fix(session): prevent silent overflow on parent thread forks (#26912)

Lands #26912 from @markshields-tl with configurable session.parentForkMaxTokens and docs/tests/changelog updates.

Co-authored-by: Mark Shields <239231357+markshields-tl@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Slack/Session threads: prevent oversized parent-session inheritance from silently bricking new thread sessions, surface embedded context-overflow empty-result failures to users, and add configurable `session.parentForkMaxTokens` (default `100000`, `0` disables). (#26912) Thanks @markshields-tl.
 - Security/Signal: enforce DM/group authorization before reaction-only notification enqueue so unauthorized senders can no longer inject Signal reaction system events under `dmPolicy`/`groupPolicy`; reaction notifications now require channel access checks first. This ships in the next npm release (`2026.2.25`). Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
 - Security/macOS beta onboarding: remove Anthropic OAuth sign-in and the legacy `oauth.json` onboarding path that exposed the PKCE verifier via OAuth `state`; this impacted the macOS beta onboarding path only. Anthropic subscription auth is now setup-token-only and will ship in the next npm release (`2026.2.25`). Thanks @zdi-disclosures for reporting.
 - Security/Nextcloud Talk: drop replayed signed webhook events with persistent per-account replay dedupe across restarts, and reject unexpected webhook backend origins when account base URL is configured. Thanks @aristorechina for reporting.

docs/gateway/configuration-reference.md

@@ -1250,6 +1250,7 @@ See [Multi-Agent Sandbox & Tools](/tools/multi-agent-sandbox-tools) for preceden
     },
     resetTriggers: ["/new", "/reset"],
     store: "~/.openclaw/agents/{agentId}/sessions/sessions.json",
+    parentForkMaxTokens: 100000, // skip parent-thread fork above this token count (0 disables)
     maintenance: {
       mode: "warn", // warn | enforce
       pruneAfter: "30d",
@@ -1283,6 +1284,9 @@ See [Multi-Agent Sandbox & Tools](/tools/multi-agent-sandbox-tools) for preceden
 - **`identityLinks`**: map canonical ids to provider-prefixed peers for cross-channel session sharing.
 - **`reset`**: primary reset policy. `daily` resets at `atHour` local time; `idle` resets after `idleMinutes`. When both configured, whichever expires first wins.
 - **`resetByType`**: per-type overrides (`direct`, `group`, `thread`). Legacy `dm` accepted as alias for `direct`.
+- **`parentForkMaxTokens`**: max parent-session `totalTokens` allowed when creating a forked thread session (default `100000`).
+  - If parent `totalTokens` is above this value, OpenClaw starts a fresh thread session instead of inheriting parent transcript history.
+  - Set `0` to disable this guard and always allow parent forking.
 - **`mainKey`**: legacy field. Runtime now always uses `"main"` for the main direct-chat bucket.
 - **`sendPolicy`**: match by `channel`, `chatType` (`direct|group|channel`, with legacy `dm` alias), `keyPrefix`, or `rawKeyPrefix`. First deny wins.
 - **`maintenance`**: session-store cleanup + retention controls.

docs/reference/session-management-compaction.md

@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ Rules of thumb:
 - **Reset** (`/new`, `/reset`) creates a new `sessionId` for that `sessionKey`.
 - **Daily reset** (default 4:00 AM local time on the gateway host) creates a new `sessionId` on the next message after the reset boundary.
 - **Idle expiry** (`session.reset.idleMinutes` or legacy `session.idleMinutes`) creates a new `sessionId` when a message arrives after the idle window. When daily + idle are both configured, whichever expires first wins.
+- **Thread parent fork guard** (`session.parentForkMaxTokens`, default `100000`) skips parent transcript forking when the parent session is already too large; the new thread starts fresh. Set `0` to disable.
 
