Media: skip binary media in file extraction (#7475) (thanks @AlexZhangji)

Audio files should not be processed through extractFileBlocks for text
extraction - they are handled by the dedicated audio transcription
capability (STT).

Previously, audio files were only skipped if they didn't "look like text"
(looksLikeUtf8Text check). This caused issues where some audio binary
data (e.g., long Telegram voice messages) could accidentally pass the
heuristic check and get processed as text content.

This fix:
1. Adds audio to the early skip alongside image/video (more efficient)
2. Removes the redundant secondary check that had the flawed condition

Fixes audio binary being incorrectly processed as text in Telegram and
other platforms.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 - fix(agents): validate AbortSignal instances before calling AbortSignal.any() (#7277) (thanks @Elarwei001)
 - fix(webchat): respect user scroll position during streaming and refresh (#7226) (thanks @marcomarandiz)
+- Media understanding: skip binary media from file text extraction. (#7475) Thanks @AlexZhangji.
 - Security: guard skill installer downloads with SSRF checks (block private/localhost URLs).
 - Media understanding: apply SSRF guardrails to provider fetches; allow private baseUrl overrides explicitly.
 - Tests: stub SSRF DNS pinning in web auto-reply + Gemini video coverage. (#6619) Thanks @joshp123.

src/media-understanding/apply.test.ts

@@ -528,18 +528,16 @@ describe("applyMediaUnderstanding", () => {
     expect(ctx.BodyForCommands).toBe("audio ok");
   });
 
-  it("treats text-like audio attachments as CSV (comma wins over tabs)", async () => {
+  it("treats text-like attachments as CSV (comma wins over tabs)", async () => {
     const { applyMediaUnderstanding } = await loadApply();
     const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-media-"));
-    const csvPath = path.join(dir, "data.mp3");
+    const csvPath = path.join(dir, "data.bin");
     const csvText = '"a","b"\t"c"\n"1","2"\t"3"';
-    const csvBuffer = Buffer.concat([Buffer.from([0xff, 0xfe]), Buffer.from(csvText, "utf16le")]);
-    await fs.writeFile(csvPath, csvBuffer);
+    await fs.writeFile(csvPath, csvText);
 
     const ctx: MsgContext = {
-      Body: "<media:audio>",
+      Body: "<media:file>",
       MediaPath: csvPath,
-      MediaType: "audio/mpeg",
     };
     const cfg: OpenClawConfig = {
       tools: {
@@ -554,21 +552,20 @@ describe("applyMediaUnderstanding", () => {
     const result = await applyMediaUnderstanding({ ctx, cfg });
 
     expect(result.appliedFile).toBe(true);
-    expect(ctx.Body).toContain('<file name="data.mp3" mime="text/csv">');
+    expect(ctx.Body).toContain('<file name="data.bin" mime="text/csv">');
     expect(ctx.Body).toContain('"a","b"\t"c"');
   });
 
   it("infers TSV when tabs are present without commas", async () => {
     const { applyMediaUnderstanding } = await loadApply();
     const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-media-"));
-    const tsvPath = path.join(dir, "report.mp3");
+    const tsvPath = path.join(dir, "report.bin");
     const tsvText = "a\tb\tc\n1\t2\t3";
     await fs.writeFile(tsvPath, tsvText);
 
     const ctx: MsgContext = {
-      Body: "<media:audio>",
+      Body: "<media:file>",
       MediaPath: tsvPath,
-      MediaType: "audio/mpeg",
     };
     const cfg: OpenClawConfig = {
       tools: {
@@ -583,21 +580,20 @@ describe("applyMediaUnderstanding", () => {
     const result = await applyMediaUnderstanding({ ctx, cfg });
 
     expect(result.appliedFile).toBe(true);
-    expect(ctx.Body).toContain('<file name="report.mp3" mime="text/tab-separated-values">');
+    expect(ctx.Body).toContain('<file name="report.bin" mime="text/tab-separated-values">');
     expect(ctx.Body).toContain("a\tb\tc");
   });
 
-  it("treats cp1252-like audio attachments as text", async () => {
+  it("treats cp1252-like attachments as text", async () => {
     const { applyMediaUnderstanding } = await loadApply();
     const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-media-"));
-    const filePath = path.join(dir, "legacy.mp3");
+    const filePath = path.join(dir, "legacy.bin");
     const cp1252Bytes = Buffer.from([0x93, 0x48, 0x69, 0x94, 0x20, 0x54, 0x65, 0x73, 0x74]);
     await fs.writeFile(filePath, cp1252Bytes);
 
     const ctx: MsgContext = {
-      Body: "<media:audio>",
+      Body: "<media:file>",
       MediaPath: filePath,
-      MediaType: "audio/mpeg",
     };
     const cfg: OpenClawConfig = {
       tools: {
@@ -645,17 +641,16 @@ describe("applyMediaUnderstanding", () => {
     expect(ctx.Body).not.toContain("<file");
   });
 
