docs(release): add v0.0.81 release notes

[cv]

Summary

Release-prep documentation for v0.0.81 now summarizes user-facing changes merged since v0.0.80.
It also closes the Hermes dashboard-profile backup gap and distinguishes direct blueprint-runner actions from public host CLI commands.

Changes

• Add the v0.0.81 section to docs/about/release-notes.mdx with links to the detailed user guides.
• Document that Hermes rebuilds preserve .hermes/dashboard-home/, including Dashboard MEMORY.md and USER.md.
• Update Hermes manual backup and restore examples to transfer those two profile files without copying generated configuration or the secret-bearing dashboard .env.
• Explain the new per-item backup failure causes.
• Clarify that migration snapshot retention fragments are direct-runner arguments and are not exposed by the host nemoclaw CLI.

Source summary

• feat(state): add key-level restore ownership to agent manifests #6445 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx, docs/manage-sandboxes/backup-restore.mdx, and docs/manage-sandboxes/workspace-files.mdx: Summarize manifest-owned key-level restore and current-config authority.
• fix(snapshot): verify idle dcode without ps #6617 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx and docs/manage-sandboxes/backup-restore.mdx: Record the fail-closed /proc fallback used to verify an idle Deep Agents runtime before snapshot creation.
• fix(hermes): preserve dashboard profile on rebuild #6685 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx, docs/manage-sandboxes/backup-restore.mdx, and docs/manage-sandboxes/workspace-files.mdx: Document Hermes Web Dashboard profile persistence and safe manual transfer.
• fix(inference): route local compatible endpoints through gateway #6649 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize host-validated loopback compatible-endpoint routing through the sandbox gateway.
• fix(inference): send max_completion_tokens for GPT-5 and o-series models #6643 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize automatic max_completion_tokens handling for GPT-5 and o-series models.
• perf(onboard): reuse provider validation connections #6661 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize bounded connection reuse for eligible provider-validation probes.
• fix(blueprint): fail apply when provider or inference setup fails (#6703) #6704 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record that direct blueprint apply stops instead of persisting incomplete state after provider or inference setup fails.
• fix(sandbox): recover relaunches a restart-killed gateway supervisor #6677 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize transactional recovery for legacy Docker containers whose managed supervisor disappeared after restart.
• fix(hermes): relaunch startup after Docker restart #6625 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record Hermes managed-startup persistence across direct Docker restarts.
• fix(destroy): release final gateway on macOS #6597 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record final-sandbox gateway cleanup on macOS.
• fix(dcode): improve managed first-run sessions #6680 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize managed Deep Agents first-run and process-tree cleanup improvements.
• fix(dcode): validate managed fetch CA bundle #6647 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record fail-closed validation for the managed Deep Agents fetch CA bundle.
• fix(whatsapp): pair login over the loopback gateway and preserve npm plugin provenance #6645 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize WhatsApp loopback pairing and trusted npm plugin provenance.
• fix(backup): explain stopped sandbox remediation #6673 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx and docs/manage-sandboxes/backup-restore.mdx: Document stopped-sandbox backup remediation.
• fix(backup): name the per-dir failure cause in backup failure messages #6631 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx and docs/manage-sandboxes/backup-restore.mdx: Document per-item backup failure causes.
• fix(onboard): print created sandbox readiness receipt #6620 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record the created-but-not-ready sandbox lifecycle receipt.
• fix(onboard): pause phase heartbeats while a prompt owns the terminal #6664 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record prompt-aware onboarding progress output.
• fix(onboard): keep resume from advancing state on stale replay results #6598 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize stale replay-result invalidation during resumed onboarding.
• fix(openclaw): contextualize managed audit findings #6593 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Summarize contextual OpenClaw audit findings for managed dashboard compatibility settings.
• fix(security): redact token-shaped URL query values #6650 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record redaction of token-shaped URL query values.
• docs(policy): include MCP DELETE in custom recipe #6638 -> docs/about/release-notes.mdx: Record the exact-path MCP DELETE policy recipe for session termination.
• feat(blueprint): add snapshot prune/delete commands for retention management #5453 -> docs/reference/host-files-and-state.mdx: Clarify that snapshot retention actions belong to direct runner integrations and are not standalone host CLI commands.

Skipped from docs-skip

• fix(policy): allow scoped ClawHub package paths #6633 matched the openclaw-sandbox-permissive.yaml path in docs/.docs-skip and produced no documentation in this update.