 Implementation detail: the decision happens in `initSessionState()` in `src/auto-reply/reply/session.ts`.
 

src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-execution.ts

@@ -572,6 +572,22 @@ export async function runAgentTurnWithFallback(params: {
     }
   }
 
+  // If the run completed but with an embedded context overflow error that
+  // wasn't recovered from (e.g. compaction reset already attempted), surface
+  // the error to the user instead of silently returning an empty response.
+  // See #26905: Slack DM sessions silently swallowed messages when context
+  // overflow errors were returned as embedded error payloads.
+  const finalEmbeddedError = runResult?.meta?.error;
+  const hasPayloadText = runResult?.payloads?.some((p) => p.text?.trim());
+  if (finalEmbeddedError && isContextOverflowError(finalEmbeddedError.message) && !hasPayloadText) {
+    return {
+      kind: "final",
+      payload: {
+        text: "⚠️ Context overflow — this conversation is too large for the model. Use /new to start a fresh session.",
+      },
+    };
+  }
+
   return {
     kind: "success",
     runId,

src/auto-reply/reply/session.test.ts

@@ -205,6 +205,130 @@ describe("initSessionState thread forking", () => {
     warn.mockRestore();
   });
 
+  it("skips fork and creates fresh session when parent tokens exceed threshold", async () => {
+    const root = await makeCaseDir("openclaw-thread-session-overflow-");
+    const sessionsDir = path.join(root, "sessions");
+    await fs.mkdir(sessionsDir);
+
+    const parentSessionId = "parent-overflow";
+    const parentSessionFile = path.join(sessionsDir, "parent.jsonl");
+    const header = {
+      type: "session",
+      version: 3,
+      id: parentSessionId,
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      cwd: process.cwd(),
+    };
+    const message = {
+      type: "message",
+      id: "m1",
+      parentId: null,
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      message: { role: "user", content: "Parent prompt" },
+    };
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      parentSessionFile,
+      `${JSON.stringify(header)}\n${JSON.stringify(message)}\n`,
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const storePath = path.join(root, "sessions.json");
+    const parentSessionKey = "agent:main:slack:channel:c1";
+    // Set totalTokens well above PARENT_FORK_MAX_TOKENS (100_000)
+    await saveSessionStore(storePath, {
+      [parentSessionKey]: {
+        sessionId: parentSessionId,
+        sessionFile: parentSessionFile,
+        updatedAt: Date.now(),
+        totalTokens: 170_000,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const cfg = {
+      session: { store: storePath },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+
+    const threadSessionKey = "agent:main:slack:channel:c1:thread:456";
+    const result = await initSessionState({
+      ctx: {
+        Body: "Thread reply",
+        SessionKey: threadSessionKey,
+        ParentSessionKey: parentSessionKey,
+      },
+      cfg,
+      commandAuthorized: true,
+    });
+
+    // Should be marked as forked (to prevent re-attempts) but NOT actually forked from parent
+    expect(result.sessionEntry.forkedFromParent).toBe(true);
+    // Session ID should NOT match the parent — it should be a fresh UUID
+    expect(result.sessionEntry.sessionId).not.toBe(parentSessionId);
+    // Session file should NOT be the parent's file (it was not forked)
+    expect(result.sessionEntry.sessionFile).not.toBe(parentSessionFile);
+  });
+
+  it("respects session.parentForkMaxTokens override", async () => {
+    const root = await makeCaseDir("openclaw-thread-session-overflow-override-");
+    const sessionsDir = path.join(root, "sessions");
+    await fs.mkdir(sessionsDir);
+
+    const parentSessionId = "parent-override";
+    const parentSessionFile = path.join(sessionsDir, "parent.jsonl");
+    const header = {
+      type: "session",
+      version: 3,
+      id: parentSessionId,
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      cwd: process.cwd(),
+    };
+    const message = {
+      type: "message",
+      id: "m1",
+      parentId: null,
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      message: { role: "user", content: "Parent prompt" },
+    };
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      parentSessionFile,
+      `${JSON.stringify(header)}\n${JSON.stringify(message)}\n`,
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const storePath = path.join(root, "sessions.json");
+    const parentSessionKey = "agent:main:slack:channel:c1";
+    await saveSessionStore(storePath, {
+      [parentSessionKey]: {
+        sessionId: parentSessionId,
+        sessionFile: parentSessionFile,
+        updatedAt: Date.now(),
+        totalTokens: 170_000,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const cfg = {
+      session: {
+        store: storePath,
+        parentForkMaxTokens: 200_000,
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+
+    const threadSessionKey = "agent:main:slack:channel:c1:thread:789";
+    const result = await initSessionState({
+      ctx: {
+        Body: "Thread reply",
+        SessionKey: threadSessionKey,
+        ParentSessionKey: parentSessionKey,
+      },
+      cfg,
+      commandAuthorized: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(result.sessionEntry.forkedFromParent).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.sessionEntry.sessionFile).toBeTruthy();
+    const forkedContent = await fs.readFile(result.sessionEntry.sessionFile ?? "", "utf-8");
+    expect(forkedContent).toContain(parentSessionFile);
+  });
+
   it("records topic-specific session files when MessageThreadId is present", async () => {
     const root = await makeCaseDir("openclaw-topic-session-");
     const storePath = path.join(root, "sessions.json");

