fix(memory): fail closed for Windows qmd wrappers

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Agents/embedded runner: recover canonical allowlisted tool names from malformed `toolCallId` and malformed non-blank tool-name variants before dispatch, while failing closed on ambiguous matches. (#34485) thanks @yuweuii.
 - Agents/failover: classify ZenMux quota-refresh `402` responses as `rate_limit` so model fallback retries continue instead of stopping on a temporary subscription window. (#43917) thanks @bwjoke.
 - Agents/failover: classify HTTP 422 malformed-request responses as `format` and recognize OpenRouter "requires more credits" billing errors so provider fallback triggers instead of surfacing raw errors. (#43823) thanks @jnMetaCode.
+- Memory/QMD Windows: fail closed when `qmd.cmd` or `mcporter.cmd` wrappers cannot be resolved to a direct entrypoint, so memory search no longer falls back to shell execution on Windows.
 
 ## 2026.3.8
 

src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts

@@ -1078,7 +1078,23 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
 
   it("resolves bare qmd command to a Windows-compatible spawn invocation", async () => {
     const platformSpy = vi.spyOn(process, "platform", "get").mockReturnValue("win32");
+    const previousPath = process.env.PATH;
     try {
+      const nodeModulesDir = path.join(tmpRoot, "node_modules");
+      const shimDir = path.join(nodeModulesDir, ".bin");
+      const packageDir = path.join(nodeModulesDir, "qmd");
+      const scriptPath = path.join(packageDir, "dist", "cli.js");
+      await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(scriptPath), { recursive: true });
+      await fs.mkdir(shimDir, { recursive: true });
+      await fs.writeFile(path.join(shimDir, "qmd.cmd"), "@echo off\r\n", "utf8");
+      await fs.writeFile(
+        path.join(packageDir, "package.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({ name: "qmd", version: "0.0.0", bin: { qmd: "dist/cli.js" } }),
+        "utf8",
+      );
+      await fs.writeFile(scriptPath, "module.exports = {};\n", "utf8");
+      process.env.PATH = `${shimDir};${previousPath ?? ""}`;
+
       const { manager } = await createManager({ mode: "status" });
       await manager.sync({ reason: "manual" });
 
@@ -1093,19 +1109,14 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
       for (const call of qmdCalls) {
         const command = String(call[0]);
         const options = call[2] as { shell?: boolean } | undefined;
-        if (/(^|[\\/])qmd(?:\.cmd)?$/i.test(command)) {
+        expect(command).not.toMatch(/(^|[\\/])qmd\.cmd$/i);
-          // Wrapper unresolved: keep `.cmd` and use shell for PATHEXT lookup.
+        expect(options?.shell).not.toBe(true);
-          expect(command.toLowerCase().endsWith("qmd.cmd")).toBe(true);
-          expect(options?.shell).toBe(true);
-        } else {
-          // Wrapper resolved to node/exe entrypoint: shell fallback should not be used.
-          expect(options?.shell).not.toBe(true);
-        }
       }
 
       await manager.close();
     } finally {
       platformSpy.mockRestore();
+      process.env.PATH = previousPath;
     }
   });
 
@@ -1576,9 +1587,25 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
     await manager.close();
   });
 
-  it("uses mcporter.cmd on Windows when mcporter bridge is enabled", async () => {
+  it("resolves mcporter to a direct Windows entrypoint without enabling shell mode", async () => {
     const platformSpy = vi.spyOn(process, "platform", "get").mockReturnValue("win32");
+    const previousPath = process.env.PATH;
     try {
+      const nodeModulesDir = path.join(tmpRoot, "node_modules");
+      const shimDir = path.join(nodeModulesDir, ".bin");
+      const packageDir = path.join(nodeModulesDir, "mcporter");
+      const scriptPath = path.join(packageDir, "dist", "cli.js");
+      await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(scriptPath), { recursive: true });
+      await fs.mkdir(shimDir, { recursive: true });
+      await fs.writeFile(path.join(shimDir, "mcporter.cmd"), "@echo off\r\n", "utf8");
+      await fs.writeFile(
+        path.join(packageDir, "package.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({ name: "mcporter", version: "0.0.0", bin: { mcporter: "dist/cli.js" } }),
+        "utf8",
+      );
+      await fs.writeFile(scriptPath, "module.exports = {};\n", "utf8");
+      process.env.PATH = `${shimDir};${previousPath ?? ""}`;
+
       cfg = {
         ...cfg,
         memory: {
@@ -1612,21 +1639,17 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
       const callCommand = mcporterCall?.[0];
       expect(typeof callCommand).toBe("string");
       const options = mcporterCall?.[2] as { shell?: boolean } | undefined;
-      if (isMcporterCommand(callCommand)) {
+      expect(callCommand).not.toBe("mcporter.cmd");
-        expect(callCommand).toBe("mcporter.cmd");
+      expect(options?.shell).not.toBe(true);
-        expect(options?.shell).toBe(true);
-      } else {
-        // If wrapper entrypoint resolution succeeded, spawn may invoke node/exe directly.
-        expect(options?.shell).not.toBe(true);
-      }
 
       await manager.close();
     } finally {
       platformSpy.mockRestore();
+      process.env.PATH = previousPath;
     }
   });
 
