fix: add better-sqlite3 and koffi to onlyBuiltDependencies allowlist by Copilot · Pull Request #7 · Secret297-CODER-SOURCE/openclaw

Copilot · 2026-03-10T10:59:31Z

better-sqlite3 was absent from pnpm-workspace.yaml's onlyBuiltDependencies allowlist, causing pnpm to silently skip its native binding compilation. Result: telegram-manager failed to load at gateway start with Cannot find module 'better-sqlite3' / missing better_sqlite3.node.

Summary

Problem: better-sqlite3 not in onlyBuiltDependencies → pnpm skips its install script → native .node binding never built → telegram-manager plugin crashes on load
Why it matters: telegram-manager is completely non-functional without the binding; error is silent and confusing (no build-time warning, only a runtime crash)
What changed: Added better-sqlite3 and koffi to onlyBuiltDependencies in pnpm-workspace.yaml. koffi already ran its install script successfully per logs but was undeclared — added for correctness.
What did NOT change: No code, no deps, no lockfile — config-only, one file

Change Type (select all)

Scope (select all touched areas)

Linked Issue/PR

Related #

User-visible / Behavior Changes

telegram-manager plugin loads successfully after pnpm install. Previously crashed gateway startup with a native binding error.

Security Impact (required)

New permissions/capabilities? No
Secrets/tokens handling changed? No
New/changed network calls? No
Command/tool execution surface changed? No — onlyBuiltDependencies is an allowlist; adding entries permits already-present packages to run their own declared install scripts, not arbitrary code
Data access scope changed? No

Repro + Verification

Environment

OS: macOS (darwin/arm64)
Runtime/container: Node v22
Model/provider: N/A
Integration/channel (if any): telegram-manager extension
Relevant config (redacted): N/A

Steps

pnpm install
openclaw gateway run

Expected

telegram-manager plugin loads; no binding errors in gateway log

Actual (before fix)

[plugins] telegram-manager failed to load: Error: Cannot find module 'better-sqlite3'

Evidence

Failing test/log before + passing after
Trace/log snippets — error reproduced in problem statement logs; fix resolves the missing install script execution
Screenshot/recording
Perf numbers (if relevant)

Human Verification (required)

Verified scenarios: pnpm-workspace.yaml diff is minimal and correct; koffi confirmed already running install script in logs prior to this fix
Edge cases checked: alphabetical ordering maintained in list; no duplicate entries introduced
What you did not verify: full pnpm install + gateway boot cycle in this environment (no native build toolchain available in sandbox)

Compatibility / Migration

Backward compatible? Yes
Config/env changes? No
Migration needed? Yes — users must run pnpm install once after pulling to trigger the better-sqlite3 native build

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

How to disable/revert this change quickly: revert pnpm-workspace.yaml; run pnpm install
Files/config to restore: pnpm-workspace.yaml
Known bad symptoms: if better-sqlite3 build fails on a platform, gateway will log a native binding error on telegram-manager load (same as before — no regression, just no improvement on that platform)

Risks and Mitigations

Risk: better-sqlite3 native build fails on a platform (e.g. missing Python/node-gyp)
- Mitigation: Failure is isolated to telegram-manager plugin load; gateway continues running. No worse than the current state.

Original prompt

Problem

The telegram-manager extension fails to load with:

Error: Cannot find module 'better-sqlite3'
Require stack:
- extensions/telegram-manager/src/storage/TelegramStorage.ts

This happens because pnpm-workspace.yaml has an onlyBuiltDependencies allowlist that controls which packages are allowed to run install/build scripts. better-sqlite3 is missing from this list, so pnpm never compiles its native .node binding for the current platform (darwin/arm64, Node v22).

Root Cause

In pnpm-workspace.yaml:

onlyBuiltDependencies:
  - "@lydell/node-pty"
  - "@matrix-org/matrix-sdk-crypto-nodejs"
  - "@napi-rs/canvas"
  - "@whiskeysockets/baileys"
  - authenticate-pam
  - esbuild
  - node-llama-cpp
  - protobufjs
  - sharp

better-sqlite3 is not in this list. pnpm's onlyBuiltDependencies is a security allowlist — if a package is not on it, its install/postinstall build scripts are silently skipped. Without those scripts, the native .node binding (better_sqlite3.node) is never compiled, so Node.js cannot require('better-sqlite3').

Fix

Add better-sqlite3 to the onlyBuiltDependencies list in pnpm-workspace.yaml:

packages:
  - .
  - ui
  - packages/*
  - extensions/*

onlyBuiltDependencies:
  - "@lydell/node-pty"
  - "@matrix-org/matrix-sdk-crypto-nodejs"
  - "@napi-rs/canvas"
  - "@whiskeysockets/baileys"
  - authenticate-pam
  - better-sqlite3
  - esbuild
  - koffi
  - node-llama-cpp
  - protobufjs
  - sharp

Note: koffi is also added since it already runs its install script successfully (visible in the logs) — it should be in the list too for consistency and correctness.

After this change, the user must run:

pnpm install

to trigger the native build for better-sqlite3.

