feat: short approval IDs for chat-friendly resume by coolmanns · Pull Request #48 · openclaw/lobster

coolmanns · 2026-03-27T00:21:14Z

Summary

Adds 8-char hex short approval IDs alongside existing base64url resumeTokens, making approval gates usable in chat interfaces (Telegram, Discord, etc.) where long tokens are impractical.

Changes

src/state/store.ts: generateApprovalId, writeApprovalIndex, deleteApprovalId, findStateKeyByApprovalId, cleanupApprovalIndexByStateKey
src/workflows/file.ts: Include approvalId in requiresApproval envelope
src/resume.ts: --id flag + kindFromStateKey() helper
src/cli.ts: Multi-step gate fix (second gate generates approvalId), orphan index cleanup in --token path
src/core/tool_runtime.ts: Consistent approvalId-first priority, orphan cleanup
test/approval_id.test.ts: 7 new tests

Compatibility

Fully backward-compatible. Existing --token resume path unchanged. Short IDs are additive — if --id is used, it resolves to the full state key internally.

Tests

73/73 passing (7 new + 66 existing, zero regressions).

When a workflow or pipeline hits an approval gate in tool mode, the response now includes an 'approvalId' (8-char hex string) alongside the existing base64url resumeToken. Consumers can resume using either: lobster resume --token <base64url> (existing, still works) lobster resume --id <8-char-hex> (new, chat-friendly) This solves the problem of passing opaque 120+ char base64 tokens through chat interfaces (Telegram, Discord, etc.) where they get mangled, truncated, or are painful to copy/paste. Implementation: - generateApprovalId() produces 8 hex chars via crypto.randomBytes - writeApprovalIndex() creates a small reverse-index file mapping approvalId → stateKey in the state directory - resolveApprovalId() looks up the index to reconstruct the token - Kind detection (workflow-file vs pipeline-resume) uses stateKey naming convention - Index files are cleaned up after resume or cancellation Fully backward-compatible: resumeToken is always present, approvalId is additive. No breaking changes to the envelope schema. 5 new tests covering: ID presence, resume-by-ID, cancellation-by-ID, invalid ID error, and backward compat with --token.

…d helper Bug fixes: - CLI multi-step pipeline now generates approvalId on second+ gates (was only done in tool_runtime path) - --token resume now cleans up orphaned approval index files via cleanupApprovalIndexByStateKey (scans state dir for matching index) Code quality: - Extract kindFromStateKey() shared helper in resume.ts (was duplicated) - Remove redundant dynamic import of encodeToken in tool_runtime.ts - Sanitize approvalId in writeApprovalIndex (was only done in read/delete) Tests: - Add --token orphan cleanup test (verifies index gone after --token resume) - Add double-resume test (second --id call returns clean 'not found' error) - Total: 73/73 passing

Bug: resumeToolRequest cleaned up approval index when using --id (via deleteApprovalId) but NOT when using --token. The CLI path had this fix but the API path didn't — orphan index files would accumulate in ~/.lobster/state/. Also aligned --id/--token priority: approvalId now wins in both CLI and API paths (was inconsistent — CLI checked approvalId first, API checked token first via 'approvalId && !token'). 73/73 tests passing.

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-03-27T00:25:23Z

src/core/tool_runtime.ts

+  if (resolvedApprovalId) {
+    await deleteApprovalId({ env: runtime.env, approvalId: resolvedApprovalId });


Delete approval index only after a successful resume

resumeToolRequest removes the short-ID index before running the resumed workflow/pipeline. When execution later hits the runtime_error return path, the resume state is still present for retry, but the approvalId alias is already gone, so a follow-up resume by --id fails even though the state is still resumable by token. This breaks the new approvalId path as a practical alternative to resumeToken in transient-failure scenarios; defer index deletion until the state is actually consumed/cancelled (and apply the same ordering fix in src/cli.ts).

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coolmanns · 2026-03-27T03:47:52Z

OpenClaw Plugin Update Needed

The built-in OpenClaw Lobster plugin (dist/extensions/lobster/index.js) currently only passes --token to the resume CLI:

// current (hardcoded)
if (action === "resume") {
    const token = typeof params.token === "string" ? params.token : "";
    // ...
    "resume", "--token", token,
}

To support the new short approval IDs, buildLobsterArgv needs to accept an id parameter and pass --id instead of (or in addition to) --token:

if (action === "resume") {
    if (params.id) {
        return ["resume", "--id", params.id, approved ? "--approve" : "--deny"];
    }
    // fallback to --token
    return ["resume", "--token", params.token, approved ? "--approve" : "--deny"];
}

The tool schema should also add id as an optional string parameter alongside token.

Without this, the short IDs only work via CLI — the OpenClaw tool call path can't use them.

Addresses Codex review feedback on PR openclaw#48. Previously, the approval ID index was deleted before executing the resumed pipeline/workflow. If execution failed with a transient error, the state was still resumable by --token but the --id alias was already gone. Now: index cleanup happens after successful completion or explicit denial. On runtime_error, the index is preserved so the user can retry with the same --id.

coolmanns · 2026-03-27T03:53:35Z

Re: Codex Review — P2: Defer approval index cleanup

Good catch 👍 — fixed in fde0d0c.

Index cleanup is now deferred to after successful completion or explicit denial. On runtime_error, the approval ID index is preserved so the user can retry with --id.

Same fix applied to both src/core/tool_runtime.ts (tool path) and src/cli.ts (CLI path). 73/73 tests passing.

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-03-27T04:00:18Z

src/core/tool_runtime.ts

      if (output.status === 'needs_approval') {
+        // Don't clean up index — next gate will issue a new approvalId
        return okEnvelope('needs_approval', [], output.requiresApproval ?? null);


Remove consumed approval ID before returning next approval gate

When a resumed workflow hits another approval step, this early return skips cleanupIndex(), even though runWorkflowFile has already consumed (and deleted) the previous resume state. That leaves the prior approvalId mapped to a missing stateKey, so reusing the old ID produces a runtime_error instead of a clean “not found/expired” result, and the stale index file persists. This is reproducible in multi-approval workflows after the first successful resume.

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-03-27T04:00:18Z

src/cli.ts

+      await cleanupIndex();
      await deleteStateJson({ env: process.env, key: previousStateKey });


Write next approval index before deleting prior resume state

In the pipeline multi-approval path, the old alias/state are deleted before writing the new approval index. If writeApprovalIndex then fails (for example due to I/O errors like ENOSPC/EACCES), the handler returns runtime_error after removing the prior resumable state and without returning a usable new alias, leaving the user unable to continue from either --id or the old token.

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happyclaw-agent · 2026-03-28T00:02:24Z

[nullius-review]

LGTM. Short approval IDs (8-hex) enable chat-friendly resume (--id abc123). Reverse index + cleanup. Tests confirm.

Approve.

💬 Nice UX lift.

coolmanns added 3 commits March 26, 2026 17:11

chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Mar 27, 2026

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feat: add short approval IDs for chat-friendly resume

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feat: short approval IDs for chat-friendly resume#48

feat: short approval IDs for chat-friendly resume#48
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		if (resolvedApprovalId) {
		await deleteApprovalId({ env: runtime.env, approvalId: resolvedApprovalId });

		await cleanupIndex();
		await deleteStateJson({ env: process.env, key: previousStateKey });

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coolmanns commented Mar 27, 2026

Summary

Changes

Compatibility

Tests

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coolmanns commented Mar 27, 2026

OpenClaw Plugin Update Needed

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coolmanns commented Mar 27, 2026

Re: Codex Review — P2: Defer approval index cleanup

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