Gateway: deep-compare array config paths for reload diff

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 - Agents/Ollama: preserve unsafe integer tool-call arguments as exact strings during NDJSON parsing, preventing large numeric IDs from being rounded before tool execution. (#23170) Thanks @BestJoester.
 - Cron/Gateway: keep `cron.list` and `cron.status` responsive during startup catch-up by avoiding a long-held cron lock while missed jobs execute. (#23106) Thanks @jayleekr.
+- Gateway/Config reload: compare array-valued config paths structurally during diffing so unchanged `memory.qmd.paths` and `memory.qmd.scope.rules` no longer trigger false restart-required reloads. (#23185) Thanks @rex05ai.
 - Gateway/Pairing: treat operator.admin pairing tokens as satisfying operator.write requests so legacy devices stop looping through scope-upgrade prompts introduced in 2026.2.19. (#23125, #23006) Thanks @vignesh07.
 - Memory/QMD: add optional `memory.qmd.mcporter` search routing so QMD `query/search/vsearch` can run through mcporter keep-alive flows (including multi-collection paths) to reduce cold starts, while keeping searches on agent-scoped QMD state for consistent recall. (#19617) Thanks @nicole-luxe and @vignesh07.
 - Chat/UI: strip inline reply/audio directive tags (`[[reply_to_current]]`, `[[reply_to:<id>]]`, `[[audio_as_voice]]`) from displayed chat history, live chat event output, and session preview snippets so control tags no longer leak into user-visible surfaces.

src/gateway/config-reload.test.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,48 @@ describe("diffConfigPaths", () => {
     const paths = diffConfigPaths(prev, next);
     expect(paths).toContain("messages.groupChat.mentionPatterns");
   });
+
+  it("does not report unchanged arrays of objects as changed", () => {
+    const prev = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.md", name: "docs" }],
+          scope: {
+            rules: [{ when: { channel: "slack" }, include: ["docs"] }],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const next = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.md", name: "docs" }],
+          scope: {
+            rules: [{ when: { channel: "slack" }, include: ["docs"] }],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    expect(diffConfigPaths(prev, next)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("reports changed arrays of objects", () => {
+    const prev = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.md", name: "docs" }],
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const next = {
+      memory: {
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "~/docs", pattern: "**/*.txt", name: "docs" }],
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    expect(diffConfigPaths(prev, next)).toContain("memory.qmd.paths");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("buildGatewayReloadPlan", () => {

src/gateway/config-reload.ts

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { isDeepStrictEqual } from "node:util";
 import chokidar from "chokidar";
 import { type ChannelId, listChannelPlugins } from "../channels/plugins/index.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig, ConfigFileSnapshot, GatewayReloadMode } from "../config/config.js";
@@ -150,7 +151,9 @@ export function diffConfigPaths(prev: unknown, next: unknown, prefix = ""): stri
     return paths;
   }
   if (Array.isArray(prev) && Array.isArray(next)) {
-    if (prev.length === next.length && prev.every((val, idx) => val === next[idx])) {
+    // Arrays can contain object entries (for example memory.qmd.paths/scope.rules);
+    // compare structurally so identical values are not reported as changed.
+    if (isDeepStrictEqual(prev, next)) {
       return [];
     }
   }