[good first issue]🎯 [Bug] OpenClaw plugin install fails to extract npm archive on Windows

[yangjj-iso]

OpenClaw Version | OpenClaw 版本

2026.3.14 (1693b93)

Plugin Version | 插件版本

Tested versions:

• @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.1.0
• @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.4
• @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.5
• @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6
• @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6-beta.4
• @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@latest (resolved to 0.3.6)
• local .tgz generated by npm pack

Operating System | 操作系统

Windows / PowerShell

System Specification | 系统配置

N/A

Describe the bug | 问题描述

On Windows, openclaw plugins install can download the npm package, but fails during the archive extraction step with EINVAL when opening package/LICENSE.

This appears to be different from #107. Exact version specs such as @0.3.6 are accepted by OpenClaw and the install reaches the download/extract stage. The failure happens after download, while extracting the npm/tgz archive.

I also tested multiple package versions and a local .tgz file. They all failed at the same extraction point, so this does not look like a single broken package version.

To Reproduce | 复现步骤

Run the install command in an isolated OpenClaw profile:

openclaw --profile codex-issue-107 --log-level debug plugins install @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6 --pin

I also reproduced the same error with these specs:

openclaw --profile codex-issue-107-v0-3-4 --log-level error plugins install @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.4 --pin
openclaw --profile codex-issue-107-v0-3-5 --log-level error plugins install @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.5 --pin
openclaw --profile codex-issue-107-v0-3-6 --log-level error plugins install @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6 --pin
openclaw --profile codex-issue-107-beta --log-level error plugins install @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6-beta.4 --pin
openclaw --profile codex-issue-107-v0-1-0 --log-level error plugins install @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.1.0 --pin
openclaw --profile codex-issue-107-latest --log-level error plugins install @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@latest --pin

A local .tgz archive also fails in the same place:

npm pack @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6
openclaw --profile codex-issue-107-local-tgz --log-level error plugins install .\tencentdb-agent-memory-memory-tencentdb-0.3.6.tgz

Expected behavior | 预期行为

OpenClaw should extract the npm/tgz plugin package successfully on Windows and complete plugin installation.

Error Logs / Screenshots | 报错日志/截图

Example output:

Downloading @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6…
Extracting C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Temp\openclaw-npm-pack-...\tencentdb-agent-memory-memory-tencentdb-0.3.6.tgz…
failed to extract archive: Error: EINVAL: invalid argument, open 'C:/Users/<user>/AppData/Local/Temp/openclaw-plugin-.../extract/.openclaw-archive-.../package/LICENSE'

Other tested versions fail with the same pattern:

failed to extract archive: Error: EINVAL: invalid argument, open '.../package/LICENSE'

Additional context | 补充信息

The npm tarballs themselves appear to be valid. Manual npm pack plus system tar extraction succeeds, and package/LICENSE exists:

npm pack @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.4
npm pack @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.5
npm pack @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb@0.3.6
tar -xzf tencentdb-agent-memory-memory-tencentdb-0.3.6.tgz

Manual extraction result:

• package/package.json: exists
• package/LICENSE: exists

So the issue may be in OpenClaw's Windows archive extraction path rather than in this package's tarball contents.

Related context: this was found while testing PR #144 for #107. PR #144 addresses the semver range documentation issue, while this issue is about Windows archive extraction after the exact version spec has already been accepted.

[Maxwell-Code07]

Thanks for the detailed bug report! We've received your issue about the Windows npm archive extraction failure and will investigate it internally. We'll get back to you once we have results. Great debugging details with all the version tests!

[yangjj-iso]

Thanks for the quick response. Happy to help test any proposed fix or provide more logs if needed.

If this is suitable for a contribution, I’d also be interested in working on a PR once the expected direction is clear.

[Maxwell-Code07]

We've selected this issue as 🎯 Good First Issue — perfect for new contributors to get started!

Task Details

Field	Content
Type	Bug
Difficulty	Medium
Estimated Effort	5 days
Acceptance Criteria	1. Investigate the root cause of tgz extraction failure on Windows (EINVAL: open package/LICENSE); 2. Fix the extraction logic to be compatible with Windows

Questions welcome! 🚀

[jackyangjie]

Analysis

I investigated this issue by inspecting the repository (v0.3.6) and the npm package structure.

What I checked

• LICENSE file: regular ASCII text file, 1.3KB, mode 0644 — nothing unusual
• Symlinks: none exist in the repo or the packaged files
• Special characters in filenames: none found
• Package files field: LICENSE is explicitly included, along with dist/, src, bin/, scripts, and config files — standard layout
• Repo structure: no unusual file attributes, no Windows-incompatible paths

Root cause assessment

This does not appear to be a bug in the @tencentdb-agent-memory/memory-tencentdb package. The evidence:

1. Manual extraction works — tar -xzf tencentdb-agent-memory-memory-tencentdb-0.3.6.tgz produces a valid package/LICENSE on Windows
2. All versions fail identically — v0.1.0 through v0.3.6 all fail at the exact same package/LICENSE extraction point, which would be extremely unlikely if the issue were in a specific package version's tarball
3. No pathological file attributes — the LICENSE file is as vanilla as it gets

The EINVAL: invalid argument, open error from Node.js on Windows is typically caused by:

• Invalid flags or file mode parameter passed to fs.open() in the extraction code
• A path component that Windows rejects (unlikely here since the path uses forward slashes and is well under MAX_PATH)
• A tar entry header field that the extraction library mishandles on Windows

This strongly suggests the bug is in OpenClaw's archive extraction code (or the Node.js tar extraction library it uses), specifically in how it handles the fs.open() call on Windows when writing extracted tar entries to disk.

Possible fix location

The fix should be in OpenClaw's tarball extraction logic (likely openclaw/src/plugin/install.ts or similar). The extraction code should ensure that:

• File write operations use proper Windows file flags
• The tar entry's mode/permissions are sanitized before being passed to fs.open()
• Node.js's @ preferred\n - The tar` npm package handles Windows extraction correctly\n- Alternatively, switching to a Windows-tested extraction library

[ra1nzzz]

I have joined the TencentDB Agent Memory Open Source Co-creation Program and claimed this issue.

[Maxwell-Code07]

After investigation, we confirmed this issue only occurs in OpenClaw 3.14. This finding comes from our communication with the author of PR #172, and we would like to thank this contributor. We recommend upgrading your OpenClaw version to resolve the problem.