src/auto-reply/reply/session.ts

@@ -105,6 +105,21 @@ export type SessionInitResult = {
   triggerBodyNormalized: string;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Default max parent token count beyond which thread/session parent forking is skipped.
+ * This prevents new thread sessions from inheriting near-full parent context.
+ * See #26905.
+ */
+const DEFAULT_PARENT_FORK_MAX_TOKENS = 100_000;
+
+function resolveParentForkMaxTokens(cfg: OpenClawConfig): number {
+  const configured = cfg.session?.parentForkMaxTokens;
+  if (typeof configured === "number" && Number.isFinite(configured) && configured >= 0) {
+    return Math.floor(configured);
+  }
+  return DEFAULT_PARENT_FORK_MAX_TOKENS;
+}
+
 function forkSessionFromParent(params: {
   parentEntry: SessionEntry;
   agentId: string;
@@ -171,6 +186,7 @@ export async function initSessionState(params: {
   const resetTriggers = sessionCfg?.resetTriggers?.length
     ? sessionCfg.resetTriggers
     : DEFAULT_RESET_TRIGGERS;
+  const parentForkMaxTokens = resolveParentForkMaxTokens(cfg);
   const sessionScope = sessionCfg?.scope ?? "per-sender";
   const storePath = resolveStorePath(sessionCfg?.store, { agentId });
 
@@ -399,21 +415,33 @@ export async function initSessionState(params: {
     sessionStore[parentSessionKey] &&
     !alreadyForked
   ) {
-    log.warn(
-      `forking from parent session: parentKey=${parentSessionKey} → sessionKey=${sessionKey} ` +
-        `parentTokens=${sessionStore[parentSessionKey].totalTokens ?? "?"}`,
-    );
-    const forked = forkSessionFromParent({
-      parentEntry: sessionStore[parentSessionKey],
-      agentId,
-      sessionsDir: path.dirname(storePath),
-    });
-    if (forked) {
-      sessionId = forked.sessionId;
-      sessionEntry.sessionId = forked.sessionId;
-      sessionEntry.sessionFile = forked.sessionFile;
+    const parentTokens = sessionStore[parentSessionKey].totalTokens ?? 0;
+    if (parentForkMaxTokens > 0 && parentTokens > parentForkMaxTokens) {
+      // Parent context is too large — forking would create a thread session
+      // that immediately overflows the model's context window. Start fresh
+      // instead and mark as forked to prevent re-attempts. See #26905.
+      log.warn(
+        `skipping parent fork (parent too large): parentKey=${parentSessionKey} → sessionKey=${sessionKey} ` +
+          `parentTokens=${parentTokens} maxTokens=${parentForkMaxTokens}`,
+      );
       sessionEntry.forkedFromParent = true;
-      log.warn(`forked session created: file=${forked.sessionFile}`);
+    } else {
+      log.warn(
+        `forking from parent session: parentKey=${parentSessionKey} → sessionKey=${sessionKey} ` +
+          `parentTokens=${parentTokens}`,
+      );
+      const forked = forkSessionFromParent({
+        parentEntry: sessionStore[parentSessionKey],
+        agentId,
+        sessionsDir: path.dirname(storePath),
+      });
+      if (forked) {
+        sessionId = forked.sessionId;
+        sessionEntry.sessionId = forked.sessionId;
+        sessionEntry.sessionFile = forked.sessionFile;
+        sessionEntry.forkedFromParent = true;
+        log.warn(`forked session created: file=${forked.sessionFile}`);
+      }
     }
   }
   const fallbackSessionFile = !sessionEntry.sessionFile

