fix(discord): autoThread ack reactions + exec approval null handling (#1511)

* fix(discord): gate autoThread by thread owner

* fix(discord): ack bot-owned autoThreads

* fix(discord): ack mentions in open channels

- Ack reactions in bot-owned autoThreads
- Ack reactions in open channels (no mention required)
- DRY: Pass pre-computed isAutoThreadOwnedByBot to avoid redundant checks
- Consolidate ack logic with explanatory comment

* fix: allow null values in exec.approval.request schema

The ExecApprovalRequestParamsSchema was rejecting null values for optional
fields like resolvedPath, but the calling code in bash-tools.exec.ts passes
null. This caused intermittent 'invalid exec.approval.request params'
validation errors.

Fix: Accept Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()]) for all optional string
fields in the schema. Update test to reflect new behavior.

* fix: align discord ack reactions with mention gating (#1511) (thanks @pvoo)

---------

Co-authored-by: Wimmie <wimmie@tameson.com>
Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 - Markdown: add per-channel table conversion (bullets for Signal/WhatsApp, code blocks elsewhere). (#1495) Thanks @odysseus0.
 
 ### Fixes
+- Discord: limit autoThread mention bypass to bot-owned threads; keep ack reactions mention-gated. (#1511) Thanks @pvoo.
+- Gateway: accept null optional fields in exec approval requests. (#1511) Thanks @pvoo.
 - TUI: forward unknown slash commands (for example, `/context`) to the Gateway.
 - TUI: include Gateway slash commands in autocomplete and `/help`.
 - CLI: skip usage lines in `clawdbot models status` when provider usage is unavailable.

src/discord/monitor.test.ts

@@ -377,12 +377,63 @@ describe("discord mention gating", () => {
       resolveDiscordShouldRequireMention({
         isGuildMessage: true,
         isThread: true,
+        botId: "bot123",
+        threadOwnerId: "bot123",
         channelConfig,
         guildInfo,
       }),
     ).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it("requires mention inside user-created threads with autoThread enabled", () => {
+    const guildInfo: DiscordGuildEntryResolved = {
+      requireMention: true,
+      channels: {
+        general: { allow: true, autoThread: true },
+      },
+    };
+    const channelConfig = resolveDiscordChannelConfig({
+      guildInfo,
+      channelId: "1",
+      channelName: "General",
+      channelSlug: "general",
+    });
+    expect(
+      resolveDiscordShouldRequireMention({
+        isGuildMessage: true,
+        isThread: true,
+        botId: "bot123",
+        threadOwnerId: "user456",
+        channelConfig,
+        guildInfo,
+      }),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("requires mention when thread owner is unknown", () => {
+    const guildInfo: DiscordGuildEntryResolved = {
+      requireMention: true,
+      channels: {
+        general: { allow: true, autoThread: true },
+      },
+    };
+    const channelConfig = resolveDiscordChannelConfig({
+      guildInfo,
+      channelId: "1",
+      channelName: "General",
+      channelSlug: "general",
+    });
+    expect(
+      resolveDiscordShouldRequireMention({
+        isGuildMessage: true,
+        isThread: true,
+        botId: "bot123",
+        channelConfig,
+        guildInfo,
+      }),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("inherits parent channel mention rules for threads", () => {
     const guildInfo: DiscordGuildEntryResolved = {
       requireMention: true,

src/discord/monitor/allow-list.ts

@@ -282,14 +282,33 @@ export function resolveDiscordChannelConfigWithFallback(params: {
 export function resolveDiscordShouldRequireMention(params: {
   isGuildMessage: boolean;
   isThread: boolean;
+  botId?: string | null;
+  threadOwnerId?: string | null;
   channelConfig?: DiscordChannelConfigResolved | null;
   guildInfo?: DiscordGuildEntryResolved | null;
+  /** Pass pre-computed value to avoid redundant checks. */
+  isAutoThreadOwnedByBot?: boolean;
 }): boolean {
   if (!params.isGuildMessage) return false;
-  if (params.isThread && params.channelConfig?.autoThread) return false;
+  // Only skip mention requirement in threads created by the bot (when autoThread is enabled).
+  const isBotThread = params.isAutoThreadOwnedByBot ?? isDiscordAutoThreadOwnedByBot(params);
+  if (isBotThread) return false;
   return params.channelConfig?.requireMention ?? params.guildInfo?.requireMention ?? true;
 }
 
