fix: classify active memory no-relevant status (#80015)

Recreated locally from PR #80015 because the contributor branch could not be updated by maintainers (maintainerCanModify=false).

Fixes #79812.

Co-authored-by: Andy Ye <andy@Andys-MacBook-Pro-2.local>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - CLI: make parser, startup, config, guardrail, channel, agent, task, session, and MCP failures explain what happened and point to the next recovery command.
 - GitHub Copilot: refresh the model catalog from `${baseUrl}/models` so per-account entitlement and accurate context windows surface at runtime; static manifest catalog (now including `gpt-5.5`) remains the fallback when discovery is disabled or the API is unreachable.
 - Active Memory: support concrete `plugins.entries.active-memory.config.toolsAllow` recall tool names for custom memory plugins while keeping the built-in memory-core default on `memory_search`/`memory_get` and preserving `memory_recall` automatically for `plugins.slots.memory: "memory-lancedb"`.
+- Active Memory: report normal `NONE` recall decisions as `status=no_relevant_memory`, keep unavailable and failed recall paths distinct, and avoid caching no-summary recall results so ordinary no-context turns no longer look like broken `status=empty` memory. Fixes #79812. (#80015) Thanks @TurboTheTurtle.
 - Telegram: share the grammY API throttler across polling and ad hoc send clients for the same bot token, so visible draft previews and CLI sends use one quota gate. Thanks @anagnorisis2peripeteia.
 - Feishu: resolve group policy/tool context from the trusted chat target for group turns while keeping the speaker in `From`, so @mention replies do not drop the configured group id. Fixes #79457. Thanks @greyxiong.
 - Telegram/Feishu: honor configured per-agent and global `reasoningDefault` values when deciding whether channel reasoning previews should stream or stay hidden, addressing the preview-default part of #73182. Thanks @anagnorisis2peripeteia.