src/config/schema.help.ts

@@ -973,6 +973,8 @@ export const FIELD_HELP: Record<string, string> = {
     "Controls interval for repeated typing indicators while replies are being prepared in typing-capable channels. Increase to reduce chatty updates or decrease for more active typing feedback.",
   "session.typingMode":
     'Controls typing behavior timing: "never", "instant", "thinking", or "message" based emission points. Keep conservative modes in high-volume channels to avoid unnecessary typing noise.',
+  "session.parentForkMaxTokens":
+    "Maximum parent-session token count allowed for thread/session inheritance forking. If the parent exceeds this, OpenClaw starts a fresh thread session instead of forking; set 0 to disable this protection.",
   "session.mainKey":
     'Overrides the canonical main session key used for continuity when dmScope or routing logic points to "main". Use a stable value only if you intentionally need custom session anchoring.',
   "session.sendPolicy":

src/config/schema.labels.ts

@@ -455,6 +455,7 @@ export const FIELD_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
   "session.store": "Session Store Path",
   "session.typingIntervalSeconds": "Session Typing Interval (seconds)",
   "session.typingMode": "Session Typing Mode",
+  "session.parentForkMaxTokens": "Session Parent Fork Max Tokens",
   "session.mainKey": "Session Main Key",
   "session.sendPolicy": "Session Send Policy",
   "session.sendPolicy.default": "Session Send Policy Default Action",

src/config/types.base.ts

@@ -112,6 +112,12 @@ export type SessionConfig = {
   store?: string;
   typingIntervalSeconds?: number;
   typingMode?: TypingMode;
+  /**
+   * Max parent transcript token count allowed for thread/session forking.
+   * If parent totalTokens is above this value, OpenClaw skips parent fork and
+   * starts a fresh thread session instead. Set to 0 to disable this guard.
+   */
+  parentForkMaxTokens?: number;
   mainKey?: string;
   sendPolicy?: SessionSendPolicyConfig;
   agentToAgent?: {

src/config/zod-schema.session-maintenance-extensions.test.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,19 @@ describe("SessionSchema maintenance extensions", () => {
     ).not.toThrow();
   });
 
+  it("accepts parentForkMaxTokens including 0 to disable the guard", () => {
+    expect(() => SessionSchema.parse({ parentForkMaxTokens: 100_000 })).not.toThrow();
+    expect(() => SessionSchema.parse({ parentForkMaxTokens: 0 })).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects negative parentForkMaxTokens", () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      SessionSchema.parse({
+        parentForkMaxTokens: -1,
+      }),
+    ).toThrow(/parentForkMaxTokens/i);
+  });
+
   it("accepts disabling reset archive cleanup", () => {
     expect(() =>
       SessionSchema.parse({

src/config/zod-schema.session.ts

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ export const SessionSchema = z
     store: z.string().optional(),
     typingIntervalSeconds: z.number().int().positive().optional(),
     typingMode: TypingModeSchema.optional(),
+    parentForkMaxTokens: z.number().int().nonnegative().optional(),
     mainKey: z.string().optional(),
     sendPolicy: SessionSendPolicySchema.optional(),
     agentToAgent: z