[Repo Assist] fix(setup): surface actionable error when gateway device-pair plugin is not loaded

src/OpenClaw.SetupEngine/ApprovalRequestHelper.cs

@@ -20,6 +20,17 @@ internal static bool IsSafeRequestId(string? requestId)
     internal static string ApprovalCommand(ApprovalRequestKind kind)
         => $"openclaw {Noun(kind)} approve \"${RequestIdEnvironmentVariable}\" --json";
 
+    // "plugins.entries.device-pair: plugin not found: device-pair" is emitted by older gateway
+    // versions that ship without the device-pair plugin bundle or don't load it. Detecting this
+    // lets callers return a Terminal (non-retriable) failure with actionable upgrade guidance.
+    internal static bool IsPluginNotFoundError(string output)
+        => output.Contains("plugin not found", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+            && output.Contains("device-pair", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+
+    internal const string PluginNotFoundMessage =
+        "The gateway device-pair plugin is not loaded. " +
+        "Upgrade your gateway to version 2026.6.0 or later and re-run setup.";
+
     internal static Dictionary<string, string> AddRequestIdEnvironment(
         IReadOnlyDictionary<string, string> environment,
         string requestId)

src/OpenClaw.SetupEngine/SetupSteps.cs

@@ -1919,7 +1919,12 @@ internal static async Task<StepResult> AutoApprovePairing(SetupContext ctx, stri
         ctx.Logger.Info($"Approve result: exit={approve.ExitCode}");
 
         if (approve.ExitCode != 0)
-            return StepResult.Fail($"Device approval failed (exit {approve.ExitCode}): {approve.Stdout.Trim()}");
+        {
+            var approveOutput = approve.Stdout.Trim();
+            if (ApprovalRequestHelper.IsPluginNotFoundError(approveOutput))
+                return StepResult.Terminal(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage);
+            return StepResult.Fail($"Device approval failed (exit {approve.ExitCode}): {approveOutput}");
+        }
 
         return StepResult.Ok($"Approved request {requestId}");
     }
@@ -2343,7 +2348,12 @@ internal static async Task<StepResult> AutoApproveNodePairing(SetupContext ctx,
             ctx.Logger.Info($"Node pending list: exit={pending.ExitCode}");
 
             if (pending.ExitCode != 0)
-                return StepResult.Fail($"Could not list pending node pairing requests (exit {pending.ExitCode}): {pending.Stdout.Trim()}");
+            {
+                var pendingOutput = pending.Stdout.Trim();
+                if (ApprovalRequestHelper.IsPluginNotFoundError(pendingOutput))
+                    return StepResult.Terminal(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage);
+                return StepResult.Fail($"Could not list pending node pairing requests (exit {pending.ExitCode}): {pendingOutput}");
+            }
 
             var parsed = ApprovalRequestHelper.TryReadSinglePendingRequestId(pending.Stdout.Trim());
             if (!parsed.Success)
@@ -2370,7 +2380,9 @@ internal static async Task<StepResult> AutoApproveNodePairing(SetupContext ctx,
 
         return approve.ExitCode == 0
             ? StepResult.Ok($"Node approved: {requestId}")
-            : StepResult.Fail($"Node approval failed (exit {approve.ExitCode}): {approve.Stdout.Trim()}");
+            : ApprovalRequestHelper.IsPluginNotFoundError(approve.Stdout.Trim())
+                ? StepResult.Terminal(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage)
+                : StepResult.Fail($"Node approval failed (exit {approve.ExitCode}): {approve.Stdout.Trim()}");
     }
 
     private static void RegisterCapabilitiesFromConfig(WindowsNodeClient client, SetupContext ctx)

tests/OpenClaw.SetupEngine.Tests/ApprovalRequestHelperTests.cs

@@ -94,4 +94,25 @@ public void TryReadApprovedRequestId_ReadsApproveSuccessShape()
         Assert.True(result.Success);
         Assert.Equal("device-req-2", result.RequestId);
     }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("plugin not found: device-pair")]
+    [InlineData("plugins.entries.device-pair: plugin not found: device-pair")]
+    [InlineData("error: Plugin Not Found: Device-Pair")]
+    public void IsPluginNotFoundError_ReturnsTrueForPluginNotFoundOutput(string output)
+    {
+        Assert.True(ApprovalRequestHelper.IsPluginNotFoundError(output));
+    }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("")]
+    [InlineData("{}")]
+    [InlineData("approval failed: unknown error")]
+    [InlineData("gateway connection refused")]
+    [InlineData("error: Plugin not found")]
+    [InlineData("plugins.entries.other-plugin: plugin not found: other-plugin")]
+    public void IsPluginNotFoundError_ReturnsFalseForOtherOutput(string output)
+    {
+        Assert.False(ApprovalRequestHelper.IsPluginNotFoundError(output));
+    }
 }

