribe/route.ts

@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
 export const runtime = 'nodejs'
 
-import OpenAI from 'openai'
-import { gatewayBaseUrl } from '@/lib/env'
-
-const openai = new OpenAI({
-  baseURL: gatewayBaseUrl(),
-  apiKey: process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN,
-})
+import { getOpenAIClient } from '@/lib/openai'
 
 export async function POST(request: Request) {
+  const openai = getOpenAIClient()
   let formData: FormData
   try {
     formData = await request.formData()

app/api/tts/route.ts

@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
 export const runtime = 'nodejs'
 
-import OpenAI from 'openai'
-import { gatewayBaseUrl } from '@/lib/env'
-
-const openai = new OpenAI({
-  baseURL: gatewayBaseUrl(),
-  apiKey: process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN,
-})
+import { getOpenAIClient } from '@/lib/openai'
 
 export async function POST(request: Request) {
+  const openai = getOpenAIClient()
   try {
     const { text, voice } = await request.json()
 

lib/openai.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import OpenAI from 'openai'
+import { gatewayBaseUrl } from './env'
+
+/**
+ * Lazy-initialized OpenAI client routed through the OpenClaw gateway.
+ *
+ * Call inside route handlers, not at module top level, so builds don't
+ * fail when environment variables aren't set.
+ */
+let _openai: OpenAI | null = null
+
+export function getOpenAIClient(): OpenAI {
+  if (!_openai) {
+    _openai = new OpenAI({
+      baseURL: gatewayBaseUrl(),
+      apiKey: process.env.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN || '',
+    })
+  }
+  return _openai
+}

lib/setup-detection.ts

@@ -21,15 +21,28 @@ import { execSync } from 'child_process'
  * Detect the default workspace path.
  *
  * Checks in order:
- *   1. ~/.openclaw/agents/main/workspace  (current agent-scoped layout)
- *   2. ~/.openclaw/workspace-main         (multi-agent layout, main agent)
- *   3. ~/.openclaw/workspace-*            (multi-agent layout, any agent)
- *   4. ~/.openclaw/workspace              (legacy single-workspace layout)
+ *   1. ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json agents.defaults.workspace (canonical)
+ *   2. ~/.openclaw/agents/main/workspace  (current agent-scoped layout)
+ *   3. ~/.openclaw/workspace-main         (multi-agent layout, main agent)
+ *   4. ~/.openclaw/workspace-*            (multi-agent layout, any agent)
+ *   5. ~/.openclaw/workspace              (legacy single-workspace layout)
  */
 export function detectWorkspacePath(): string | null {
   const base = join(homedir(), '.openclaw')
 
-  // 1. Current agent-scoped layout
+  // 1. Read from openclaw.json (canonical source)
+  const configPath = join(base, 'openclaw.json')
+  if (existsSync(configPath)) {
+    try {
+      const config = JSON.parse(readFileSync(configPath, 'utf-8'))
+      const ws = config?.agents?.defaults?.workspace
+      if (typeof ws === 'string' && existsSync(ws)) return ws
+    } catch {
+      // Invalid JSON, fall through
+    }
+  }
+
+  // 2. Current agent-scoped layout
   const agentPath = join(base, 'agents', 'main', 'workspace')
   if (existsSync(agentPath)) return agentPath
 

package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "clawport-ui",
-  "version": "0.8.7",
+  "version": "0.8.8",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "clawport-ui",
-      "version": "0.8.7",
+      "version": "0.8.8",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@dagrejs/dagre": "^2.0.4",

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "clawport-ui",
-  "version": "0.8.7",
+  "version": "0.8.8",
   "description": "Open-source dashboard for managing, monitoring, and chatting with your OpenClaw AI agents.",
   "homepage": "https://clawport.dev",
   "repository": {

scripts/setup.mjs

@@ -45,7 +45,19 @@ function exec(cmd) {
 function detectWorkspacePath() {
   const base = join(homedir(), '.openclaw')
 
-  // 1. Current agent-scoped layout
+  // 1. Read from openclaw.json (canonical source)
+  const configPath = join(base, 'openclaw.json')
+  if (existsSync(configPath)) {
+    try {
+      const config = JSON.parse(readFileSync(configPath, 'utf-8'))
+      const ws = config?.agents?.defaults?.workspace
+      if (typeof ws === 'string' && existsSync(ws)) return ws
+    } catch {
+      // Invalid JSON, fall through
+    }
+  }
+
+  // 2. Current agent-scoped layout
   const agentPath = join(base, 'agents', 'main', 'workspace')
   if (existsSync(agentPath)) return agentPath