fix: block invalid config startup

Co-authored-by: Muhammed Mukhthar CM <mukhtharcm@gmail.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 - Verbose: wrap tool summaries/output in markdown only for markdown-capable channels.
 - Telegram: accept tg/group/telegram prefixes + topic targets for inline button validation. (#1072) — thanks @danielz1z.
 - Telegram: split long captions into follow-up messages.
+- Config: block startup on invalid config, preserve best-effort doctor config, and keep rolling config backups. (#1083) — thanks @mukhtharcm.
 - Sub-agents: normalize announce delivery origin + queue bucketing by accountId to keep multi-account routing stable. (#1061, #1058) — thanks @adam91holt.
 - Sessions: include deliveryContext in sessions.list and reuse normalized delivery routing for announce/restart fallbacks. (#1058)
 - Sessions: propagate deliveryContext into last-route updates to keep account/channel routing stable. (#1058)

src/cli/program/preaction.ts

@@ -61,6 +61,15 @@ export function registerPreActionHooks(program: Command, programVersion: string)
 
   program.hook("preAction", async (_thisCommand, actionCommand) => {
     if (actionCommand.name() === "doctor") return;
+    const snapshot = await readConfigFileSnapshot();
+    if (snapshot.exists && !snapshot.valid) {
+      defaultRuntime.error(`Config invalid at ${snapshot.path}.`);
+      for (const issue of snapshot.issues) {
+        defaultRuntime.error(`- ${issue.path || "<root>"}: ${issue.message}`);
+      }
+      defaultRuntime.error("Run `clawdbot doctor` to repair, then retry.");
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
     const cfg = loadConfig();
     await autoMigrateLegacyState({ cfg });
   });

src/commands/doctor-config-flow.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { withTempHome } from "../../test/helpers/temp-home.js";
+import { loadAndMaybeMigrateDoctorConfig } from "./doctor-config-flow.js";
+
+describe("doctor config flow", () => {
+  it("preserves invalid config for doctor repairs", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(async (home) => {
+      const configDir = path.join(home, ".clawdbot");
+      await fs.mkdir(configDir, { recursive: true });
+      await fs.writeFile(
+        path.join(configDir, "clawdbot.json"),
+        JSON.stringify(
+          {
+            gateway: { auth: { mode: "token", token: 123 } },
+            agents: { list: [{ id: "pi" }] },
+          },
+          null,
+          2,
+        ),
+        "utf-8",
+      );
+
+      const result = await loadAndMaybeMigrateDoctorConfig({
+        options: { nonInteractive: true },
+        confirm: async () => false,
+      });
+
+      expect((result.cfg as Record<string, unknown>).gateway).toEqual({
+        auth: { mode: "token", token: 123 },
+      });
+    });
+  });
+});

src/commands/doctor-config-flow.ts

@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ export async function loadAndMaybeMigrateDoctorConfig(params: {
   confirm: (p: { message: string; initialValue: boolean }) => Promise<boolean>;
 }) {
   const snapshot = await readConfigFileSnapshot();
-  let cfg: ClawdbotConfig = snapshot.valid ? snapshot.config : {};
+  let cfg: ClawdbotConfig = snapshot.config ?? {};
   if (snapshot.exists && !snapshot.valid && snapshot.legacyIssues.length === 0) {
-    note("Config invalid; doctor will run with defaults.", "Config");
+    note("Config invalid; doctor will run with best-effort config.", "Config");
   }
 
   if (snapshot.legacyIssues.length > 0) {

src/config/config.backup-rotation.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { withTempHome } from "./test-helpers.js";
+import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "./types.js";
+
+describe("config backup rotation", () => {
+  it("keeps a 5-deep backup ring for config writes", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(async () => {
+      const { resolveConfigPath, writeConfigFile } = await import("./config.js");
+      const configPath = resolveConfigPath();
+      const buildConfig = (version: number): ClawdbotConfig =>
+        ({
+          identity: { name: `v${version}` },
+        }) as ClawdbotConfig;
+
+      for (let version = 0; version <= 6; version += 1) {
+        await writeConfigFile(buildConfig(version));
+      }
+
+      const readName = async (suffix = "") => {
+        const raw = await fs.readFile(`${configPath}${suffix}`, "utf-8");
+        return (JSON.parse(raw) as { identity?: { name?: string } }).identity?.name ?? null;
+      };
+
+      await expect(readName()).resolves.toBe("v6");
+      await expect(readName(".bak")).resolves.toBe("v5");
+      await expect(readName(".bak.1")).resolves.toBe("v4");
+      await expect(readName(".bak.2")).resolves.toBe("v3");
+      await expect(readName(".bak.3")).resolves.toBe("v2");
+      await expect(readName(".bak.4")).resolves.toBe("v1");
+      await expect(fs.stat(`${configPath}.bak.5`)).rejects.toThrow();
+    });
+  });
+});

src/config/io.ts

@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ const SHELL_ENV_EXPECTED_KEYS = [
   "CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_PASSWORD",
 ];
 
+const CONFIG_BACKUP_COUNT = 5;
+
 export type ParseConfigJson5Result = { ok: true; parsed: unknown } | { ok: false; error: string };
 
 function hashConfigRaw(raw: string | null): string {
@@ -73,6 +75,53 @@ export function resolveConfigSnapshotHash(snapshot: {
   return hashConfigRaw(snapshot.raw);
 }
 
