Exec: mark child command env with OPENCLAW_CLI (#41411)

src/agents/sandbox-create-args.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE } from "../infra/openclaw-exec-env.js";
 import { buildSandboxCreateArgs } from "./sandbox/docker.js";
 import type { SandboxDockerConfig } from "./sandbox/types.js";
 
@@ -113,7 +114,14 @@ describe("buildSandboxCreateArgs", () => {
         "1.5",
       ]),
     );
-    expect(args).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(["--env", "LANG=C.UTF-8"]));
+    expect(args).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining([
+        "--env",
+        "LANG=C.UTF-8",
+        "--env",
+        `OPENCLAW_CLI=${OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE}`,
+      ]),
+    );
 
     const ulimitValues: string[] = [];
     for (let i = 0; i < args.length; i += 1) {

src/agents/sandbox/docker.ts

@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ export function execDockerRaw(
 }
 
 import { formatCliCommand } from "../../cli/command-format.js";
+import { markOpenClawExecEnv } from "../../infra/openclaw-exec-env.js";
 import { defaultRuntime } from "../../runtime.js";
 import { computeSandboxConfigHash } from "./config-hash.js";
 import { DEFAULT_SANDBOX_IMAGE } from "./constants.js";
@@ -365,7 +366,7 @@ export function buildSandboxCreateArgs(params: {
   if (params.cfg.user) {
     args.push("--user", params.cfg.user);
   }
-  const envSanitization = sanitizeEnvVars(params.cfg.env ?? {});
+  const envSanitization = sanitizeEnvVars(markOpenClawExecEnv(params.cfg.env ?? {}));
   if (envSanitization.blocked.length > 0) {
     log.warn(`Blocked sensitive environment variables: ${envSanitization.blocked.join(", ")}`);
   }

src/entry.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { shouldSkipRespawnForArgv } from "./cli/respawn-policy.js";
 import { normalizeWindowsArgv } from "./cli/windows-argv.js";
 import { isTruthyEnvValue, normalizeEnv } from "./infra/env.js";
 import { isMainModule } from "./infra/is-main.js";
+import { ensureOpenClawExecMarkerOnProcess } from "./infra/openclaw-exec-env.js";
 import { installProcessWarningFilter } from "./infra/warning-filter.js";
 import { attachChildProcessBridge } from "./process/child-process-bridge.js";
 
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ if (
   // Imported as a dependency — skip all entry-point side effects.
 } else {
   process.title = "openclaw";
+  ensureOpenClawExecMarkerOnProcess();
   installProcessWarningFilter();
   normalizeEnv();
   if (!isTruthyEnvValue(process.env.NODE_DISABLE_COMPILE_CACHE)) {

src/infra/host-env-security.test.ts

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   sanitizeHostExecEnv,
   sanitizeSystemRunEnvOverrides,
 } from "./host-env-security.js";
+import { OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE } from "./openclaw-exec-env.js";
 
 describe("isDangerousHostEnvVarName", () => {
   it("matches dangerous keys and prefixes case-insensitively", () => {
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ describe("sanitizeHostExecEnv", () => {
     });
 
     expect(env).toEqual({
+      OPENCLAW_CLI: OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE,
       PATH: "/usr/bin:/bin",
       OK: "1",
     });
@@ -68,6 +70,7 @@ describe("sanitizeHostExecEnv", () => {
     });
 
     expect(env.PATH).toBe("/usr/bin:/bin");
+    expect(env.OPENCLAW_CLI).toBe(OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE);
     expect(env.BASH_ENV).toBeUndefined();
     expect(env.GIT_SSH_COMMAND).toBeUndefined();
     expect(env.EDITOR).toBeUndefined();
@@ -91,6 +94,7 @@ describe("sanitizeHostExecEnv", () => {
     });
 
     expect(env.PATH).toBe("/usr/bin:/bin");
+    expect(env.OPENCLAW_CLI).toBe(OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE);
     expect(env.OK).toBe("1");
     expect(env.SHELLOPTS).toBeUndefined();
     expect(env.PS4).toBeUndefined();
@@ -109,6 +113,7 @@ describe("sanitizeHostExecEnv", () => {
     });
 
     expect(env.GOOD_KEY).toBe("ok");
+    expect(env.OPENCLAW_CLI).toBe(OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE);
     expect(env[" BAD KEY"]).toBeUndefined();
     expect(env["NOT-PORTABLE"]).toBeUndefined();
   });

src/infra/host-env-security.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import HOST_ENV_SECURITY_POLICY_JSON from "./host-env-security-policy.json" with { type: "json" };
+import { markOpenClawExecEnv } from "./openclaw-exec-env.js";
 
 const PORTABLE_ENV_VAR_KEY = /^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$/;
 
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ export function sanitizeHostExecEnv(params?: {
   }
 
   if (!overrides) {
-    return merged;
+    return markOpenClawExecEnv(merged);
   }
 
   for (const [rawKey, value] of Object.entries(overrides)) {
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ export function sanitizeHostExecEnv(params?: {
     merged[key] = value;
   }
 
-  return merged;
+  return markOpenClawExecEnv(merged);
 }
 
 export function sanitizeSystemRunEnvOverrides(params?: {

src/infra/openclaw-exec-env.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+export const OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VAR = "OPENCLAW_CLI";
+export const OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE = "1";
+
+export function markOpenClawExecEnv<T extends Record<string, string | undefined>>(env: T): T {
+  return {
+    ...env,
+    [OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VAR]: OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE,
+  };
+}
+
+export function ensureOpenClawExecMarkerOnProcess(
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
+): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
+  env[OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VAR] = OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE;
+  return env;
+}

src/process/exec.test.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import process from "node:process";
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE } from "../infra/openclaw-exec-env.js";
 import { attachChildProcessBridge } from "./child-process-bridge.js";
 import { resolveCommandEnv, runCommandWithTimeout, shouldSpawnWithShell } from "./exec.js";
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ describe("runCommandWithTimeout", () => {
     expect(resolved.OPENCLAW_BASE_ENV).toBe("base");
     expect(resolved.OPENCLAW_TEST_ENV).toBe("ok");
     expect(resolved.OPENCLAW_TO_REMOVE).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(resolved.OPENCLAW_CLI).toBe(OPENCLAW_CLI_ENV_VALUE);
   });
 
   it("suppresses npm fund prompts for npm argv", async () => {

src/process/exec.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import process from "node:process";
 import { promisify } from "node:util";
 import { danger, shouldLogVerbose } from "../globals.js";
+import { markOpenClawExecEnv } from "../infra/openclaw-exec-env.js";
 import { logDebug, logError } from "../logger.js";
 import { resolveCommandStdio } from "./spawn-utils.js";
 
@@ -213,7 +214,7 @@ export function resolveCommandEnv(params: {
       resolvedEnv.npm_config_fund = "false";
     }
   }
-  return resolvedEnv;
+  return markOpenClawExecEnv(resolvedEnv);
 }
 
 export async function runCommandWithTimeout(