- CLI/startup: disable Node's module compile cache automatically for live source-checkout launchers so in-place `pnpm build` updates are visible to the next `openclaw` CLI invocation. Fixes #73037. Thanks @LouisGameDev.

- Agents/group chat: move `NO_REPLY` mechanics into channel-aware direct/group prompts and suppress the duplicate generic silent-reply section for auto-reply runs, so always-on group agents get one consistent stay-silent instruction. Thanks @vincentkoc.

- Providers/OpenAI: preserve encrypted empty-summary Responses reasoning items in WebSocket replay and request `reasoning.encrypted_content` on reasoning turns so GPT-5.4/GPT-5.5 sessions do not lose required `rs_*` state beside `msg_*` items. Fixes #73053. Thanks @odb36777.

- Gateway/startup: treat `plugins.enabled=false` as an early plugin fast path, skipping plugin auto-enable discovery, gateway plugin lookup/runtime-dependency staging, and stale-plugin cleanup warnings while preserving channel blocker warnings. (#73041) Thanks @WuKongAI-CMU.

- Channels/commands: make generated `/dock-*` commands switch the active session reply route through `session.identityLinks` instead of falling through to normal chat. Fixes #69206; carries forward #73033. Thanks @clawbones and @michaelatamuk.

- Providers/Cloudflare AI Gateway: strip assistant prefill turns from Anthropic Messages payloads when thinking is enabled, so Claude requests through Cloudflare AI Gateway no longer fail Anthropic conversation-ending validation. Fixes #72905; carries forward #73005. Thanks @AaronFaby and @sahilsatralkar.

- Gateway/startup: keep primary-model startup prewarm on scoped metadata preparation, let native approval bootstraps retry outside channel startup, and skip the global hook runner when no `gateway_start` hook is registered, so clean post-ready sidecar work stays off the critical path. Refs #72846. Thanks @RayWoo, @livekm0309, and @mrz1836.