-  it("respects configured allowedMimes for text-like audio attachments", async () => {
+  it("respects configured allowedMimes for text-like attachments", async () => {
     const { applyMediaUnderstanding } = await loadApply();
     const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-media-"));
-    const tsvPath = path.join(dir, "report.mp3");
+    const tsvPath = path.join(dir, "report.bin");
     const tsvText = "a\tb\tc\n1\t2\t3";
     await fs.writeFile(tsvPath, tsvText);
 
     const ctx: MsgContext = {
-      Body: "<media:audio>",
+      Body: "<media:file>",
       MediaPath: tsvPath,
-      MediaType: "audio/mpeg",
     };
     const cfg: OpenClawConfig = {
       gateway: {
@@ -679,7 +674,7 @@ describe("applyMediaUnderstanding", () => {
     const result = await applyMediaUnderstanding({ ctx, cfg });
 
     expect(result.appliedFile).toBe(false);
-    expect(ctx.Body).toBe("<media:audio>");
+    expect(ctx.Body).toBe("<media:file>");
     expect(ctx.Body).not.toContain("<file");
   });
 
@@ -740,10 +735,11 @@ describe("applyMediaUnderstanding", () => {
 
     const result = await applyMediaUnderstanding({ ctx, cfg });
 
+    const body = ctx.Body ?? "";
     expect(result.appliedFile).toBe(true);
-    expect(ctx.Body).toContain("&lt;/file&gt;");
-    expect(ctx.Body).toContain("&lt;file");
-    expect((ctx.Body.match(/<\/file>/g) ?? []).length).toBe(1);
+    expect(body).toContain("&lt;/file&gt;");
+    expect(body).toContain("&lt;file");
+    expect((body.match(/<\/file>/g) ?? []).length).toBe(1);
   });
 
   it("normalizes MIME types to prevent attribute injection", async () => {

src/media-understanding/apply.ts

@@ -317,6 +317,13 @@ function resolveTextMimeFromName(name?: string): string | undefined {
   return TEXT_EXT_MIME.get(ext);
 }
 
+function isBinaryMediaMime(mime?: string): boolean {
+  if (!mime) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return mime.startsWith("image/") || mime.startsWith("audio/") || mime.startsWith("video/");
+}
+
 async function extractFileBlocks(params: {
   attachments: ReturnType<typeof normalizeMediaAttachments>;
   cache: ReturnType<typeof createMediaAttachmentCache>;
@@ -337,7 +344,7 @@ async function extractFileBlocks(params: {
     }
     const forcedTextMime = resolveTextMimeFromName(attachment.path ?? attachment.url ?? "");
     const kind = forcedTextMime ? "document" : resolveAttachmentKind(attachment);
-    if (!forcedTextMime && (kind === "image" || kind === "video")) {
+    if (!forcedTextMime && (kind === "image" || kind === "video" || kind === "audio")) {
       continue;
     }
     if (!limits.allowUrl && attachment.url && !attachment.path) {
@@ -361,16 +368,17 @@ async function extractFileBlocks(params: {
     }
     const nameHint = bufferResult?.fileName ?? attachment.path ?? attachment.url;
     const forcedTextMimeResolved = forcedTextMime ?? resolveTextMimeFromName(nameHint ?? "");
+    const rawMime = bufferResult?.mime ?? attachment.mime;
+    const normalizedRawMime = normalizeMimeType(rawMime);
+    if (!forcedTextMimeResolved && isBinaryMediaMime(normalizedRawMime)) {
+      continue;
+    }
     const utf16Charset = resolveUtf16Charset(bufferResult?.buffer);
     const textSample = decodeTextSample(bufferResult?.buffer);
     const textLike = Boolean(utf16Charset) || looksLikeUtf8Text(bufferResult?.buffer);
-    if (!forcedTextMimeResolved && kind === "audio" && !textLike) {
-      continue;
-    }
     const guessedDelimited = textLike ? guessDelimitedMime(textSample) : undefined;
     const textHint =
       forcedTextMimeResolved ?? guessedDelimited ?? (textLike ? "text/plain" : undefined);
-    const rawMime = bufferResult?.mime ?? attachment.mime;
     const mimeType = sanitizeMimeType(textHint ?? normalizeMimeType(rawMime));
     // Log when MIME type is overridden from non-text to text for auditability
     if (textHint && rawMime && !rawMime.startsWith("text/")) {