-  it("retries mcporter search with bare command on Windows EINVAL cmd-shim failures", async () => {
+  it("fails closed on Windows EINVAL cmd-shim failures instead of retrying through the shell", async () => {
     const platformSpy = vi.spyOn(process, "platform", "get").mockReturnValue("win32");
     const previousPath = process.env.PATH;
     try {
@@ -1647,7 +1670,6 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
         },
       } as OpenClawConfig;
 
-      let sawRetry = false;
       let firstCallCommand: string | null = null;
       spawnMock.mockImplementation((cmd: string, args: string[]) => {
         if (args[0] === "call" && firstCallCommand === null) {
@@ -1661,12 +1683,6 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
           });
           return child;
         }
-        if (args[0] === "call" && cmd === "mcporter") {
-          sawRetry = true;
-          const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
-          emitAndClose(child, "stdout", JSON.stringify({ results: [] }));
-          return child;
-        }
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
         emitAndClose(child, "stdout", "[]");
         return child;
@@ -1675,16 +1691,16 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
       const { manager } = await createManager();
       await expect(
         manager.search("hello", { sessionKey: "agent:main:slack:dm:u123" }),
-      ).resolves.toEqual([]);
+      ).rejects.toThrow(/without shell execution|EINVAL/);
       const attemptedCmdShim = (firstCallCommand ?? "").toLowerCase().endsWith(".cmd");
       if (attemptedCmdShim) {
-        expect(sawRetry).toBe(true);
+        expect(
-        expect(logWarnMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          spawnMock.mock.calls.some(
-          expect.stringContaining("retrying with bare mcporter"),
+            (call: unknown[]) =>
-        );
+              call[0] === "mcporter" &&
-      } else {
+              (call[2] as { shell?: boolean } | undefined)?.shell === true,
-        // When wrapper resolution upgrades to a direct node/exe entrypoint, cmd-shim retry is unnecessary.
+          ),
-        expect(sawRetry).toBe(false);
+        ).toBe(false);
       }
       await manager.close();
     } finally {

src/memory/qmd-manager.ts

@@ -8,11 +8,7 @@ import { resolveStateDir } from "../config/paths.js";
 import { writeFileWithinRoot } from "../infra/fs-safe.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../logging/subsystem.js";
 import { isFileMissingError, statRegularFile } from "./fs-utils.js";
-import {
+import { resolveCliSpawnInvocation, runCliCommand } from "./qmd-process.js";
-  isWindowsCommandShimEinval,
-  resolveCliSpawnInvocation,
-  runCliCommand,
-} from "./qmd-process.js";
 import { deriveQmdScopeChannel, deriveQmdScopeChatType, isQmdScopeAllowed } from "./qmd-scope.js";
 import {
   listSessionFilesForAgent,
@@ -1248,50 +1244,21 @@ export class QmdMemoryManager implements MemorySearchManager {
     args: string[],
     opts?: { timeoutMs?: number },
   ): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }> {
-    const runWithInvocation = async (spawnInvocation: {
+    const spawnInvocation = resolveCliSpawnInvocation({
-      command: string;
-      argv: string[];
-      shell?: boolean;
-      windowsHide?: boolean;
-    }): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }> =>
-      await runCliCommand({
-        commandSummary: `${spawnInvocation.command} ${spawnInvocation.argv.join(" ")}`,
-        spawnInvocation,
-        // Keep mcporter and direct qmd commands on the same agent-scoped XDG state.
-        env: this.env,
-        cwd: this.workspaceDir,
-        timeoutMs: opts?.timeoutMs,
-        maxOutputChars: this.maxQmdOutputChars,
-      });
-
-    const primaryInvocation = resolveCliSpawnInvocation({
       command: "mcporter",
       args,
       env: this.env,
       packageName: "mcporter",
     });
-    try {
+    return await runCliCommand({
-      return await runWithInvocation(primaryInvocation);
+      commandSummary: `${spawnInvocation.command} ${spawnInvocation.argv.join(" ")}`,
-    } catch (err) {
+      spawnInvocation,
-      if (
+      // Keep mcporter and direct qmd commands on the same agent-scoped XDG state.
-        !isWindowsCommandShimEinval({
+      env: this.env,
-          err,
+      cwd: this.workspaceDir,
-          command: primaryInvocation.command,
+      timeoutMs: opts?.timeoutMs,
-          commandBase: "mcporter",
+      maxOutputChars: this.maxQmdOutputChars,
-        })
+    });
-      ) {
-        throw err;
-      }
-      // Some Windows npm cmd shims can still throw EINVAL on spawn; retry through
-      // shell command resolution so PATH/PATHEXT can select a runnable entrypoint.
-      log.warn("mcporter.cmd spawn returned EINVAL on Windows; retrying with bare mcporter");
-      return await runWithInvocation({
-        command: "mcporter",
-        argv: args,
-        shell: true,
-        windowsHide: true,
-      });
-    }
   }
 
