fix(config): accept $schema key in root config (#15280)

* fix(config): accept $schema key in root config (#14998)

* fix: strip $schema via preprocess to avoid spurious UI section

* fix(config): allow root  without zod preprocess wrapper

---------

Co-authored-by: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>

src/config/config.schema-key.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { OpenClawSchema } from "./zod-schema.js";
+
+describe("$schema key in config (#14998)", () => {
+  it("accepts config with $schema string", () => {
+    const result = OpenClawSchema.safeParse({
+      $schema: "https://openclaw.ai/config.json",
+    });
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    if (result.success) {
+      expect(result.data.$schema).toBe("https://openclaw.ai/config.json");
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("accepts config without $schema", () => {
+    const result = OpenClawSchema.safeParse({});
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects non-string $schema", () => {
+    const result = OpenClawSchema.safeParse({ $schema: 123 });
+    expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+  });
+});

src/config/schema.test.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ describe("config schema", () => {
     const schema = res.schema as { properties?: Record<string, unknown> };
     expect(schema.properties?.gateway).toBeTruthy();
     expect(schema.properties?.agents).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(schema.properties?.$schema).toBeUndefined();
     expect(res.uiHints.gateway?.label).toBe("Gateway");
     expect(res.uiHints["gateway.auth.token"]?.sensitive).toBe(true);
     expect(res.version).toBeTruthy();

src/config/schema.ts

@@ -303,6 +303,12 @@ function stripChannelSchema(schema: ConfigSchema): ConfigSchema {
   if (!root || !root.properties) {
     return next;
   }
+  // Allow `$schema` in config files for editor tooling, but hide it from the
+  // Control UI form schema so it does not show up as a configurable section.
+  delete root.properties.$schema;
+  if (Array.isArray(root.required)) {
+    root.required = root.required.filter((key) => key !== "$schema");
+  }
   const channelsNode = asSchemaObject(root.properties.channels);
   if (channelsNode) {
     channelsNode.properties = {};

src/config/zod-schema.ts

@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ const MemorySchema = z
 
 export const OpenClawSchema = z
   .object({
+    $schema: z.string().optional(),
     meta: z
       .object({
         lastTouchedVersion: z.string().optional(),