openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix browser tool enters persistent timeout state and requires gateway restart

Problem

The browser tool is failing persistently in-session with a timeout instead of working or degrading cleanly.

Observed tool return:

{
  "status": "error",
  "tool": "browser",
  "error": "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway (OpenClaw.app menubar, or `openclaw gateway`). Do NOT retry the browser tool — it will keep failing. Use an alternative approach or inform the user that the browser is currently unavailable."
}

Why this is bad

• It breaks browser-assisted workflows mid-conversation.
• The failure mode appears persistent for the session once it starts happening.
• The guidance says not to retry because it will keep failing, which means the tool surface is effectively dead until a gateway restart.
• From the operator side, this feels like recurring browser/gateway instability rather than a one-off page problem.

Context

Current runtime:

• host: device-42
• repo/workspace: /home/rancho/aa-cma/workspace-thomas
• channel: telegram
• model: openai-codex/gpt-5.4

The failure happened while trying to open a normal HTTPS URL via the browser tool.

Repro

1. Call the browser tool with action=open on a standard external URL.
2. Wait for the tool response.
3. Receive the timeout error above.
4. Subsequent browser usage is blocked by the tool's own warning that retries will keep failing.

Expected

• Browser tool opens the URL, or
• returns a more actionable diagnostic, or
• auto-recovers / restarts the underlying browser connection when safe.

Actual

• Browser tool times out.
• Session is told not to retry.
• Only suggested recovery is restarting the OpenClaw gateway.

Requested fix

• Diagnose root cause of persistent browser timeout state.
• Improve self-healing between browser tool and gateway.
• If restart is truly required, expose a first-class health check or restart path with better machine-readable error classification.
• Consider separating page-load timeout from browser transport/gateway timeout so agents can respond more intelligently.