---
name: openclaw-parallels-smoke
description: End-to-end Parallels smoke, upgrade, and rerun workflow for OpenClaw across macOS, Windows, and Linux guests. Use when Codex needs to run, rerun, debug, or interpret VM-based install, onboarding, gateway smoke tests, latest-release-to-main upgrade checks, fresh snapshot retests, or optional Discord roundtrip verification under Parallels.
---

# OpenClaw Parallels Smoke

Use this skill for Parallels guest workflows and smoke interpretation. Do not load it for normal repo work.

## Global rules

- Use the snapshot most closely matching the requested fresh baseline.
- Gateway verification in smoke runs should use `openclaw gateway status --deep --require-rpc` unless the stable version being checked does not support it yet.
- Stable `2026.3.12` pre-upgrade diagnostics may require a plain `gateway status --deep` fallback.
- Treat `precheck=latest-ref-fail` on that stable pre-upgrade lane as baseline, not automatically a regression.
- Pass `--json` for machine-readable summaries.
- Per-phase logs land under `/tmp/openclaw-parallels-*`.
- Do not run local and gateway agent turns in parallel on the same fresh workspace or session.
- For `prlctl exec`, pass the VM name before `--current-user` (`prlctl exec "$VM" --current-user ...`), not the other way around.

## npm install then update

- Preferred entrypoint: `pnpm test:parallels:npm-update`
- Flow: fresh snapshot -> install npm package baseline -> smoke -> install current main tgz on the same guest -> smoke again.
- Same-guest update verification should set the default model explicitly to `openai/gpt-5.4` before the agent turn and use a fresh explicit `--session-id` so old session model state does not leak into the check.
- Keep the aggregate npm-update Linux VM name aligned with the default Linux smoke VM (`Ubuntu 24.04.3 ARM64` on Peter's host today). Do not hardcode a different Linux guest in the wrapper unless the per-OS Linux smoke default changed too.
- On Windows same-guest update checks, restart the gateway after the npm upgrade before `gateway status` / `agent`; in-place global npm updates can otherwise leave stale hashed `dist/*` module imports alive in the running service.
- Linux same-guest update verification should also export `HOME=/root`, pass `OPENAI_API_KEY` via `prlctl exec ... /usr/bin/env`, and use `openclaw agent --local`; the fresh Linux baseline does not rely on persisted gateway credentials.

## macOS flow

- Preferred entrypoint: `pnpm test:parallels:macos`
- Default to the snapshot closest to `macOS 26.3.1 latest`.
- On Peter's Tahoe VM, `fresh-latest-march-2026` can hang in `prlctl snapshot-switch`; if restore times out there, rerun with `--snapshot-hint 'macOS 26.3.1 latest'` before blaming auth or the harness.
- The macOS smoke should include a dashboard load phase after gateway health: resolve the tokenized URL with `openclaw dashboard --no-open`, verify the served HTML contains the Control UI title/root shell, then open Safari and require an established localhost TCP connection from Safari to the gateway port.
- `prlctl exec` is fine for deterministic repo commands, but use the guest Terminal or `prlctl enter` when installer parity or shell-sensitive behavior matters.
- Multi-word `openclaw agent --message ...` checks should go through a guest shell wrapper (`guest_current_user_sh` / `guest_current_user_cli` or `/bin/sh -lc ...`), not raw `prlctl exec ... node openclaw.mjs ...`, or the message can be split into extra argv tokens and Commander reports `too many arguments for 'agent'`.
- On the fresh Tahoe snapshot, `brew` exists but `node` may be missing from PATH in noninteractive exec. Use `/opt/homebrew/bin/node` when needed.
- Fresh host-served tgz installs should install as guest root with `HOME=/var/root`, then run onboarding as the desktop user via `prlctl exec --current-user`.
- Root-installed tgz smoke can log plugin blocks for world-writable `extensions/*`; do not treat that as an onboarding or gateway failure unless plugin loading is the task.

## Windows flow

- Preferred entrypoint: `pnpm test:parallels:windows`
- Use the snapshot closest to `pre-openclaw-native-e2e-2026-03-12`.
- Always use `prlctl exec --current-user`; plain `prlctl exec` lands in `NT AUTHORITY\\SYSTEM`.
- Prefer explicit `npm.cmd` and `openclaw.cmd`.
- Use PowerShell only as the transport with `-ExecutionPolicy Bypass`, then call the `.cmd` shims from inside it.
- Multi-word `openclaw agent --message ...` checks should call `& $openclaw ...` inside PowerShell, not `Start-Process ... -ArgumentList` against `openclaw.cmd`, or Commander can see split argv and throw `too many arguments for 'agent'`.
- Windows installer/tgz phases now retry once after guest-ready recheck; keep new Windows smoke steps idempotent so a transport-flake retry is safe.
- Windows global `npm install -g` phases can stay quiet for a minute or more even when healthy; inspect the phase log before calling it hung, and only treat it as a regression once the retry wrapper or timeout trips.
- Keep onboarding and status output ASCII-clean in logs; fancy punctuation becomes mojibake in current capture paths.
- If you hit an older run with `rc=255` plus an empty `fresh.install-main.log` or `upgrade.install-main.log`, treat it as a likely `prlctl exec` transport drop after guest start-up, not immediate proof of an npm/package failure.

## Linux flow

- Preferred entrypoint: `pnpm test:parallels:linux`
- Use the snapshot closest to fresh `Ubuntu 24.04.3 ARM64`.
- If that exact VM is missing on the host, fall back to the closest Ubuntu guest with a fresh poweroff snapshot. On Peter's host today, that is `Ubuntu 25.10`.
- Use plain `prlctl exec`; `--current-user` is not the right transport on this snapshot.
- Fresh snapshots may be missing `curl`, and `apt-get update` can fail on clock skew. Bootstrap with `apt-get -o Acquire::Check-Date=false update` and install `curl ca-certificates`.
- Fresh `main` tgz smoke still needs the latest-release installer first because the snapshot has no Node or npm before bootstrap.
- This snapshot does not have a usable `systemd --user` session; managed daemon install is unsupported.
- `prlctl exec` reaps detached Linux child processes on this snapshot, so detached background gateway runs are not trustworthy smoke signals.
- Treat `gateway=skipped-no-detached-linux-gateway` plus `daemon=systemd-user-unavailable` as baseline on that Linux lane, not a regression.

## Discord roundtrip

- Discord roundtrip is optional and should be enabled with:
  - `--discord-token-env`
  - `--discord-guild-id`
  - `--discord-channel-id`
- Keep the Discord token only in a host env var.
- Use installed `openclaw message send/read`, not `node openclaw.mjs message ...`.
- Set `channels.discord.guilds` as one JSON object, not dotted config paths with snowflakes.
- Avoid long `prlctl enter` or expect-driven Discord config scripts; prefer `prlctl exec --current-user /bin/sh -lc ...` with short commands.
- For a narrower macOS-only Discord proof run, the existing `parallels-discord-roundtrip` skill is the deep-dive companion.