tests/OpenClaw.SetupEngine.Tests/SetupStepsTests.cs

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ public class SetupStepsTests : IDisposable
     private readonly string _localTempDir;
     private readonly string? _prevDataDir;
     private readonly string? _prevLocalDataDir;
+    private const string DevicePairPluginNotFoundOutput = "plugins.entries.device-pair: plugin not found: device-pair";
+    private const string OtherPluginNotFoundOutput = "plugins.entries.other-plugin: plugin not found: other-plugin";
 
     public SetupStepsTests()
     {
@@ -1180,6 +1182,75 @@ public void IsKeepaliveCommandLine_RequiresDistroAndSleepInfinity()
             "OpenClawGateway"));
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AutoApprovePairing_ReturnsTerminalForDevicePairPluginNotFound()
+    {
+        var ctx = CreatePairingContext(DevicePairPluginNotFoundOutput);
+
+        var result = await PairOperatorStep.AutoApprovePairing(ctx, "device-req-1", CancellationToken.None);
+
+        Assert.Equal(StepOutcome.FailedTerminal, result.Outcome);
+        Assert.Equal(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage, result.Message);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AutoApprovePairing_KeepsOtherMissingPluginRetriable()
+    {
+        var ctx = CreatePairingContext(OtherPluginNotFoundOutput);
+
+        var result = await PairOperatorStep.AutoApprovePairing(ctx, "device-req-1", CancellationToken.None);
+
+        Assert.Equal(StepOutcome.Failed, result.Outcome);
+        Assert.Contains("Device approval failed", result.Message);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage, result.Message);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AutoApproveNodePairing_ReturnsTerminalWhenPendingListReportsDevicePairPluginNotFound()
+    {
+        var ctx = CreatePairingContext(DevicePairPluginNotFoundOutput);
+
+        var result = await PairNodeStep.AutoApproveNodePairing(ctx, requestId: null, CancellationToken.None);
+
+        Assert.Equal(StepOutcome.FailedTerminal, result.Outcome);
+        Assert.Equal(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage, result.Message);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AutoApproveNodePairing_KeepsOtherPendingListMissingPluginRetriable()
+    {
+        var ctx = CreatePairingContext(OtherPluginNotFoundOutput);
+
+        var result = await PairNodeStep.AutoApproveNodePairing(ctx, requestId: null, CancellationToken.None);
+
+        Assert.Equal(StepOutcome.Failed, result.Outcome);
+        Assert.Contains("Could not list pending node pairing requests", result.Message);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage, result.Message);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AutoApproveNodePairing_ReturnsTerminalWhenApproveReportsDevicePairPluginNotFound()
+    {
+        var ctx = CreatePairingContext(DevicePairPluginNotFoundOutput);
+
+        var result = await PairNodeStep.AutoApproveNodePairing(ctx, "node-req-1", CancellationToken.None);
+
+        Assert.Equal(StepOutcome.FailedTerminal, result.Outcome);
+        Assert.Equal(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage, result.Message);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task AutoApproveNodePairing_KeepsOtherApproveMissingPluginRetriable()
+    {
+        var ctx = CreatePairingContext(OtherPluginNotFoundOutput);
+
+        var result = await PairNodeStep.AutoApproveNodePairing(ctx, "node-req-1", CancellationToken.None);
+
+        Assert.Equal(StepOutcome.Failed, result.Outcome);
+        Assert.Contains("Node approval failed", result.Message);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain(ApprovalRequestHelper.PluginNotFoundMessage, result.Message);
+    }
+
     // ─── Bind validation ───
 
     [Fact]
@@ -1279,9 +1350,23 @@ private static CommandResult Ok(string stdout = "", string stderr = "")
     private static CommandResult Fail(string stderr = "")
         => new(1, "", stderr, TimeSpan.Zero, TimedOut: false);
 
+    private static CommandResult FailWithStdout(string stdout)
+        => new(1, stdout, "", TimeSpan.Zero, TimedOut: false);
+
     private static CommandResult TimedOut()
         => new(-1, "", "", TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30), TimedOut: true);
 
+    private SetupContext CreatePairingContext(string failureStdout)
+    {
+        var commands = new FakeCommandRunner(
+            _ => Ok(),
+            (_, _, _) => FailWithStdout(failureStdout));
+        var ctx = CreateContext(commands: commands);
+        ctx.DistroName = "test-distro";
+        ctx.SharedGatewayToken = "shared-token";
+        return ctx;
+    }
+
     private sealed class FakeCommandRunner(
         Func<string[], CommandResult> run,
         Func<string, string, TimeSpan, CommandResult>? runInWsl = null) : ICommandRunner