fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents (#31969)

* fix(whatsapp): restore direct inbound metadata for relay agents

* fix(auto-reply): use shared inbound channel resolver for direct metadata

* chore(ci): retrigger checks after base update

* fix: add changelog attribution for inbound metadata relay fix (#31969) (thanks @Lucenx9)

---------

Co-authored-by: Simone <simone@example.com>
Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Doctor/local memory provider checks: stop false-positive local-provider warnings when `provider=local` and no explicit `modelPath` is set by honoring default local model fallback while still warning when gateway probe reports local embeddings not ready. (#32014) Fixes #31998. Thanks @adhishthite.
 - Feishu/Run channel fallback: prefer `Provider` over `Surface` when inferring queued run `messageProvider` fallback (when `OriginatingChannel` is missing), preventing Feishu turns from being mislabeled as `webchat` in mixed relay metadata contexts. (#31880) Fixes #31859. Thanks @liuxiaopai-ai.
 - Cron/session reaper reliability: move cron session reaper sweeps into `onTimer` `finally` and keep pruning active even when timer ticks fail early (for example cron store parse failures), preventing stale isolated run sessions from accumulating indefinitely. (#31996) Fixes #31946. Thanks @scoootscooob.
+- Inbound metadata/direct relay context: restore direct-channel conversation metadata blocks for external channels (for example WhatsApp) while preserving webchat-direct suppression, so relay agents recover sender/message identifiers without reintroducing internal webchat metadata noise. (#31969) Fixes #29972. Thanks @Lucenx9.
 - Sandbox/Docker setup command parsing: accept `agents.*.sandbox.docker.setupCommand` as either a string or a string array, and normalize arrays to newline-delimited shell scripts so multi-step setup commands no longer concatenate without separators. (#31953) Thanks @liuxiaopai-ai.
 - Gateway/Plugin HTTP route precedence: run explicit plugin HTTP routes before the Control UI SPA catch-all so registered plugin webhook/custom paths remain reachable, while unmatched paths still fall through to Control UI handling. (#31885) Thanks @Sid-Qin.
 - macOS/LaunchAgent security defaults: write `Umask=63` (octal `077`) into generated gateway launchd plists so post-update service reinstalls keep owner-only file permissions by default instead of falling back to system `022`. (#32022) Fixes #31905. Thanks @liuxiaopai-ai.

src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.test.ts

@@ -111,9 +111,10 @@ describe("buildInboundUserContextPrefix", () => {
     expect(text).toBe("");
   });
 
-  it("hides message identifiers for direct chats", () => {
+  it("hides message identifiers for direct webchat chats", () => {
     const text = buildInboundUserContextPrefix({
       ChatType: "direct",
+      OriginatingChannel: "webchat",
       MessageSid: "short-id",
       MessageSidFull: "provider-full-id",
     } as TemplateContext);
@@ -121,6 +122,33 @@ describe("buildInboundUserContextPrefix", () => {
     expect(text).toBe("");
   });
 
+  it("includes message identifiers for direct external-channel chats", () => {
+    const text = buildInboundUserContextPrefix({
+      ChatType: "direct",
+      OriginatingChannel: "whatsapp",
+      MessageSid: "short-id",
+      MessageSidFull: "provider-full-id",
+      SenderE164: " +15551234567 ",
+    } as TemplateContext);
+
+    const conversationInfo = parseConversationInfoPayload(text);
+    expect(conversationInfo["message_id"]).toBe("short-id");
+    expect(conversationInfo["message_id_full"]).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(conversationInfo["sender"]).toBe("+15551234567");
+    expect(conversationInfo["conversation_label"]).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("includes message identifiers for direct chats when channel is inferred from Provider", () => {
+    const text = buildInboundUserContextPrefix({
+      ChatType: "direct",
+      Provider: "whatsapp",
+      MessageSid: "provider-only-id",
+    } as TemplateContext);
+
+    const conversationInfo = parseConversationInfoPayload(text);
+    expect(conversationInfo["message_id"]).toBe("provider-only-id");
+  });
+
   it("does not treat group chats as direct based on sender id", () => {
     const text = buildInboundUserContextPrefix({
       ChatType: "group",

src/auto-reply/reply/inbound-meta.ts

@@ -31,6 +31,17 @@ function formatConversationTimestamp(value: unknown): string | undefined {
   }
 }
 