   private async runQmdSearchViaMcporter(params: {

src/memory/qmd-process.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { resolveCliSpawnInvocation } from "./qmd-process.js";
+
+describe("resolveCliSpawnInvocation", () => {
+  let tempDir = "";
+  let platformSpy: { mockRestore(): void } | null = null;
+  const originalPath = process.env.PATH;
+  const originalPathExt = process.env.PATHEXT;
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-qmd-win-spawn-"));
+    platformSpy = vi.spyOn(process, "platform", "get").mockReturnValue("win32");
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    platformSpy?.mockRestore();
+    process.env.PATH = originalPath;
+    process.env.PATHEXT = originalPathExt;
+    if (tempDir) {
+      await fs.rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      tempDir = "";
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("unwraps npm cmd shims to a direct node entrypoint", async () => {
+    const binDir = path.join(tempDir, "node_modules", ".bin");
+    const packageDir = path.join(tempDir, "node_modules", "qmd");
+    const scriptPath = path.join(packageDir, "dist", "cli.js");
+    await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(scriptPath), { recursive: true });
+    await fs.mkdir(binDir, { recursive: true });
+    await fs.writeFile(path.join(binDir, "qmd.cmd"), "@echo off\r\n", "utf8");
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(packageDir, "package.json"),
+      JSON.stringify({ name: "qmd", version: "0.0.0", bin: { qmd: "dist/cli.js" } }),
+      "utf8",
+    );
+    await fs.writeFile(scriptPath, "module.exports = {};\n", "utf8");
+
+    process.env.PATH = `${binDir};${originalPath ?? ""}`;
+    process.env.PATHEXT = ".CMD;.EXE";
+
+    const invocation = resolveCliSpawnInvocation({
+      command: "qmd",
+      args: ["query", "hello"],
+      env: process.env,
+      packageName: "qmd",
+    });
+
+    expect(invocation.command).toBe(process.execPath);
+    expect(invocation.argv).toEqual([scriptPath, "query", "hello"]);
+    expect(invocation.shell).not.toBe(true);
+    expect(invocation.windowsHide).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("fails closed when a Windows cmd shim cannot be resolved without shell execution", async () => {
+    const binDir = path.join(tempDir, "bad-bin");
+    await fs.mkdir(binDir, { recursive: true });
+    await fs.writeFile(path.join(binDir, "qmd.cmd"), "@echo off\r\nREM no entrypoint\r\n", "utf8");
+
+    process.env.PATH = `${binDir};${originalPath ?? ""}`;
+    process.env.PATHEXT = ".CMD;.EXE";
+
+    expect(() =>
+      resolveCliSpawnInvocation({
+        command: "qmd",
+        args: ["query", "hello"],
+        env: process.env,
+        packageName: "qmd",
+      }),
+    ).toThrow(/without shell execution/);
+  });
+});

src/memory/qmd-process.ts

@@ -43,27 +43,11 @@ export function resolveCliSpawnInvocation(params: {
     env: params.env,
     execPath: process.execPath,
     packageName: params.packageName,
-    allowShellFallback: true,
+    allowShellFallback: false,
   });
   return materializeWindowsSpawnProgram(program, params.args);
 }
 
-export function isWindowsCommandShimEinval(params: {
-  err: unknown;
-  command: string;
-  commandBase: string;
-}): boolean {
-  if (process.platform !== "win32") {
-    return false;
-  }
-  const errno = params.err as NodeJS.ErrnoException | undefined;
-  if (errno?.code !== "EINVAL") {
-    return false;
-  }
-  const escapedBase = params.commandBase.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, "\\$&");
-  return new RegExp(`(^|[\\\\/])${escapedBase}\\.cmd$`, "i").test(params.command);
-}
-
 export async function runCliCommand(params: {
   commandSummary: string;
   spawnInvocation: CliSpawnInvocation;