+function coerceConfig(value: unknown): ClawdbotConfig {
+  if (!value || typeof value !== "object" || Array.isArray(value)) {
+    return {};
+  }
+  return value as ClawdbotConfig;
+}
+
+function rotateConfigBackupsSync(configPath: string, ioFs: typeof fs): void {
+  if (CONFIG_BACKUP_COUNT <= 1) return;
+  const backupBase = `${configPath}.bak`;
+  const maxIndex = CONFIG_BACKUP_COUNT - 1;
+  try {
+    ioFs.unlinkSync(`${backupBase}.${maxIndex}`);
+  } catch {
+    // best-effort
+  }
+  for (let index = maxIndex - 1; index >= 1; index -= 1) {
+    try {
+      ioFs.renameSync(`${backupBase}.${index}`, `${backupBase}.${index + 1}`);
+    } catch {
+      // best-effort
+    }
+  }
+  try {
+    ioFs.renameSync(backupBase, `${backupBase}.1`);
+  } catch {
+    // best-effort
+  }
+}
+
+async function rotateConfigBackups(configPath: string, ioFs: typeof fs.promises): Promise<void> {
+  if (CONFIG_BACKUP_COUNT <= 1) return;
+  const backupBase = `${configPath}.bak`;
+  const maxIndex = CONFIG_BACKUP_COUNT - 1;
+  await ioFs.unlink(`${backupBase}.${maxIndex}`).catch(() => {
+    // best-effort
+  });
+  for (let index = maxIndex - 1; index >= 1; index -= 1) {
+    await ioFs.rename(`${backupBase}.${index}`, `${backupBase}.${index + 1}`).catch(() => {
+      // best-effort
+    });
+  }
+  await ioFs.rename(backupBase, `${backupBase}.1`).catch(() => {
+    // best-effort
+  });
+}
+
 export type ConfigIoDeps = {
   fs?: typeof fs;
   json5?: typeof JSON5;
@@ -165,10 +214,13 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
 
     deps.fs.writeFileSync(tmp, json, { encoding: "utf-8", mode: 0o600 });
 
-    try {
-      deps.fs.copyFileSync(configPath, `${configPath}.bak`);
-    } catch {
-      // best-effort
+    if (deps.fs.existsSync(configPath)) {
+      rotateConfigBackupsSync(configPath, deps.fs);
+      try {
+        deps.fs.copyFileSync(configPath, `${configPath}.bak`);
+      } catch {
+        // best-effort
+      }
     }
 
     try {
@@ -344,7 +396,7 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
           raw,
           parsed: parsedRes.parsed,
           valid: false,
-          config: {},
+          config: coerceConfig(parsedRes.parsed),
           hash,
           issues: [{ path: "", message }],
           legacyIssues: [],
@@ -366,7 +418,7 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
           raw,
           parsed: parsedRes.parsed,
           valid: false,
-          config: {},
+          config: coerceConfig(resolved),
           hash,
           issues: [{ path: "", message }],
           legacyIssues: [],
@@ -379,17 +431,13 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
 
       const validated = validateConfigObject(resolvedConfigRaw);
       if (!validated.ok) {
-        const resolvedConfig =
-          typeof resolvedConfigRaw === "object" && resolvedConfigRaw !== null
-            ? (resolvedConfigRaw as ClawdbotConfig)
-            : {};
         return {
           path: configPath,
           exists: true,
           raw,
           parsed: parsedRes.parsed,
           valid: false,
-          config: resolvedConfig,
+          config: coerceConfig(resolvedConfigRaw),
           hash,
           issues: validated.issues,
           legacyIssues,
@@ -450,9 +498,12 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
       mode: 0o600,
     });
 
-    await deps.fs.promises.copyFile(configPath, `${configPath}.bak`).catch(() => {
-      // best-effort
-    });
+    if (deps.fs.existsSync(configPath)) {
+      await rotateConfigBackups(configPath, deps.fs.promises);
+      await deps.fs.promises.copyFile(configPath, `${configPath}.bak`).catch(() => {
+        // best-effort
+      });
+    }
 
     try {
       await deps.fs.promises.rename(tmp, configPath);

src/gateway/server.impl.ts

@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
   // Ensure all default port derivations (browser/bridge/canvas) see the actual runtime port.
   process.env.CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_PORT = String(port);
 
-  const configSnapshot = await readConfigFileSnapshot();
+  let configSnapshot = await readConfigFileSnapshot();
   if (configSnapshot.legacyIssues.length > 0) {
     if (isNixMode) {
       throw new Error(
@@ -157,6 +157,19 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
     }
   }
 
+  configSnapshot = await readConfigFileSnapshot();
+  if (configSnapshot.exists && !configSnapshot.valid) {
+    const issues =
+      configSnapshot.issues.length > 0
+        ? configSnapshot.issues
+            .map((issue) => `${issue.path || "<root>"}: ${issue.message}`)
+            .join("\n")
+        : "Unknown validation issue.";
+    throw new Error(
+      `Invalid config at ${configSnapshot.path}.\n${issues}\nRun "clawdbot doctor" to repair, then retry.`,
+    );
+  }
+
   const cfgAtStart = loadConfig();
   initSubagentRegistry();
   await autoMigrateLegacyState({ cfg: cfgAtStart, log });