# OpenClaw 2026.7.1-beta.1: new providers, GPT-5.6 default, Control UI rework

> First beta of 2026.7.1. Adds Featherless, Claude Sonnet 5, Mythos 5, Meta Muse Spark 1.1 and ClawRouter, makes GPT-5.6 the default for new setups, reworks the Control UI around sessions, adds a native macOS chat app and agent-loop onboarding, and hardens startup with control-plane-safe mode after repeated unclean boots. Slack lifecycle reaction updates now require `messages.statusReactions.enabled: true` — existing installs relying on them must opt in. The upstream note is truncated mid-entry.

| | |
|---|---|
| **Tool** | OpenClaw |
| **Version** | v2026.7.1-beta.1 |
| **Kind** | release |
| **Published** | 2026-07-02 |
| **Observed** | 2026-08-11 |
| **Significance** | 4/5 |
| **Breaking** | yes |
| **Categories** | feature, model-support, capability, breaking |

## What changed


- New providers/models: Featherless, Claude Sonnet 5, Mythos 5, Meta Muse Spark 1.1, ClawRouter; `muse-spark-1.1` ships as a bundled Responses API provider with streaming, tool calls and encrypted reasoning replay, distributed standalone as `@openclaw/meta-provider`
- GPT-5.6 is the new-setup default; `/think ultra` for Sol and Terra, `max` for Luna; Z.AI `max` honoured; model availability refreshed after OAuth renewal
- Control UI: sessions primary with searchable sidebar, compact context ring, reasoning-effort slider, customizable pinned destinations with Settings in the footer, GitHub issue/PR previews, Gateway host status (OS, runtime, uptime, CPU, memory, disk), cron model selection in Quick Create
- Native macOS session browser: model and thinking pickers, slash commands, transcript export, context usage
- Conversational onboarding (Crestodian) as a real agent loop across CLI, web install and macOS app; AI-guided provider setup, model-judged approvals bound to exact operations, masked credential prompts, deterministic fallback with no model
- Mobile: bounded per-gateway offline session and transcript caches on iOS/Android (sending stays disabled offline, cached text purged on pairing reset), Apple Watch voice turns, iOS TTS playback via Gateway with on-device fallback, Android in-chat agent selector and fenced-code syntax highlighting
- Sessions: generated titles via utility-model routing, Gateway-backed groups, unread state, rename, fork, archive, delete across web, iOS and Android
- Telegram/Codex: private `/login` pairing, `/steer` and `/tell` on active runs, message preservation when transcript ack is missing, recovery across formatting and flood-wait failures
- Startup: container migrations run before Gateway readiness, recoverable legacy state no longer blocks boot, control-plane-safe mode after repeated unclean starts, `EX_CONFIG` exit for fatal config errors so systemd/launchd stop restart flapping
- Slack: native assistant thread status and rotating loading messages by default; lifecycle reaction updates now gated behind `messages.statusReactions.enabled: true`
- Logbook plugin (disabled by default): paired-node screen snapshots into a private timeline, daily standup and grounded Q&A
- Operator-scoped `tts.speak` RPC (upstream note truncated here)


## Sources

- [github_release](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/tag/v2026.7.1-beta.1) — retrieved 2026-08-11

## Community

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Canonical: https://changelogs.info/openclaw/v2026-7-1-beta-1
Entity: https://changelogs.info/openclaw
Event ID: `evt_2026-07-02_openclaw_v2026-7-1-beta-1`
Licence: event synthesis © changelogs.info, CC BY 4.0. Linked sources belong to their vendors.