feat(security): remove web search config from docker build

Dockerfile

@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ ARG CHAT_UI_URL=http://127.0.0.1:18789
 ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL=https://inference.local/v1
 ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API=openai-completions
 ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=
-ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=
 # Base64-encoded JSON list of messaging channel names to pre-configure
 # (e.g. ["discord","telegram"]). Channels are added with placeholder tokens
 # so the L7 proxy can rewrite them at egress. Default: empty list.
@@ -86,6 +85,11 @@ ARG NEMOCLAW_BUILD_ID=default
 # before running `nemoclaw onboard`. See #1409.
 ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_HOST=10.200.0.1
 ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT=3128
+# Non-secret flag: set to "1" when the user configured Brave Search during
+# onboard. Controls whether the web search block is written to openclaw.json.
+# The actual API key is injected at runtime via openshell:resolve:env, never
+# baked into the image.
+ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0
 
 # SECURITY: Promote build-args to env vars so the Python script reads them
 # via os.environ, never via string interpolation into Python source code.
@@ -97,13 +101,13 @@ ENV NEMOCLAW_MODEL=${NEMOCLAW_MODEL} \
     NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL=${NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL} \
     NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API=${NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API} \
     NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=${NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64} \
-    NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=${NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64} \
     NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_CHANNELS_B64=${NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_CHANNELS_B64} \
     NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_ALLOWED_IDS_B64=${NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_ALLOWED_IDS_B64} \
     NEMOCLAW_DISCORD_GUILDS_B64=${NEMOCLAW_DISCORD_GUILDS_B64} \
     NEMOCLAW_DISABLE_DEVICE_AUTH=${NEMOCLAW_DISABLE_DEVICE_AUTH} \
     NEMOCLAW_PROXY_HOST=${NEMOCLAW_PROXY_HOST} \
-    NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT=${NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT}
+    NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT=${NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT} \
+    NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=${NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED}
 
 WORKDIR /sandbox
 USER sandbox
@@ -123,7 +127,6 @@ primary_model_ref = os.environ['NEMOCLAW_PRIMARY_MODEL_REF']; \
 inference_base_url = os.environ['NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL']; \
 inference_api = os.environ['NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API']; \
 inference_compat = json.loads(base64.b64decode(os.environ['NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64']).decode('utf-8')); \
-web_config = json.loads(base64.b64decode(os.environ.get('NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64', 'e30=') or 'e30=').decode('utf-8')); \
 msg_channels = json.loads(base64.b64decode(os.environ.get('NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_CHANNELS_B64', 'W10=') or 'W10=').decode('utf-8')); \
 _allowed_ids = json.loads(base64.b64decode(os.environ.get('NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_ALLOWED_IDS_B64', 'e30=') or 'e30=').decode('utf-8')); \
 _discord_guilds = json.loads(base64.b64decode(os.environ.get('NEMOCLAW_DISCORD_GUILDS_B64', 'e30=') or 'e30=').decode('utf-8')); \
@@ -166,14 +169,12 @@ config.update({ \
             'search': { \
                 'enabled': True, \
                 'provider': 'brave', \
-                **({'apiKey': web_config.get('apiKey', '')} if web_config.get('apiKey', '') else {}) \
+                'apiKey': 'openshell:resolve:env:BRAVE_API_KEY' \
             }, \
-            'fetch': { \
-                'enabled': bool(web_config.get('fetchEnabled', True)) \
-            } \
+            'fetch': {'enabled': True} \
         } \
     } \
-} if web_config.get('provider') == 'brave' else {}); \
+}) if os.environ.get('NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED', '') == '1' else None; \
 path = os.path.expanduser('~/.openclaw/openclaw.json'); \
 json.dump(config, open(path, 'w'), indent=2); \
 os.chmod(path, 0o600)"

src/lib/onboard.ts

@@ -1038,8 +1038,8 @@ function patchStagedDockerfile(
     );
   }
   dockerfile = dockerfile.replace(
-    /^ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=.*$/m,
-    `ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=${webSearch.buildWebSearchDockerConfig(webSearchConfig)}`,
+    /^ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=.*$/m,
+    `ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=${webSearchConfig ? "1" : "0"}`,
   );
   // Onboard flow expects immediate dashboard access without device pairing,
   // so disable device auth for images built during onboard (see #1217).
@@ -2705,6 +2705,12 @@ async function createSandbox(
   // end-to-end with the stricter filtering. The allowlist rejects unknown
   // env vars by default, which is safer but needs careful rollout.
   const envArgs = [formatEnvAssignment("CHAT_UI_URL", chatUiUrl)];
+  if (webSearchConfig?.fetchEnabled) {
+    const braveKey = getCredential(webSearch.BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV) || process.env[webSearch.BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV];
+    if (braveKey) {
+      envArgs.push(formatEnvAssignment(webSearch.BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV, braveKey));
+    }
+  }
   const blockedSandboxEnvNames = new Set([
     // Derived from REMOTE_PROVIDER_CONFIG to prevent drift
     ...Object.values(REMOTE_PROVIDER_CONFIG)

src/lib/web-search.test.ts

@@ -3,32 +3,10 @@
 
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
-import {
-  buildWebSearchDockerConfig,
-} from "./web-search";
+import { BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV } from "./web-search";
 
