fix: use stdout-based config dir detection instead of exitCode

src/gateway/sync.test.ts

@@ -39,19 +39,38 @@ describe('syncToR2', () => {
   });
 
   describe('sanity checks', () => {
-    it('returns error when source has no config file', async () => {
+    it('returns error when config directories are empty', async () => {
       const { sandbox, startProcessMock } = createMockSandbox();
       startProcessMock
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('s3fs on /data/moltbot type fuse.s3fs\n'))
-        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('', { exitCode: 1 })) // No openclaw.json
-        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('', { exitCode: 1 })); // No clawdbot.json either
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('')) // Empty .openclaw dir
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('')); // Empty .clawdbot dir
 
       const env = createMockEnvWithR2();
 
       const result = await syncToR2(sandbox, env);
 
       expect(result.success).toBe(false);
-      expect(result.error).toBe('Sync aborted: no config file found');
+      expect(result.error).toBe('Sync aborted: no config data found');
+    });
+
+    it('syncs when config dir has content but no openclaw.json (exitCode null)', async () => {
+      const { sandbox, startProcessMock } = createMockSandbox();
+      const timestamp = '2026-02-09T12:00:00+00:00';
+
+      // ls returns directory content even when exitCode is null (#212)
+      startProcessMock
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('s3fs on /data/moltbot type fuse.s3fs\n'))
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('agents\n', { exitCode: undefined as any }))
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess(''))
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess(timestamp));
+
+      const env = createMockEnvWithR2();
+
+      const result = await syncToR2(sandbox, env);
+
+      expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+      expect(result.lastSync).toBe(timestamp);
     });
   });
 
@@ -60,10 +79,10 @@ describe('syncToR2', () => {
       const { sandbox, startProcessMock } = createMockSandbox();
       const timestamp = '2026-01-27T12:00:00+00:00';
 
-      // Calls: mount check, check openclaw.json, rsync, cat timestamp
+      // Calls: mount check, ls config dir, rsync, cat timestamp
       startProcessMock
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('s3fs on /data/moltbot type fuse.s3fs\n'))
-        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('ok'))
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('openclaw.json\n'))
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess(''))
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess(timestamp));
 
@@ -78,10 +97,10 @@ describe('syncToR2', () => {
     it('returns error when rsync fails (no timestamp created)', async () => {
       const { sandbox, startProcessMock } = createMockSandbox();
 
-      // Calls: mount check, check openclaw.json, rsync (fails), cat timestamp (empty)
+      // Calls: mount check, ls config dir, rsync (fails), cat timestamp (empty)
       startProcessMock
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('s3fs on /data/moltbot type fuse.s3fs\n'))
-        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('ok'))
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('openclaw.json\n'))
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('', { exitCode: 1 }))
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess(''));
 
@@ -99,7 +118,7 @@ describe('syncToR2', () => {
 
       startProcessMock
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('s3fs on /data/moltbot type fuse.s3fs\n'))
-        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('ok'))
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess('openclaw.json\n'))
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess(''))
         .mockResolvedValueOnce(createMockProcess(timestamp));
 

src/gateway/sync.ts

@@ -41,23 +41,32 @@ export async function syncToR2(sandbox: Sandbox, env: MoltbotEnv): Promise<SyncR
     return { success: false, error: 'Failed to mount R2 storage' };
   }
 
-  // Determine which config directory exists
-  // Check new path first, fall back to legacy
-  // Use exit code (0 = exists) rather than stdout parsing to avoid log-flush races
+  // Determine which config directory has content worth backing up.
+  // Uses stdout-based detection (ls output) instead of exitCode, because the
+  // sandbox API sometimes returns null for exitCode even on success (#212).
   let configDir = '/root/.openclaw';
   try {
-    const checkNew = await sandbox.startProcess('test -f /root/.openclaw/openclaw.json');
+    const checkNew = await sandbox.startProcess('ls -A /root/.openclaw/ 2>/dev/null | head -1');
     await waitForProcess(checkNew, 5000);
-    if (checkNew.exitCode !== 0) {
-      const checkLegacy = await sandbox.startProcess('test -f /root/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json');
+    const checkNewLogs = await checkNew.getLogs();
+    const hasNewContent = (checkNewLogs.stdout || '').trim().length > 0;
+
+    if (!hasNewContent) {
+      const checkLegacy = await sandbox.startProcess(
+        'ls -A /root/.clawdbot/ 2>/dev/null | head -1',
+      );
       await waitForProcess(checkLegacy, 5000);
-      if (checkLegacy.exitCode === 0) {
+      const checkLegacyLogs = await checkLegacy.getLogs();
+      const hasLegacyContent = (checkLegacyLogs.stdout || '').trim().length > 0;
+
+      if (hasLegacyContent) {
         configDir = '/root/.clawdbot';
       } else {
         return {
           success: false,
-          error: 'Sync aborted: no config file found',
-          details: 'Neither openclaw.json nor clawdbot.json found in config directory.',
+          error: 'Sync aborted: no config data found',
+          details:
+            'Neither /root/.openclaw/ nor /root/.clawdbot/ contain data to back up.',
         };
       }
     }