Use a configured default locale for openclawcode proactive notifications #149

Summary

openclawcode proactive notifications currently derive locale from the gateway process environment instead of the recipient or notification target. This makes notification language depend on systemd/shell locale, which is not the right source of truth for chat-facing messages.

We also now have mixed localization coverage: some proactive setup / welcome messages are localized, while several run-status notifications are still hardcoded in English.

Problem

1. Proactive notification locale follows process env, not user / target intent

Current locale resolution in extensions/openclawcode/index.ts uses:

• OPENCLAWCODE_LOCALE
• OPENCLAWCODE_LANGUAGE
• LC_ALL
• LC_MESSAGES
• LANG
• fallback zh-CN

This means a gateway launched with something like LANG=en_US.UTF-8 will send English proactive notifications even when the operator expects Chinese.

Observed behavior:

• Feishu operator binding welcome notification was sent in English
• The gateway process environment was LANG=en_US.UTF-8
• The message content therefore followed host/process locale instead of the operator's intended notification language

2. Not all proactive notifications are localized

Some proactive notification paths already use localized builders, but other paths still emit inline English strings. Examples include run-status notifications such as:

• openclawcode is starting ...
• openclawcode failed on ...
• openclawcode finished ..., but could not parse ...

This creates an inconsistent experience even if locale selection is fixed.

Proposed solution

Product behavior

Add an openclawcode proactive notification default language during onboarding.

Rules:

• The setting only affects openclawcode proactive messages
• It does not change model output language, CLI language, or general OpenClaw behavior
• During openclaw onboard, let the user choose a default proactive notification language
• If the user does not choose one, default to English (en) because it is the most universal fallback

Suggested config shape:

• plugins.entries.openclawcode.config.defaultNotificationLocale

Suggested initial supported values:

• en
• zh-CN

Locale resolution for proactive notifications

For proactive openclawcode messages, use this precedence:

1. Session-level explicit locale
2. Notification target / binding-level locale
3. openclawcode.config.defaultNotificationLocale
4. fallback en

Important:

• Do not use LANG, LC_ALL, or other process-level env as the primary source for chat notification locale
• Process env can remain a legacy fallback only if we explicitly still want it, but the cleaner direction is to remove it from proactive notification locale resolution entirely

Localization architecture

Centralize proactive notifications behind message builders / template ids instead of inline strings in workflow logic.

Examples:

• setup.awaiting_github_auth
• setup.ready
• setup.failed
• setup.recovery
• feishu.binding_welcome
• run.started
• run.failed
• run.completed_parse_error

This makes it possible to:

• audit localization coverage
• keep wording consistent
• add languages without hunting inline strings across runtime paths

Acceptance criteria

• openclaw onboard prompts for openclawcode proactive notification default language
• If skipped, the stored default for proactive notifications is en
• Proactive openclawcode notifications no longer depend on gateway/system LANG
• A Chinese-targeted setup / welcome notification can be sent from an English-host locale without switching to English
• An English-targeted notification can be sent in the same running process to another target without affecting the Chinese target
• Current proactive notification paths are routed through localized builders instead of inline English strings
• Existing welcome/setup/run-status notifications use the resolved notification locale consistently

Notes

Relevant current code paths include:

• locale resolution in extensions/openclawcode/index.ts
• localized setup / welcome notifications in extensions/openclawcode/index.ts
• inline English run-status notifications in extensions/openclawcode/index.ts