Type of Change

• Code change (feature, bug fix, or refactor)
• Code change with doc updates
• Doc only (prose changes, no code sample modifications)
• Doc only (includes code sample changes)

Quality Gates

• Tests added or updated for changed behavior
• Existing tests cover changed behavior — justification:
• Tests not applicable — justification: This is a documentation-only release-prep update; behavior is protected by the merged source PRs, and the documentation build validates the changed examples and routes.
• Docs updated for user-facing behavior changes
• Docs not applicable — justification:
• Sensitive paths changed (security, policy, credentials, preflight, onboarding, inference, runner, sandbox, or messaging)
• Sensitive-path review completed or maintainer-approved waiver recorded — reviewer/approval link/justification:
• Non-success, skipped, or missing CI check accepted by maintainer — check name, approval link, and follow-up issue:

Verification

• PR description includes the DCO sign-off declaration and every commit appears as Verified in GitHub
• Normal pre-commit, commit-msg, and pre-push hooks passed, or npm run check:diff passed when hooks were skipped or unavailable
• Targeted behavior tests pass for the current change set, or tests are marked not applicable above — tests are not applicable for this documentation-only change; npm run docs completed successfully.
• Applicable broad gate passed — npm test for broad runtime/test-harness changes; npm run check for repo-wide validation/coverage changes — command/result: not run for this documentation-only change.
• Quality Gates section completed with required justifications or waivers
• No secrets, API keys, or credentials committed
• npm run docs builds without warnings (doc changes only) — 0 errors; two existing Fern warnings remain.
• Doc pages follow the style guide (doc changes only)
• New doc pages include SPDX header and frontmatter (new pages only) — no new pages.

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Signed-off-by: Carlos Villela cvillela@nvidia.com

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Documentation
  • Added release notes for v0.0.81 covering state preservation, inference setup, sandbox recovery, session setup, pairing, diagnostics, and security policy updates.
  • Expanded backup and restore guidance to include dashboard profile files and clarify files that must not be copied.
  • Added dashboard profile persistence details to workspace and rebuild documentation.
  • Clarified snapshot retention guidance and the distinction between host CLI capabilities and direct runner actions.
  • Added more detailed backup failure reporting information.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Enterprise

Run ID: eee22966-f9df-4f4c-87a3-493d322ba4aa

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between e04a344 and 6fe3d6b.

📒 Files selected for processing (4)

• docs/about/release-notes.mdx
• docs/manage-sandboxes/backup-restore.mdx
• docs/manage-sandboxes/workspace-files.mdx
• docs/reference/host-files-and-state.mdx

---

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Documentation now covers v0.0.81 changes, Hermes dashboard profile backup and restoration, backup failure reporting, and the distinction between host CLI and direct runner snapshot retention actions.

Changes

Hermes dashboard state and backup documentation

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Hermes dashboard state backup and restoration docs/manage-sandboxes/backup-restore.mdx, docs/manage-sandboxes/workspace-files.mdx	Documents preservation and manual backup/restore of MEMORY.md and USER.md, excludes regenerated dashboard credentials, and lists backup failure causes.

Release documentation

Layer / File(s)	Summary
v0.0.81 release notes docs/about/release-notes.mdx	Adds release notes covering rebuild and restore, inference setup, sandbox recovery, sessions, WhatsApp pairing, diagnostics, and security behavior.

Snapshot retention guidance

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Snapshot retention command guidance docs/reference/host-files-and-state.mdx	Clarifies that retention actions belong to the direct blueprint runner and that the host CLI does not expose them.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title is concise and accurately reflects the main change: adding v0.0.81 release notes and related documentation updates.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch codex/docs-v0.0.81-release-prep

---

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}

[github-actions]

E2E Advisor Recommendation

Required E2E: None
Optional E2E: None

Workflow run

Full advisor summary

E2E Recommendation Advisor

Base: origin/main
Head: HEAD
Confidence: high

Required E2E

• None. Documentation-only changes do not alter installer, onboarding, sandbox lifecycle, credentials, policy, inference, deployment, or assistant runtime behavior. The deterministic risk plan selects no required E2E jobs.

Optional E2E

• None.

New E2E recommendations

• None.

[github-actions]

🌿 Preview your docs: https://nvidia-preview-pr-6712.docs.buildwithfern.com/nemoclaw

[github-actions]

PR Review Advisor — Informational

Merge posture: Informational / low confidence
Primary next action: No advisor follow-up required beyond maintainer review.
Findings: 0 required · 0 warnings · 0 optional suggestions
Status: No actionable findings remain in the canonical review ledger.

Workflow run details

This is an automated review. Required findings need action before merge. Warnings and optional suggestions do not require a response or follow-up. A human maintainer makes the final merge decision.