[macOS][Onboard] NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS=0 override is ignored during endpoint validation for tools-incapable Ollama models #4234

Description

The documented escape hatch NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS=0 (intended for non-interactive automation using completion-only Ollama models) is only partially honored. The early-stage capability check at src/lib/inference/ollama/proxy.ts:716+ detects the override and prints "NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS=0 set — proceeding...". But the subsequent endpoint validation at src/lib/inference/local.ts:934 still probes Ollama with a tool definition, receives HTTP 400 "does not support tools", and unconditionally returns ok:false. Onboard aborts with exit 1; no sandbox is created. The escape hatch is effectively dead-letter in v0.0.50.

Environment

Device:        MacBook Pro (Apple M4)
OS:            macOS 26.1 (Darwin 25.1.0)
Architecture:  arm64
Node.js:       v23.10.0
npm:           11.3.0
Docker:        27.4.0 (Colima 0.0.44, 6 vCPU / 11.7 GiB)
OpenShell CLI: 0.0.44
NemoClaw:      v0.0.50
OpenClaw:      N/A (onboard aborts before sandbox creation)
Ollama:        v0.21.2 (brew install)
Model under test: tinyllama:latest (capabilities = ["completion"] only)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Ollama and pull a tools-incapable model:

   brew services start ollama
   ollama pull tinyllama

2. Confirm tinyllama is tools-incapable:

   curl -s http://127.0.0.1:11434/api/show -d '{"name":"tinyllama"}' | jq .capabilities
   # → ["completion"]   (no "tools")

3. Run non-interactive onboard with the override env var:

   NEMOCLAW_NON_INTERACTIVE=1 \
   NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS=0 \
   NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=ollama \
   NEMOCLAW_MODEL=tinyllama:latest \
   NEMOCLAW_ACCEPT_THIRD_PARTY_SOFTWARE=1 \
   nemoclaw onboard --fresh --name no-tools-allow

4. Observe output (early check honors override; validation does not).
5. nemoclaw list confirms no no-tools-allow sandbox is created.

Expected Result

With NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS=0 set:

• Onboard completes through step [8/8].
• Sandbox no-tools-allow is created with provider=ollama-local and the tools-incapable model registered (the user has accepted that tool calls will fail at runtime).
• Exit code 0.

Actual Result

  [3/8] Configuring inference provider
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
  [non-interactive] Provider: ollama
  ✓ Using Ollama on localhost:11434 (proxy on :11435)

  ⚠ Ollama model 'tinyllama:latest' does not advertise the 'tools' capability.
    ...
  NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS=0 set — proceeding with 'tinyllama:latest' despite missing 'tools'.
  Loading Ollama model: tinyllama:latest
  Local Ollama endpoint validation failed.
  Chat Completions API: HTTP 400: registry.ollama.ai/library/tinyllama:latest does not support tools
EXIT_CODE=1

Verified: nemoclaw list shows "No sandboxes registered."

Logs

Root cause (source code analysis):

File: src/lib/inference/local.ts around line 934 (endpoint validator):
  try {
    const parsed = JSON.parse(output);
    if (parsed && typeof parsed.error === "string" && parsed.error.trim()) {
      const errText = parsed.error.trim();
      if (/does not support tools/i.test(errText)) {
        return {
          ok: false,                                  // ← UNCONDITIONAL reject
          message: `Selected Ollama model '${model}' does not support tool calling, ...`,
        };
      }
      ...
    }
  } catch { /* ignored */ }

This branch does NOT consult process.env.NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS, whereas the earlier check at src/lib/inference/ollama/proxy.ts:716 does:

if (process.env.NEMOCLAW_OLLAMA_REQUIRE_TOOLS === "0") {
  // proceed despite missing 'tools'
}

Suggested fix: mirror the env-var check in the endpoint validator. If override is set, return ok:true (the user has accepted the trade-off).

NVB#6222741