fix(onboard): prune channels from reused sandbox selection

Fixes #9283

Signed-off-by: Deepak Jain <deepujain@gmail.com>

Author: deepujain

src/lib/onboard/machine/handlers/sandbox-messaging.test.ts

@@ -359,6 +359,7 @@ describe("reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging", () => {
   it("does not clear an equal recorded plan from a different authority", () => {
     const plan = telegramPlan(hashCredential("123456:registry-token") ?? "");
     const clearPlanEnv = vi.fn();
+    vi.stubEnv("TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN", "123456:registry-token");
 
     const result = reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging(
       structuredClone(plan),
@@ -371,7 +372,38 @@ describe("reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging", () => {
     expect(clearPlanEnv).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("omits a removed host-backed channel when reusing an existing sandbox (#9283)", () => {
+    const plan = discordPlan(hashCredential("previous-discord-token") ?? "");
+    vi.stubEnv("DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN", "");
+
+    const result = reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging(
+      plan,
+      { name: "openclaw" },
+      { clearPlanEnv() {} },
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ plan, selectedChannels: [], changed: false });
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a lifecycle-selected channel when reusing an existing sandbox (#9283)", () => {
+    const plan = {
+      ...discordPlan(hashCredential("previous-discord-token") ?? ""),
+      workflow: "add-channel" as const,
+    };
+    vi.stubEnv("DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN", "");
+
+    const result = reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging(
+      plan,
+      { name: "openclaw" },
+      { clearPlanEnv() {} },
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ plan, selectedChannels: ["discord"], changed: false });
+  });
+
   it("removes every unsupported channel artifact from a reused plan", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN", "123456:registry-token");
+
     const result = reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging(
       mixedChannelPlan(),
       { name: "openclaw" },

src/lib/onboard/machine/handlers/sandbox-messaging.ts

@@ -434,9 +434,16 @@ export function reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging<Agent>(
   const filtered = plan ? filterMessagingPlanForCurrentAgent(plan, agent) : null;
   const changed = !isDeepStrictEqual(filtered, recordedPlan);
   if (changed) deps.clearPlanEnv();
-  return {
+  const selection = {
     plan: filtered,
     selectedChannels: getActiveChannelsFromPlan(filtered),
+  };
+  const currentSelection =
+    filtered && registryPlanRecordsLifecycleSelection(filtered)
+      ? selection
+      : filterUnconfiguredHostChannelsFromSelection(selection, agent);
+  return {
+    ...currentSelection,
     changed,
   };
 }

src/lib/onboard/machine/handlers/sandbox.test.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ import {
 } from "../../../state/onboard-checkpoint-decision";
 import { CHECKPOINT_SCHEMA_VERSION } from "../../../state/onboard-checkpoint-types";
 import { createSession, type Session } from "../../../state/onboard-session";
-import { detectMessagingChannelsFromEnv } from "../../messaging-channel-setup";
+import {
+  detectMessagingChannelsFromEnv,
+  detectUnconfiguredMessagingChannels,
+} from "../../messaging-channel-setup";
 import { handleSandboxState } from "./sandbox";
 import {
   baseOptions,
@@ -28,6 +31,7 @@ vi.mock("../../messaging-channel-setup", () => ({
 }));
 
 const detectMessagingChannelsFromEnvMock = vi.mocked(detectMessagingChannelsFromEnv);
+const detectUnconfiguredMessagingChannelsMock = vi.mocked(detectUnconfiguredMessagingChannels);
 
 function dcodeRegistryEntry(name: string, observabilityEnabled?: boolean) {
   return {
@@ -47,6 +51,7 @@ function dcodeRegistryEntry(name: string, observabilityEnabled?: boolean) {
 describe("handleSandboxState", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     detectMessagingChannelsFromEnvMock.mockReturnValue([]);
+    detectUnconfiguredMessagingChannelsMock.mockReturnValue([]);
   });
 
   it("creates a sandbox and records messaging/web search state", async () => {
@@ -603,6 +608,38 @@ describe("handleSandboxState", () => {
     expect(result.session).toBe(skippedSession);
   });
 
+  it("omits an unconfigured host-backed channel when reusing a Ready sandbox (#9283)", async () => {
+    const registryPlan = makeMinimalPlan("saved", "openclaw", ["discord"]);
+    const session = createSession({ sandboxName: "saved", messagingPlan: registryPlan });
+    session.steps.sandbox.status = "complete";
+    vi.stubEnv("DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN", "");
+    detectUnconfiguredMessagingChannelsMock.mockReturnValue(["discord"]);
+    const { deps, calls } = createDeps({
+      getSandboxReuseState: () => "ready",
+      getSandboxRegistryEntry: () => ({
+        name: "saved",
+        pendingRouteReservation: true,
+        provider: "provider",
+        model: "model",
+        endpointUrl: null,
+        preferredInferenceApi: "openai-completions",
+        toolDisclosure: "progressive",
+        fromDockerfile: null,
+        hermesAuthMethod: null,
+      }),
+      getRegistrySandboxMessagingAuthority: () => ({ authoritative: true, plan: registryPlan }),
+    });
+
+    const result = await handleSandboxState({
+      ...baseOptions(deps, session),
+      resume: true,
+      sandboxName: "saved",
+    });
+
+    expect(calls.createSandbox).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(result.selectedMessagingChannels).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("treats checkpoint machine-state progress past sandbox as step-complete even when the legacy step status is stale (#6228)", async () => {
     const session = createSession({
       sandboxName: "saved",