docs/concepts/active-memory.md

@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ The runtime shape is:
 flowchart LR
   U["User Message"] --> Q["Build Memory Query"]
   Q --> R["Active Memory Blocking Memory Sub-Agent"]
-  R -->|NONE or empty| M["Main Reply"]
+  R -->|NONE / no relevant memory| M["Main Reply"]
   R -->|relevant summary| I["Append Hidden active_memory_plugin System Context"]
   I --> M["Main Reply"]
 ```

extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts

@@ -2031,7 +2031,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
       { pluginId: "other-plugin", lines: ["Other Plugin: keep me"] },
       {
         pluginId: "active-memory",
-        lines: [expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty")],
+        lines: [expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=no_relevant_memory")],
       },
     ]);
   });
@@ -2073,8 +2073,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     expect(hasDebugLine("no configured memory tools available")).toBe(true);
     expect(hasWarnLine("No callable tools remain")).toBe(false);
     const lines = getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey);
-    expect(lines).toEqual([expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty")]);
-    expect(lines.join("\n")).not.toContain("status=unavailable");
+    expect(lines).toEqual([expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=unavailable")]);
   });
 
   it("skips missing memory tools when the allowlist error includes inherited sources", async () => {
@@ -2099,7 +2098,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     expect(hasDebugLine("no configured memory tools available")).toBe(true);
     expect(hasWarnLine("No callable tools remain")).toBe(false);
     expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey)).toEqual([
-      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=unavailable"),
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -2131,7 +2130,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     expect(result).toBeUndefined();
     expect(hasDebugLine("no configured memory tools available")).toBe(true);
     expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey)).toEqual([
-      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=unavailable"),
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -2157,7 +2156,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     expect(hasDebugLine("no configured memory tools available")).toBe(true);
     expect(hasWarnLine("No callable tools remain")).toBe(false);
     expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey)).toEqual([
-      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=unavailable"),
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -2185,7 +2184,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
       expect(hasDebugLine("no configured memory tools available")).toBe(false);
       expect(hasWarnLine(reason)).toBe(true);
       expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey)).toEqual([
-        expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+        expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=failed"),
       ]);
     },
   );
@@ -2521,7 +2520,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
 
     expect(result).toBeUndefined();
     expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey)).toEqual([
-      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=failed"),
     ]);
     expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey).join("\n")).not.toContain(
       "must not be surfaced from generic errors",
@@ -2625,7 +2624,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     ).resolves.toMatchObject({ backend: "qmd", hits: 1 });
   });
 
-  it("caches ok and empty results but not timeout_partial results", () => {
+  it("caches ok summaries but not empty, no-relevant, or timeout_partial results", () => {
     expect(
       __testing.shouldCacheResult({
         status: "timeout_partial",
@@ -2647,10 +2646,17 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
         elapsedMs: 1,
         summary: null,
       }),
-    ).toBe(true);
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      __testing.shouldCacheResult({
+        status: "no_relevant_memory",
+        elapsedMs: 1,
+        summary: null,
+      }),
+    ).toBe(false);
   });
 
-  it("caches empty recall results", async () => {
+  it("does not cache no-relevant-memory recall results", async () => {
     api.pluginConfig = {
       agents: ["main"],
       logging: true,
@@ -2679,16 +2685,11 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
       },
     );
 
-    expect(runEmbeddedPiAgent).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(runEmbeddedPiAgent).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
     const infoLines = vi
       .mocked(api.logger.info)
       .mock.calls.map((call: unknown[]) => String(call[0]));
-    expect(
-      infoLines.some(
-        (line: string) =>
-          line.includes(" cached status=empty ") || line.includes(" cached status=empty"),
-      ),
-    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(infoLines.some((line: string) => line.includes("cached status="))).toBe(false);
   });
 
   it("surfaces timeout_partial summaries in status lines, metadata, and prompt prefixes", () => {
@@ -2911,7 +2912,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     expect(wallClockMs).toBeLessThan(CONFIGURED_TIMEOUT_MS + HARD_DEADLINE_MARGIN_MS);
   });
 
-  it("fast-fails terminal zero-hit memory_search results without waiting for recall timeout", async () => {
+  it("does not fast-fail terminal zero-hit memory_search results as empty", async () => {
     const CONFIGURED_TIMEOUT_MS = 1_000;
     __testing.setMinimumTimeoutMsForTests(1);
     __testing.setSetupGraceTimeoutMsForTests(0);
@@ -2947,10 +2948,10 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     const infoLines = vi
       .mocked(api.logger.info)
       .mock.calls.map((call: unknown[]) => String(call[0]));
-    expectLinesToContain(infoLines, "done status=empty");
-    expectLinesNotToContain(infoLines, "done status=timeout");
+    expectLinesToContain(infoLines, "done status=timeout");
+    expectLinesNotToContain(infoLines, "done status=empty");
     expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey)).toEqual([
-      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=timeout"),
       expect.stringContaining("🔎 Active Memory Debug: backend=qmd searchMs=8 hits=0"),
     ]);
   });
@@ -3039,10 +3040,10 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
     const infoLines = vi
       .mocked(api.logger.info)
       .mock.calls.map((call: unknown[]) => String(call[0]));
-    expectLinesToContain(infoLines, "done status=empty");
+    expectLinesToContain(infoLines, "done status=unavailable");
     expectLinesNotToContain(infoLines, "done status=timeout");
