fix(memory): prefer --mask over --glob for qmd collection pattern flag (#58736)

* fix(memory): prefer --mask over --glob for qmd collection pattern flag

qmd 2.0.1 silently ignores the --glob flag when creating collections,
causing all patterns (e.g. MEMORY.md, memory.md) to fall back to the
default **/*.md glob. This leads to collection conflicts when multiple
collections target the same workspace directory with different patterns.

The existing flag negotiation logic in addCollection() tries --glob
first (when collectionPatternFlag is null), and since qmd accepts the
flag without error, OpenClaw never falls back to --mask. The result is
that memory-root-{agent} gets created with **/*.md instead of MEMORY.md,
and memory-alt-{agent} fails with a duplicate path+pattern conflict.

Fix: default collectionPatternFlag to '--mask' so the working flag is
tried first. The fallback to --glob is preserved for older qmd versions
that may not support --mask.

* docs(changelog): note qmd collection flag fix

---------

Co-authored-by: Vincent Koc <vincentkoc@ieee.org>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Channels/WhatsApp: pass inbound message timestamp to model context so the AI can see when WhatsApp messages were sent. (#58590) Thanks @Maninae
 - Web UI/OpenResponses: preserve rewritten stream snapshots in webchat and keep OpenResponses final streamed text aligned when models rewind earlier output. (#58641) Thanks @neeravmakwana
 - MiniMax/plugins: auto-enable the bundled MiniMax plugin for API-key auth/config so MiniMax image generation and other plugin-owned capabilities load without manual plugin allowlisting. (#57127) Thanks @tars90percent.
+- Memory/QMD: prefer `--mask` over `--glob` when creating QMD collections so default memory collections keep their intended patterns and stop colliding on restart. (#58643) Thanks @GitZhangChi.
 - Gateway/HTTP: skip failing HTTP request stages so one broken facade no longer forces every HTTP endpoint to return 500. (#58746) Thanks @yelog
 
 ## 2026.3.31

extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts

@@ -749,7 +749,10 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
         const pathArg = args[2] ?? "";
         const name = args[args.indexOf("--name") + 1] ?? "";
-        const pattern = args[args.indexOf("--glob") + 1] ?? args[args.indexOf("--mask") + 1] ?? "";
+        const globIdx = args.indexOf("--glob");
+        const maskIdx = args.indexOf("--mask");
+        const pattern =
+          (globIdx !== -1 ? args[globIdx + 1] : maskIdx !== -1 ? args[maskIdx + 1] : "") ?? "";
         const hasConflict = [...legacyCollections.entries()].some(
           ([existingName, info]) =>
             existingName !== name && info.path === pathArg && info.pattern === pattern,
@@ -827,7 +830,10 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
         const pathArg = args[2] ?? "";
         const name = args[args.indexOf("--name") + 1] ?? "";
-        const pattern = args[args.indexOf("--glob") + 1] ?? args[args.indexOf("--mask") + 1] ?? "";
+        const globIdx = args.indexOf("--glob");
+        const maskIdx = args.indexOf("--mask");
+        const pattern =
+          (globIdx !== -1 ? args[globIdx + 1] : maskIdx !== -1 ? args[maskIdx + 1] : "") ?? "";
         const hasConflict = [...listedCollections.entries()].some(
           ([existingName, info]) =>
             existingName !== name && info.path === pathArg && info.pattern === pattern,
@@ -887,7 +893,7 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it("falls back to --mask when qmd collection add rejects --glob", async () => {
+  it("prefers --mask for collection add and falls back to --glob when --mask is rejected", async () => {
     cfg = {
       ...cfg,
       memory: {
@@ -909,10 +915,10 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
       }
       if (args[0] === "collection" && args[1] === "add") {
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
-        const flag = args.includes("--glob") ? "--glob" : args.includes("--mask") ? "--mask" : "";
+        const flag = args.includes("--mask") ? "--mask" : args.includes("--glob") ? "--glob" : "";
         addFlagCalls.push(flag);
-        if (flag === "--glob") {
-          emitAndClose(child, "stderr", "unknown flag: --glob", 1);
+        if (flag === "--mask") {
+          emitAndClose(child, "stderr", "unknown flag: --mask", 1);
           return child;
         }
         queueMicrotask(() => child.closeWith(0));
@@ -924,7 +930,7 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
     const { manager } = await createManager({ mode: "full" });
     await manager.close();
 
-    expect(addFlagCalls).toEqual(["--glob", "--mask", "--mask", "--mask"]);
+    expect(addFlagCalls).toEqual(["--mask", "--glob", "--glob", "--glob"]);
     expect(logWarnMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.stringContaining("retrying with legacy compatibility flag"),
     );

extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts

@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ export class QmdMemoryManager implements MemorySearchManager {
   private attemptedNullByteCollectionRepair = false;
   private attemptedDuplicateDocumentRepair = false;
   private readonly sessionWarm = new Set<string>();
-  private collectionPatternFlag: QmdCollectionPatternFlag | null = null;
+  private collectionPatternFlag: QmdCollectionPatternFlag | null = "--mask";
 
   private constructor(params: {
     cfg: OpenClawConfig;