+function resolveInboundChannel(ctx: TemplateContext): string | undefined {
+  let channelValue = safeTrim(ctx.OriginatingChannel) ?? safeTrim(ctx.Surface);
+  if (!channelValue) {
+    const provider = safeTrim(ctx.Provider);
+    if (provider !== "webchat" && ctx.Surface !== "webchat") {
+      channelValue = provider;
+    }
+  }
+  return channelValue;
+}
+
 export function buildInboundMetaSystemPrompt(ctx: TemplateContext): string {
   const chatType = normalizeChatType(ctx.ChatType);
   const isDirect = !chatType || chatType === "direct";
@@ -44,18 +55,7 @@ export function buildInboundMetaSystemPrompt(ctx: TemplateContext): string {
   // Resolve channel identity: prefer explicit channel, then surface, then provider.
   // For webchat/Hub Chat sessions (when Surface is 'webchat' or undefined with no real channel),
   // omit the channel field entirely rather than falling back to an unrelated provider.
-  let channelValue = safeTrim(ctx.OriginatingChannel) ?? safeTrim(ctx.Surface);
+  const channelValue = resolveInboundChannel(ctx);
-  if (!channelValue) {
-    // Only fall back to Provider if it represents a real messaging channel.
-    // For webchat/internal sessions, ctx.Provider may be unrelated (e.g., the user's configured
-    // default channel), so skip it to avoid incorrect runtime labels like "channel=whatsapp".
-    const provider = safeTrim(ctx.Provider);
-    // Check if provider is "webchat" or if we're in an internal/webchat context
-    if (provider !== "webchat" && ctx.Surface !== "webchat") {
-      channelValue = provider;
-    }
-    // Otherwise leave channelValue undefined (no channel label)
-  }
 
   const payload = {
     schema: "openclaw.inbound_meta.v1",
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ export function buildInboundUserContextPrefix(ctx: TemplateContext): string {
   const blocks: string[] = [];
   const chatType = normalizeChatType(ctx.ChatType);
   const isDirect = !chatType || chatType === "direct";
+  const directChannelValue = resolveInboundChannel(ctx);
+  const includeDirectConversationInfo = Boolean(
+    directChannelValue && directChannelValue !== "webchat",
+  );
+  const shouldIncludeConversationInfo = !isDirect || includeDirectConversationInfo;
 
   const messageId = safeTrim(ctx.MessageSid);
   const messageIdFull = safeTrim(ctx.MessageSidFull);
@@ -92,16 +97,16 @@ export function buildInboundUserContextPrefix(ctx: TemplateContext): string {
   const timestampStr = formatConversationTimestamp(ctx.Timestamp);
 
   const conversationInfo = {
-    message_id: isDirect ? undefined : resolvedMessageId,
+    message_id: shouldIncludeConversationInfo ? resolvedMessageId : undefined,
-    reply_to_id: isDirect ? undefined : safeTrim(ctx.ReplyToId),
+    reply_to_id: shouldIncludeConversationInfo ? safeTrim(ctx.ReplyToId) : undefined,
-    sender_id: isDirect ? undefined : safeTrim(ctx.SenderId),
+    sender_id: shouldIncludeConversationInfo ? safeTrim(ctx.SenderId) : undefined,
     conversation_label: isDirect ? undefined : safeTrim(ctx.ConversationLabel),
-    sender: isDirect
+    sender: shouldIncludeConversationInfo
-      ? undefined
+      ? (safeTrim(ctx.SenderName) ??
-      : (safeTrim(ctx.SenderName) ??
         safeTrim(ctx.SenderE164) ??
         safeTrim(ctx.SenderId) ??
-        safeTrim(ctx.SenderUsername)),
+        safeTrim(ctx.SenderUsername))
+      : undefined,
     timestamp: timestampStr,
     group_subject: safeTrim(ctx.GroupSubject),
     group_channel: safeTrim(ctx.GroupChannel),