OpenClaw Session Key State And Data Flow

This note is the source-of-truth for the XWorkmate App -> Bridge -> OpenClaw session identity boundary.

Terms

Term	Owner	Example	Meaning
`TaskThread.sessionKey`	XWorkmate App	`draft:1780658097668838-1`	App-local thread identity. It owns UI state, queue state, local workspace, and persisted TaskThread data.
`appThreadKey`	XWorkmate typed integration metadata	`draft:1780658097668838-1`	The typed cross-repo name for the App TaskThread identity. It is currently the same value as `TaskThread.sessionKey`.
local thread workspace	XWorkmate App	`~/.xworkmate/threads/draft-1780658097668838-1`	Filesystem path derived from the App thread key. Path formatting is not a protocol key.
`openclawSessionKey`	OpenClaw native session layer	`agent:main:draft:1780658097668838-1`	OpenClaw SessionEntry key and `chat.send.sessionKey` value.
`runId`	OpenClaw task/runtime layer	`run-openclaw-...`	The active OpenClaw run/task id. Bridge updates to the actual OpenClaw `runId` if `chat.send` returns one different from the initial request id.

Rules:

App code may keep sessionKey for local TaskThread and UI session APIs.
App session.start only carries appThreadKey in typed metadata; it does not preemptively choose the OpenClaw native session key.
Bridge resolves or reuses openclawSessionKey, persists the mapping, and then uses that key for OpenClaw native APIs such as chat.send.
Plugin lookup must read appThreadKey -> openclawSessionKey from SessionEntry.pluginExtensions, not from string replace or reverse parsing.
xworkmate.tasks.get must be invoked with the persisted association (appThreadKey, openclawSessionKey, runId/taskId), not with a legacy sessionKey alias.

State Graph

stateDiagram-v2
  [*] --> AppDraftCreated
  AppDraftCreated: TaskThread.sessionKey = appThreadKey
  AppDraftCreated: local workspace path is derived for filesystem use

  AppDraftCreated --> Submitted: App sends session.start
  Submitted: params.sessionId/threadId = App thread identity
  Submitted: metadata.xworkmateTaskArtifactContract.appThreadKey
  Submitted: metadata.xworkmateTaskArtifactContract.expectedArtifactDirs

  Submitted --> BridgePrepared: Bridge calls xworkmate.session.prepare
  BridgePrepared: schemaVersion = 1
  BridgePrepared: appThreadKey
  BridgePrepared: openclawSessionKey
  BridgePrepared: expectedArtifactDirs
  BridgePrepared: requestId/externalTaskId

  BridgePrepared --> MappingPersisted: Plugin patches SessionEntry.pluginExtensions
  MappingPersisted: source = bridge_prepare or session_start
  MappingPersisted: conflicts fail closed

  MappingPersisted --> OpenClawRunning: Bridge calls chat.send
  OpenClawRunning: chat.send.sessionKey = openclawSessionKey
  OpenClawRunning: idempotencyKey = requestId

  OpenClawRunning --> OpenClawRunning: agent.wait still running
  OpenClawRunning --> RunIdReprepared: chat.send returns actual runId
  RunIdReprepared: Bridge prepares actual run scope
  RunIdReprepared --> OpenClawRunning

  OpenClawRunning --> Terminal: agent.wait or native task-registry terminal state
  Terminal --> ArtifactSnapshot: collect-and-snapshot
  ArtifactSnapshot --> ArtifactExport: xworkmate.artifacts.export
  ArtifactExport --> AppReady: session.update or xworkmate.tasks.get result
  AppReady --> [*]

  OpenClawRunning --> ReconcileAfterReconnect: App/Bridge reconnect
  ReconcileAfterReconnect --> MappingPersisted: lookup mapping by appThreadKey
  ReconcileAfterReconnect --> Terminal: query native task-registry by openclawSessionKey/runId

Data Flow

flowchart LR
  subgraph App["xworkmate-app"]
    TT["TaskThread\nsessionKey = draft:..."]
    Meta["Typed metadata\nschemaVersion=1\nappThreadKey\nexpectedArtifactDirs"]
    Assoc["OpenClawTaskAssociation\nappThreadKey\nopenclawSessionKey\nrunId"]
  end

  subgraph Bridge["xworkmate-bridge"]
    Validate["validate request"]
    PrepareParams["prepare params\nschemaVersion=1\nappThreadKey\nopenclawSessionKey\nexpectedArtifactDirs\nrequestId/externalTaskId"]
    NativeChat["OpenClaw native chat.send\nsessionKey = openclawSessionKey\nidempotencyKey"]
    Events["normalize native events\nsession.update to App"]
  end

  subgraph OpenClaw["openclaw.svc.plus"]
    SessionEntry["SessionEntry\nkey = openclawSessionKey"]
    NativeTask["native task-registry\nrunId/taskId/status"]
    Transcript["transcript/runtime events"]
  end

  subgraph Plugin["openclaw-multi-session-plugins"]
    Prepare["xworkmate.session.prepare"]
    Ext["pluginExtensions mapping\nxworkmate.sessionMapping"]
    TasksGet["xworkmate.tasks.get\nnative registry lookup"]
    Artifact["artifact resolver\nexpectedArtifactDirs"]
  end

  TT --> Meta
  Meta --> Validate
  Validate --> PrepareParams
  PrepareParams --> Prepare
  Prepare --> Ext
  Ext --> SessionEntry
  PrepareParams --> NativeChat
  NativeChat --> SessionEntry
  NativeChat --> NativeTask
  NativeTask --> Transcript
  Transcript --> Events
  Events --> Assoc
  Assoc --> TasksGet
  TasksGet --> NativeTask
  TasksGet --> Artifact
  Artifact --> Events

Field Contract

App session.start:

{
  "sessionId": "draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "threadId": "draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "metadata": {
    "xworkmateTaskArtifactContract": {
      "schemaVersion": 1,
      "appThreadKey": "draft:1780658097668838-1",
      "expectedArtifactDirs": [
        "artifacts/",
        "reports/",
        "exports/",
        "assets/",
        "assets/images/",
        "dist/"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Bridge xworkmate.session.prepare:

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "appThreadKey": "draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "openclawSessionKey": "agent:main:draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "runId": "turn-...",
  "requestId": "turn-...",
  "externalTaskId": "turn-...",
  "expectedArtifactDirs": ["artifacts/", "reports/"]
}

Plugin writes:

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "appThreadKey": "draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "openclawSessionKey": "agent:main:draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "expectedArtifactDirs": ["artifacts/", "reports/"],
  "source": "bridge_prepare",
  "createdAt": "2026-06-05T00:00:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-05T00:00:00.000Z"
}

App xworkmate.tasks.get params:

{
  "appThreadKey": "draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "openclawSessionKey": "agent:main:draft:1780658097668838-1",
  "runId": "run-openclaw-...",
  "includeArtifacts": true
}

Final Consistency

For the debug case:

App local key: TaskThread.sessionKey = appThreadKey = draft:1780658097668838-1
App local path: ~/.xworkmate/threads/draft-1780658097668838-1
OpenClaw URL: ?session=agent%3Amain%3Adraft%3A1780658097668838-1
OpenClaw key: openclawSessionKey = agent:main:draft:1780658097668838-1
Durable mapping: SessionEntry.pluginExtensions["openclaw-multi-session-plugins"]["xworkmate.sessionMapping"]

This keeps the visible IDs aligned for debugging while avoiding string inference as the lookup source. The deterministic agent:main:<appThreadKey> creation policy is only used before the mapping exists; after xworkmate.session.prepare the durable mapping is authoritative.

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