+export function isDiscordAutoThreadOwnedByBot(params: {
+  isThread: boolean;
+  channelConfig?: DiscordChannelConfigResolved | null;
+  botId?: string | null;
+  threadOwnerId?: string | null;
+}): boolean {
+  if (!params.isThread) return false;
+  if (!params.channelConfig?.autoThread) return false;
+  const botId = params.botId?.trim();
+  const threadOwnerId = params.threadOwnerId?.trim();
+  return Boolean(botId && threadOwnerId && botId === threadOwnerId);
+}
+
 export function isDiscordGroupAllowedByPolicy(params: {
   groupPolicy: "open" | "disabled" | "allowlist";
   guildAllowlisted: boolean;

src/discord/monitor/message-handler.preflight.ts

@@ -328,9 +328,12 @@ export async function preflightDiscordMessage(
         } satisfies HistoryEntry)
       : undefined;
 
+  const threadOwnerId = threadChannel ? (threadChannel.ownerId ?? channelInfo?.ownerId) : undefined;
   const shouldRequireMention = resolveDiscordShouldRequireMention({
     isGuildMessage,
     isThread: Boolean(threadChannel),
+    botId,
+    threadOwnerId,
     channelConfig,
     guildInfo,
   });

src/discord/monitor/message-handler.process.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+const reactMessageDiscord = vi.fn(async () => {});
+const removeReactionDiscord = vi.fn(async () => {});
+
+vi.mock("../send.js", () => ({
+  reactMessageDiscord: (...args: unknown[]) => reactMessageDiscord(...args),
+  removeReactionDiscord: (...args: unknown[]) => removeReactionDiscord(...args),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../../auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.js", () => ({
+  dispatchReplyFromConfig: vi.fn(async () => ({
+    queuedFinal: false,
+    counts: { final: 0, tool: 0, block: 0 },
+  })),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../../auto-reply/reply/reply-dispatcher.js", () => ({
+  createReplyDispatcherWithTyping: vi.fn(() => ({
+    dispatcher: {},
+    replyOptions: {},
+    markDispatchIdle: vi.fn(),
+  })),
+}));
+
+import { processDiscordMessage } from "./message-handler.process.js";
+
+async function createBaseContext(overrides: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
+  const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "clawdbot-discord-"));
+  const storePath = path.join(dir, "sessions.json");
+  return {
+    cfg: { messages: { ackReaction: "👀" }, session: { store: storePath } },
+    discordConfig: {},
+    accountId: "default",
+    token: "token",
+    runtime: { log: () => {}, error: () => {} },
+    guildHistories: new Map(),
+    historyLimit: 0,
+    mediaMaxBytes: 1024,
+    textLimit: 4000,
+    replyToMode: "off",
+    ackReactionScope: "group-mentions",
+    groupPolicy: "open",
+    data: { guild: { id: "g1", name: "Guild" } },
+    client: { rest: {} },
+    message: {
+      id: "m1",
+      channelId: "c1",
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      attachments: [],
+    },
+    author: {
+      id: "U1",
+      username: "alice",
+      discriminator: "0",
+      globalName: "Alice",
+    },
+    channelInfo: { name: "general" },
+    channelName: "general",
+    isGuildMessage: true,
+    isDirectMessage: false,
+    isGroupDm: false,
+    commandAuthorized: true,
+    baseText: "hi",
+    messageText: "hi",
+    wasMentioned: false,
+    shouldRequireMention: true,
+    canDetectMention: true,
+    effectiveWasMentioned: true,
+    shouldBypassMention: false,
+    threadChannel: null,
+    threadParentId: undefined,
+    threadParentName: undefined,
+    threadParentType: undefined,
+    threadName: undefined,
+    displayChannelSlug: "general",
+    guildInfo: null,
+    guildSlug: "guild",
+    channelConfig: null,
+    baseSessionKey: "agent:main:discord:guild:g1",
+    route: {
+      agentId: "main",
+      channel: "discord",
+      accountId: "default",
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:discord:guild:g1",
+      mainSessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+    },
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  reactMessageDiscord.mockClear();
+  removeReactionDiscord.mockClear();
+});
+
+describe("processDiscordMessage ack reactions", () => {
+  it("skips ack reactions for group-mentions when mentions are not required", async () => {
+    const ctx = await createBaseContext({
+      shouldRequireMention: false,
+      effectiveWasMentioned: false,
+    });
+
+    await processDiscordMessage(ctx as any);
+
+    expect(reactMessageDiscord).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("sends ack reactions for mention-gated guild messages when mentioned", async () => {
+    const ctx = await createBaseContext({
+      shouldRequireMention: true,
+      effectiveWasMentioned: true,
+    });
+
+    await processDiscordMessage(ctx as any);
+
+    expect(reactMessageDiscord).toHaveBeenCalledWith("c1", "m1", "👀", { rest: {} });
+  });
+});