-describe("web-search helpers", () => {
-  it("emits empty docker config when web search is disabled", () => {
-    expect(Buffer.from(buildWebSearchDockerConfig(null), "base64").toString("utf8")).toBe(
-      "{}",
-    );
-  });
-
-  it("emits empty docker config when fetchEnabled is false", () => {
-    expect(
-      Buffer.from(
-        buildWebSearchDockerConfig({ fetchEnabled: false }),
-        "base64",
-      ).toString("utf8"),
-    ).toBe("{}");
-  });
-
-  it("encodes Brave Search docker config using proxy placeholder for api key", () => {
-    const encoded = buildWebSearchDockerConfig({ fetchEnabled: true });
-    expect(JSON.parse(Buffer.from(encoded, "base64").toString("utf8"))).toEqual({
-      provider: "brave",
-      fetchEnabled: true,
-      apiKey: "openshell:resolve:env:BRAVE_API_KEY",
-    });
+describe("web-search module", () => {
+  it("exports BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV constant", () => {
+    expect(BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV).toBe("BRAVE_API_KEY");
   });
 });

src/lib/web-search.ts

@@ -6,22 +6,3 @@ export interface WebSearchConfig {
 }
 
 export const BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV = "BRAVE_API_KEY";
-
-export function encodeDockerJsonArg(value: unknown): string {
-  return Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(value ?? {}), "utf8").toString("base64");
-}
-
-export function buildWebSearchDockerConfig(
-  config: WebSearchConfig | null,
-): string {
-  if (!config || config.fetchEnabled !== true) return encodeDockerJsonArg({});
-
-  const payload = {
-    provider: "brave",
-    fetchEnabled: Boolean(config.fetchEnabled),
-    // Use the OpenShell proxy placeholder instead of the raw API key to ensure
-    // credentials are never baked into Docker images or raw sandbox configuration.
-    apiKey: `openshell:resolve:env:${BRAVE_API_KEY_ENV}`,
-  };
-  return encodeDockerJsonArg(payload);
-}

test/onboard.test.ts

@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PRIMARY_MODEL_REF=nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b",
         "ARG CHAT_UI_URL=http://127.0.0.1:18789",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_BUILD_ID=default",
       ].join("\n"),
     );
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PRIMARY_MODEL_REF=nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b",
         "ARG CHAT_UI_URL=http://127.0.0.1:18789",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_CHANNELS_B64=W10=",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_ALLOWED_IDS_B64=e30=",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_DISCORD_GUILDS_B64=e30=",
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PRIMARY_MODEL_REF=nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b",
         "ARG CHAT_UI_URL=http://127.0.0.1:18789",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_CHANNELS_B64=W10=",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_MESSAGING_ALLOWED_IDS_B64=e30=",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_DISCORD_GUILDS_B64=e30=",
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL=https://inference.local/v1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API=openai-completions",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_BUILD_ID=default",
       ].join("\n"),
     );
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL=https://inference.local/v1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API=openai-completions",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_BUILD_ID=default",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_HOST=10.200.0.1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT=3128",
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL=https://inference.local/v1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API=openai-completions",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_BUILD_ID=default",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_HOST=10.200.0.1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT=3128",
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL=https://inference.local/v1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API=openai-completions",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_BUILD_ID=default",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_HOST=10.200.0.1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_PROXY_PORT=3128",
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_BASE_URL=https://inference.local/v1",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API=openai-completions",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_COMPAT_B64=e30=",
-        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=e30=",
+        "ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=0",
         "ARG NEMOCLAW_BUILD_ID=default",
       ].join("\n"),
     );
@@ -639,14 +639,9 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
         { fetchEnabled: true },
       );
       const patched = fs.readFileSync(dockerfilePath, "utf8");
-      const expected = buildWebSearchDockerConfig({ fetchEnabled: true });
-      assert.match(
-        patched,
-        new RegExp(
-          `^ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64=${expected.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, "\\$&")}$`,
-          "m",
-        ),
-      );
+      assert.match(patched, /^ARG NEMOCLAW_WEB_SEARCH_ENABLED=1$/m);
+      // Regression guard: the old secret-bearing build arg must not reappear.
+      assert.doesNotMatch(patched, /NEMOCLAW_WEB_CONFIG_B64/);
     } finally {
       if (priorBraveKey === undefined) {
         delete process.env.BRAVE_API_KEY;