fix: parse OpenClaw config with JSON5 for model catalog

[kimbotai1337]

Summary

Fixes the false-positive header warning from #209.

Closes #209.

What changed

• switched /api/gateway/models from JSON.parse to JSON5.parse
• added json5 as a runtime dependency
• added a regression test for JSON5-style config syntax

Why

Nerve v1.5.2 started reading configured models directly from the active OpenClaw config. If openclaw.json used JSON5-style syntax (comments, unquoted keys, trailing commas), Nerve could fail to parse it and show:

⚠ Could not read OpenClaw config.

even though OpenClaw itself was working normally.

Verification

• npm test -- server/routes/gateway.test.ts
• npm run build:server

Also verified live:

• pre-fix instance showed the warning
• fixed instance no longer showed it

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Configuration files now support JSON5 format, enabling comments and trailing commas for improved readability and flexibility.

• Tests

  • Added test coverage for JSON5 configuration file parsing.

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The changes add support for JSON5 format (which allows comments and trailing commas) when parsing OpenClaw configuration files. This involves adding the json5 dependency, updating the gateway route to use JSON5.parse() instead of JSON.parse(), and adding a test case to verify the new functionality works correctly.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
JSON5 Dependency package.json	Added json5@^2.2.3 as a runtime dependency.
Config Parsing Enhancement server/routes/gateway.ts	Imported json5 and switched from JSON.parse() to JSON5.parse() for parsing OpenClaw configuration, enabling support for JSON5 format with comments and trailing commas.
Test Coverage server/routes/gateway.test.ts	Added new test case for GET /api/gateway/models that validates parsing of JSON5-formatted OpenClaw configuration and confirms correct model catalog response.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Poem

🐰 A config with comments, oh what a delight!
JSON5 now parsing makes everything right,
No more warnings haunting the header so bright,
OpenClaw reads freely without a strict fight! ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: switching to JSON5 parsing for OpenClaw config in the model catalog endpoint.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description comprehensively covers all template sections: what changed, why it matters, how it was verified, and includes a link to the related issue #209.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	The PR successfully addresses issue #209 by replacing JSON.parse with JSON5.parse to handle JSON5-style config syntax, eliminating the false-positive warning when configs use comments, unquoted keys, or trailing commas.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	All changes are directly scoped to fixing the config parsing issue: adding json5 dependency, updating the gateway route parser, and adding a regression test for JSON5 syntax.

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✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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[coderabbitai]

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)

server/routes/gateway.ts (1)

163-163: Unify OpenClaw config parsing across routes to prevent split behavior.

/api/gateway/models parses ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json with JSON5.parse, while server/routes/channels.ts uses JSON.parse on the same file and silently returns [] on failure. If the config file contains JSON5 syntax (e.g., comments, trailing commas), gateway succeeds but channels silently fails, producing inconsistent UI state (models load, channels disappear). Consider extracting a shared config-reader helper using a consistent parser strategy.

🤖 Prompt for AI Agents

Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

In `@server/routes/gateway.ts` at line 163, The OpenClaw config is parsed
inconsistently (gateway.ts uses JSON5.parse while channels.ts uses JSON.parse
and swallows errors); extract a shared helper (e.g., readOpenClawConfig or
parseOpenClawConfig) that reads the ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and consistently
uses JSON5.parse to return an OpenClawConfig (or a clear fallback) and import it
from both server/routes/gateway.ts and server/routes/channels.ts; update
channels.ts to call this helper instead of JSON.parse, ensure it does not
silently return [] on parse error (log the error via the existing logger and
return a safe default), and keep the helper's API typed so callers (models route
and channels route) handle the same shape consistently.

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents

Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

Nitpick comments:
In `@server/routes/gateway.ts`:
- Line 163: The OpenClaw config is parsed inconsistently (gateway.ts uses
JSON5.parse while channels.ts uses JSON.parse and swallows errors); extract a
shared helper (e.g., readOpenClawConfig or parseOpenClawConfig) that reads the
~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and consistently uses JSON5.parse to return an
OpenClawConfig (or a clear fallback) and import it from both
server/routes/gateway.ts and server/routes/channels.ts; update channels.ts to
call this helper instead of JSON.parse, ensure it does not silently return [] on
parse error (log the error via the existing logger and return a safe default),
and keep the helper's API typed so callers (models route and channels route)
handle the same shape consistently.

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 9e86d025-571f-4867-8cc0-7523daa227d2

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between c9ad1bd and 0771860.

⛔ Files ignored due to path filters (1)

• package-lock.json is excluded by !**/package-lock.json

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

• package.json
• server/routes/gateway.test.ts
• server/routes/gateway.ts