src/discord/monitor/message-utils.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export type DiscordChannelInfo = {
   name?: string;
   topic?: string;
   parentId?: string;
+  ownerId?: string;
 };
 
 type DiscordSnapshotAuthor = {
@@ -69,11 +70,13 @@ export async function resolveDiscordChannelInfo(
     const name = "name" in channel ? (channel.name ?? undefined) : undefined;
     const topic = "topic" in channel ? (channel.topic ?? undefined) : undefined;
     const parentId = "parentId" in channel ? (channel.parentId ?? undefined) : undefined;
+    const ownerId = "ownerId" in channel ? (channel.ownerId ?? undefined) : undefined;
     const payload: DiscordChannelInfo = {
       type: channel.type,
       name,
       topic,
       parentId,
+      ownerId,
     };
     DISCORD_CHANNEL_INFO_CACHE.set(channelId, {
       value: payload,

src/discord/monitor/threading.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export type DiscordThreadChannel = {
   name?: string | null;
   parentId?: string | null;
   parent?: { id?: string; name?: string };
+  ownerId?: string | null;
 };
 
 export type DiscordThreadStarter = {
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ export function resolveDiscordThreadChannel(params: {
     name: channelInfo?.name ?? undefined,
     parentId: channelInfo?.parentId ?? undefined,
     parent: undefined,
+    ownerId: channelInfo?.ownerId ?? undefined,
   };
 }
 

src/gateway/protocol/schema/exec-approvals.ts

@@ -92,13 +92,13 @@ export const ExecApprovalRequestParamsSchema = Type.Object(
   {
     id: Type.Optional(NonEmptyString),
     command: NonEmptyString,
-    cwd: Type.Optional(Type.String()),
-    host: Type.Optional(Type.String()),
-    security: Type.Optional(Type.String()),
-    ask: Type.Optional(Type.String()),
-    agentId: Type.Optional(Type.String()),
-    resolvedPath: Type.Optional(Type.String()),
-    sessionKey: Type.Optional(Type.String()),
+    cwd: Type.Optional(Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()])),
+    host: Type.Optional(Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()])),
+    security: Type.Optional(Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()])),
+    ask: Type.Optional(Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()])),
+    agentId: Type.Optional(Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()])),
+    resolvedPath: Type.Optional(Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()])),
+    sessionKey: Type.Optional(Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()])),
     timeoutMs: Type.Optional(Type.Integer({ minimum: 1 })),
   },
   { additionalProperties: false },

src/gateway/server-methods/exec-approval.test.ts

@@ -36,16 +36,16 @@ describe("exec approval handlers", () => {
       expect(validateExecApprovalRequestParams(params)).toBe(true);
     });
 
-    // This documents the TypeBox/AJV behavior that caused the Discord exec bug:
-    // Type.Optional(Type.String()) does NOT accept null, only string or undefined.
-    it("rejects request with resolvedPath as null", () => {
+    // Fixed: null is now accepted (Type.Union([Type.String(), Type.Null()]))
+    // This matches the calling code in bash-tools.exec.ts which passes null.
+    it("accepts request with resolvedPath as null", () => {
       const params = {
         command: "echo hi",
         cwd: "/tmp",
         host: "node",
         resolvedPath: null,
       };
-      expect(validateExecApprovalRequestParams(params)).toBe(false);
+      expect(validateExecApprovalRequestParams(params)).toBe(true);
     });
   });