Gateway: deep-compare array config paths for reload diff

src/gateway/config-reload.test.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,48 @@ describe("diffConfigPaths", () => {
     const paths = diffConfigPaths(prev, next);
     expect(paths).toContain("messages.groupChat.mentionPatterns");
   });
+
+  it("does not report unchanged arrays of objects as changed", () => {
+    const prev = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.md", name: "docs" }],
+          scope: {
+            rules: [{ when: { channel: "slack" }, include: ["docs"] }],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const next = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.md", name: "docs" }],
+          scope: {
+            rules: [{ when: { channel: "slack" }, include: ["docs"] }],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    expect(diffConfigPaths(prev, next)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("reports changed arrays of objects", () => {
+    const prev = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.md", name: "docs" }],
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const next = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.txt", name: "docs" }],
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    expect(diffConfigPaths(prev, next)).toContain("memory.qmd.paths");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("buildGatewayReloadPlan", () => {

src/gateway/config-reload.ts

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { isDeepStrictEqual } from "node:util";
 import chokidar from "chokidar";
 import { type ChannelId, listChannelPlugins } from "../channels/plugins/index.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig, ConfigFileSnapshot, GatewayReloadMode } from "../config/config.js";
@@ -150,7 +151,9 @@ export function diffConfigPaths(prev: unknown, next: unknown, prefix = ""): stri
     return paths;
   }
   if (Array.isArray(prev) && Array.isArray(next)) {
-    if (prev.length === next.length && prev.every((val, idx) => val === next[idx])) {
+    // Arrays can contain object entries (for example memory.qmd.paths/scope.rules);
+    // compare structurally so identical values are not reported as changed.
+    if (isDeepStrictEqual(prev, next)) {
       return [];
     }
   }