openclaw: runtime error "Missing workspace template: HEARTBEAT.md" — src/agents/templates/ deleted during build

[barstoolbluz]

Description

When launching openclaw via the TUI, the following runtime error appears immediately after startup:

run error: Missing workspace template: HEARTBEAT.md (/nix/store/gxwg26d37mls5jy0477i3kmnpmkphp6g-openclaw-2026.6.1/lib/openclaw/src/agents/templates/HEARTBEAT.md).
Ensure workspace templates are packaged.

Root Cause

The Nix package build in .flox/pkgs/openclaw/default.nix removes the entire src/ directory as a post-install cleanup step, intended to strip dev/test artifacts. However, src/agents/templates/ contains template files — including HEARTBEAT.md — that openclaw resolves and loads at runtime relative to the package root.

The cleanup is overly aggressive: it removes runtime-required files alongside the dev artifacts it was meant to prune.

Fix

Preserve src/agents/templates/ during the prune phase. Options:

• Option A (minimal): replace rm -rf src with targeted removal that spares the templates directory
• Option B (clean): copy src/agents/templates/ to a stable location (e.g. $out/lib/openclaw/templates/) and update the path openclaw uses to resolve them

Environment

• openclaw version: 2026.6.1
• Installed via: flox/openclaw package in floxenvs