The following is the prior conversation context from the user's chat exploration (may be truncated):

User: zsh: command not found: #
Now using node v22.22.1 (npm v10.9.4)
zsh: command not found: #
worker@MacBook-Air-Worker openclaw % # Ensure Node 22
nvm use 22

Remove old modules and lockfile

rm -rf node_modules pnpm-lock.yaml

Reinstall everything

pnpm install -w

Rebuild native modules

pnpm rebuild

Build the Control UI

pnpm ui:build
zsh: command not found: #
Now using node v22.22.1 (npm v10.9.4)
zsh: command not found: #
zsh: command not found: #
WARN 15 deprecated subdependencies found: are-we-there-yet@2.0.0, are-we-there-yet@3.0.1, form-data@2.5.4, gauge@3.0.2, gauge@4.0.4, glob@10.5.0, glob@7.2.3, has-own@1.0.1, inflight@1.0.6, node-domexception@1.0.0, npmlog@5.0.1, npmlog@6.0.2, prebuild-install@7.1.3, rimraf@3.0.2, yaeti@0.0.6
Progress: resolved 1264, reused 1, downloaded 0, added 0, done
WARN Issues with peer dependencies found
.
└─┬ oxlint 1.52.0
└── ✕ unmet peer oxlint-tsgolint@>=0.15.0: found 0.14.2

extensions/matrix
└─┬ @vector-im/matrix-bot-sdk 0.8.0-element.3
└─┬ @cypress/request-promise 5.0.0
└─┬ request-promise-core 1.1.3
└── ✕ unmet peer request@^2.34: found 3.0.10

extensions/telegram-manager
└─┬ openclaw 2026.3.8
├── ✕ unmet peer node-llama-cpp@3.16.2: found 3.15.1
└─┬ @buape/carbon 0.0.0-beta-20260216184201
└─┬ @discordjs/voice 0.19.0
└─┬ prism-media 1.3.5
└── ✕ unmet peer opusscript@^0.0.8: found 0.1.1 in openclaw
Packages: +825
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
. prepare$ command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1 && git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree >/dev/null 2>&1 && git config core.hooksPath git-hooks || exit 0
└─ Done in 58ms
Done in 16.1s using pnpm v10.23.0
zsh: command not found: #
node_modules/.pnpm/koffi@2.15.1/node_modules/koffi: Running install script, done in 338ms
node_modules/.pnpm/esbuild@0.27.3/node_modules/esbuild: Running postinstall script, done in 337ms
node_modules/.pnpm/protobufjs@7.5.4/node_modules/protobufjs: Running postinstall script, done in 32ms
node_modules/.pnpm/protobufjs@6.8.8/node_modules/protobufjs: Running postinstall script, done in 30ms
node_modules/.pnpm/sharp@0.34.5/node_modules/sharp: Running install script, done in 1.1s
node_modules/.pnpm/@WhiskeySockets+baileys@7.0.0-rc.9_bufferutil@4.1.0_sharp@0.34.5_utf-8-validate@5.0.10/node_modules/@whiskeysockets/baileys: Running preinstall script, done in 33ms
node_modules/.pnpm/node-llama-cpp@3.15.1_typescript@5.9.3/node_modules/node-llama-cpp: Running postinstall script, done in 1.8s
. prepare$ command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1 && git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree >/dev/null 2>&1 && git config core.hooksPath git-hooks || exit 0
└─ Done in 55ms
zsh: command not found: #

openclaw@2026.2.23 ui:build /Users/worker/Documents/GitHub/openclaw
node scripts/ui.js build

Scope: all 36 workspace projects
✔ The modules directories will be removed and reinstalled from scratch. Proceed? (Y/n) · true
Recreating /Users/worker/Documents/GitHub/openclaw/ui/node_modules
.. ...

This pull request was created from Copilot chat.

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…rkspace.yaml Co-authored-by: Secret297-CODER-SOURCE <73541046+Secret297-CODER-SOURCE@users.noreply.github.com>

Adds the native better-sqlite3 package to package.json dependencies. Run your package manager (npm/yarn) to install the new dependency after pulling this change.

Initial plan

1a48889

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and Secret297-CODER-SOURCE Mar 10, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of Secret297-CODER-SOURCE March 10, 2026 10:59 View session

fix: add better-sqlite3 and koffi to onlyBuiltDependencies in pnpm-wo…

683feef

…rkspace.yaml Co-authored-by: Secret297-CODER-SOURCE <73541046+Secret297-CODER-SOURCE@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Add better-sqlite3 to pnpm allowlist for native builds~~ fix: add better-sqlite3 and koffi to onlyBuiltDependencies allowlist Mar 10, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of Secret297-CODER-SOURCE March 10, 2026 11:01

Add better-sqlite3 dependency to package.json

9cea6ad

Adds the native better-sqlite3 package to package.json dependencies. Run your package manager (npm/yarn) to install the new dependency after pulling this change.

Navigation Menu

fix: add better-sqlite3 and koffi to onlyBuiltDependencies allowlist - #7

fix: add better-sqlite3 and koffi to onlyBuiltDependencies allowlist#7
Secret297-CODER-SOURCE with Copilot wants to merge 3 commits into
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copilot/add-better-sqlite3-to-allowlist

Copilot AI commented Mar 10, 2026 •

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Summary

Change Type (select all)

Scope (select all touched areas)

Linked Issue/PR

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Security Impact (required)

Repro + Verification

Environment

Steps

Expected

Actual (before fix)

Evidence

Human Verification (required)

Compatibility / Migration

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

Risks and Mitigations

Problem

Root Cause

Fix

Remove old modules and lockfile

Reinstall everything

Rebuild native modules

Build the Control UI

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

Copilot AI commented Mar 10, 2026 •

edited

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