@inland wolf Node 24 / ESM Telegram crash on Windows — Received protocol 'c:' after upgrading to 2026.4.24
Setup: Windows 11, Node 24.13.1, OpenClaw 2026.4.24, single-user self-hosted deployment. Telegram is the sole channel (DM-only, pairing mode). Custom router-plugin in .openclaw/extensions/router-plugin/ using before_dispatch. 9 workspace hooks. SQLite via better-sqlite3 (workspace node_modules, freshly installed for Node 24 ABI v137). Anthropic as sole LLM provider.
Problem: After upgrading from 2026.4.20 → 2026.4.24 (via npm install -g openclaw@latest + gateway install --force), the Telegram channel crashes on every start with:
Only URLs with a scheme in: file, data, and node are supported by the default ESM loader. On Windows, absolute paths must be valid file:// URLs. Received protocol 'c:'
Gateway boots clean — 3 plugins load (memory-core, router-plugin, telegram), 10 hooks load, background pollers and heartbeat start normally. The crash happens immediately when the Telegram provider starts — instant exit into an auto-restart loop through all 10 attempts.
What I've checked: workspace-bridge.ts uses only static relative imports. No dynamic import() calls visible anywhere in my workspace code. The error appears to originate inside the Telegram plugin's own startup path, not in custom code. Was working fine on 2026.4.20 — only appeared after upgrading to 2026.4.24.
Question: Is this a known Node 24 ESM regression in the Telegram plugin startup path on Windows? Did 2026.4.24 introduce any dynamic imports in the Telegram channel that would break under Node 24's stricter ESM URL handling? Any workaround available while a fix is pending?
#Node 24 / ESM Telegram Crash on Windows
pliant trellis
hazy knot
@inland wolf
vast shadow
We've got the same issue, if you find one I'll post it. Till then still working on one.