     expect(getActiveMemoryLines(sessionKey)).toEqual([
-      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+      expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=unavailable"),
       expect.stringContaining(
         "🔎 Active Memory Debug: Memory search is unavailable due to an embedding/provider error. Check the embedding provider configuration, then retry memory_search.",
       ),
@@ -3301,7 +3302,7 @@ describe("active-memory plugin", () => {
       {
         pluginId: "active-memory",
         lines: [
-          expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=empty"),
+          expect.stringContaining("🧩 Active Memory: status=unavailable"),
           expect.stringContaining(
             "🔎 Active Memory Debug: Memory search is unavailable because the embedding provider quota is exhausted. Top up or switch embedding provider, then retry memory_search.",
           ),

extensions/active-memory/index.ts

@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ type ActiveMemorySearchDebug = {
 
 type ActiveRecallResult =
   | {
-      status: "empty" | "timeout" | "unavailable";
+      status: "empty" | "failed" | "no_relevant_memory" | "timeout" | "unavailable";
       elapsedMs: number;
       summary: string | null;
       searchDebug?: ActiveMemorySearchDebug;
@@ -256,12 +256,13 @@ type TranscriptReadLimits = {
 
 type RecallSubagentResult = {
   rawReply: string;
+  resultStatus?: "failed" | "unavailable";
   transcriptPath?: string;
   searchDebug?: ActiveMemorySearchDebug;
 };
 
 type TerminalMemorySearchResult = {
-  status: "empty";
+  status: "unavailable";
   searchDebug?: ActiveMemorySearchDebug;
 };
 
@@ -1400,7 +1401,11 @@ function toSingleLineLogValue(value: unknown): string {
 }
 
 function shouldCacheResult(result: ActiveRecallResult): boolean {
-  return result.status === "ok" || result.status === "empty";
+  return result.status === "ok" && result.summary.length > 0;
+}
+
+function isUnavailableMemorySearchDebug(debug?: ActiveMemorySearchDebug): boolean {
+  return Boolean(debug?.error);
 }
 
 function resolveStatusUpdateAgentId(ctx: { agentId?: string; sessionKey?: string }): string {
@@ -1741,15 +1746,10 @@ function extractTerminalMemorySearchResultFromSessionRecord(
   }
   const details = asRecord(message.details);
   const debug = extractActiveMemorySearchDebugFromSessionRecord(value);
-  const results = Array.isArray(details?.results) ? details.results : undefined;
   const disabled = details?.disabled === true;
-  const unavailable =
-    disabled || Boolean(debug?.warning) || Boolean(debug?.error) || Boolean(details?.error);
-  const debugHits =
-    typeof debug?.hits === "number" && Number.isFinite(debug.hits) ? debug.hits : undefined;
-  const zeroHitSearch = results !== undefined ? results.length === 0 : debugHits === 0;
-  if (unavailable || zeroHitSearch) {
-    return { status: "empty", searchDebug: debug };
+  const unavailable = disabled || Boolean(debug?.error) || Boolean(details?.error);
+  if (unavailable) {
+    return { status: "unavailable", searchDebug: debug };
   }
   return undefined;
 }
@@ -2038,21 +2038,23 @@ async function buildTimeoutRecallResult(params: {
     normalizeActiveSummary(rawReply ?? "") ?? "",
     params.maxSummaryChars,
   );
+  const searchDebug =
+    params.searchDebug ??
+    subagentPartialData.searchDebug ??
+    (params.sessionFile ? await readActiveMemorySearchDebug(params.sessionFile) : undefined);
   if (summary.length === 0) {
     return {
       status: "timeout",
       elapsedMs: params.elapsedMs,
       summary: null,
+      searchDebug,
     };
   }
   return {
     status: "timeout_partial",
     elapsedMs: params.elapsedMs,
     summary,
-    searchDebug:
-      params.searchDebug ??
-      subagentPartialData.searchDebug ??
-      (params.sessionFile ? await readActiveMemorySearchDebug(params.sessionFile) : undefined),
+    searchDebug,
   };
 }
 
@@ -2564,7 +2566,7 @@ async function runRecallSubagent(params: {
   } catch (error) {
     if (params.abortSignal?.aborted) {
       const partialReply = await readPartialAssistantText(sessionFile);
-      const searchDebug = partialReply ? await readActiveMemorySearchDebug(sessionFile) : undefined;
+      const searchDebug = await readActiveMemorySearchDebug(sessionFile);
       attachPartialTimeoutData(error, partialReply, searchDebug);
     }
     if (
@@ -2574,14 +2576,14 @@ async function runRecallSubagent(params: {
       params.api.logger.debug?.(
         `active-memory: no configured memory tools available; skipping sub-agent`,
       );
-      return { rawReply: "NONE" };
+      return { rawReply: "NONE", resultStatus: "unavailable" };
     }
     if (!params.abortSignal?.aborted) {
       const message = toSingleLineLogValue(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
       params.api.logger.warn?.(
         `active-memory: memory sub-agent failed, skipping recall: ${message}`,
       );
-      return { rawReply: "NONE" };
+      return { rawReply: "NONE", resultStatus: "failed" };
     }
     throw error;
   } finally {
@@ -2777,7 +2779,7 @@ async function maybeResolveActiveRecall(params: {
       return result;
     }
 
-    const { rawReply, transcriptPath, searchDebug } = raceResult;
+    const { rawReply, resultStatus, transcriptPath, searchDebug } = raceResult;
     const summary = truncateSummary(
       normalizeActiveSummary(rawReply) ?? "",
       params.config.maxSummaryChars,
@@ -2794,12 +2796,26 @@ async function maybeResolveActiveRecall(params: {
             summary,
             searchDebug,
           }
-        : {
-            status: "empty",
-            elapsedMs: Date.now() - startedAt,
-            summary: null,
-            searchDebug,
-          };
+        : resultStatus === "failed"
+          ? {
+              status: "failed",
+              elapsedMs: Date.now() - startedAt,
+              summary: null,
+              searchDebug,
+            }
+          : resultStatus === "unavailable" || isUnavailableMemorySearchDebug(searchDebug)
+            ? {
+                status: "unavailable",
+                elapsedMs: Date.now() - startedAt,
+                summary: null,
+                searchDebug,
+              }
+            : {
+                status: "no_relevant_memory",
+                elapsedMs: Date.now() - startedAt,
+                summary: null,
+                searchDebug,
+              };
     if (params.config.logging) {
       params.api.logger.info?.(
         `${logPrefix} done status=${result.status} elapsedMs=${String(result.elapsedMs)} summaryChars=${String(result.summary?.length ?? 0)}`,
@@ -2849,7 +2865,7 @@ async function maybeResolveActiveRecall(params: {
       params.api.logger.warn?.(`${logPrefix} failed error=${message}; skipping recall`);
     }
     const result: ActiveRecallResult = {
-      status: "empty",
+      status: "failed",
       elapsedMs: Date.now() - startedAt,
       summary: null,
     };