openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Browser snapshot action consistently times out despite successful open/navigate [1 participants]

Official PRs (…)
ON THIS PAGE

Recommended Tools

×6

Utilities matched from this issue’s tags and category — try them while you read without losing context.

GitHub issue graph ai analysis

Paste a GitHub issue URL. We fetch that issue, discover linked issues from bodies/comments/timeline, collect linked pull requests, and produce a structured English report.

The report is written in English Markdown for sharing and archival.

Helpful · Quick feedback

Loading…
GitHub stats
openclaw/openclaw#72934Fetched 2026-04-28 06:30:02
View on GitHub
Comments
0
Participants
1
Timeline
2
Reactions
0
Participants
Timeline (top)
labeled ×2

OpenClaw Browser Automation Bug Report

Issue Summary: Browser automation consistently times out on snapshot action after successful open/navigate operations.

Environment:

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.4.25 (aa36ee6) • OS: macOS (Darwin 25.4.0 arm64) • Gateway: Running on loopback (127.0.0.1:18800) • Runtime: OpenClaw Pi Default

Reproduction Steps:

  1. Execute browser action=open url=<any_url> - Returns successfully with targetId
  2. Execute browser action=snapshot targetId=<returned_id> - Times out consistently
  3. Attempted browser action=close followed by reopening - Same timeout on snapshot
  4. Issue persists across multiple URLs (Google search, government websites)

Expected Behavior: Snapshot should return page content/A11y tree for browser automation

Actual Behavior: Returns error: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway..."

Gateway Status: openclaw gateway status reports:

• Service: Running (pid 68677) • Connectivity probe: ok • Capability: admin-capable • Bind: loopback 127.0.0.1:18800

Additional Context:

• Browser open/navigate work fine (return targetId immediately) • Only snapshot action times out • Issue consistent across multiple attempts over ~1 hour • No gateway restart performed

Error Message: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway (OpenClaw.app menubar, or openclaw gateway)."

Error Message

Actual Behavior: Returns error: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway..." Error Message: Actual Behavior: Returns error: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway..."

Root Cause

OpenClaw Browser Automation Bug Report

Issue Summary: Browser automation consistently times out on snapshot action after successful open/navigate operations.

Environment:

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.4.25 (aa36ee6) • OS: macOS (Darwin 25.4.0 arm64) • Gateway: Running on loopback (127.0.0.1:18800) • Runtime: OpenClaw Pi Default

Reproduction Steps:

  1. Execute browser action=open url=<any_url> - Returns successfully with targetId
  2. Execute browser action=snapshot targetId=<returned_id> - Times out consistently
  3. Attempted browser action=close followed by reopening - Same timeout on snapshot
  4. Issue persists across multiple URLs (Google search, government websites)

Expected Behavior: Snapshot should return page content/A11y tree for browser automation

Actual Behavior: Returns error: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway..."

Gateway Status: openclaw gateway status reports:

• Service: Running (pid 68677) • Connectivity probe: ok • Capability: admin-capable • Bind: loopback 127.0.0.1:18800

Additional Context:

• Browser open/navigate work fine (return targetId immediately) • Only snapshot action times out • Issue consistent across multiple attempts over ~1 hour • No gateway restart performed

Error Message: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway (OpenClaw.app menubar, or openclaw gateway)."

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

OpenClaw Browser Automation Bug Report

Issue Summary: Browser automation consistently times out on snapshot action after successful open/navigate operations.

Environment:

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.4.25 (aa36ee6) • OS: macOS (Darwin 25.4.0 arm64) • Gateway: Running on loopback (127.0.0.1:18800) • Runtime: OpenClaw Pi Default

Reproduction Steps:

  1. Execute browser action=open url=<any_url> - Returns successfully with targetId
  2. Execute browser action=snapshot targetId=<returned_id> - Times out consistently
  3. Attempted browser action=close followed by reopening - Same timeout on snapshot
  4. Issue persists across multiple URLs (Google search, government websites)

Expected Behavior: Snapshot should return page content/A11y tree for browser automation

Actual Behavior: Returns error: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway..."

Gateway Status: openclaw gateway status reports:

• Service: Running (pid 68677) • Connectivity probe: ok • Capability: admin-capable • Bind: loopback 127.0.0.1:18800

Additional Context:

• Browser open/navigate work fine (return targetId immediately) • Only snapshot action times out • Issue consistent across multiple attempts over ~1 hour • No gateway restart performed

Error Message: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway (OpenClaw.app menubar, or openclaw gateway)."

Steps to reproduce

Reproduction Steps:

  1. Execute browser action=open url=<any_url> - Returns successfully with targetId
  2. Execute browser action=snapshot targetId=<returned_id> - Times out consistently
  3. Attempted browser action=close followed by reopening - Same timeout on snapshot
  4. Issue persists across multiple URLs (Google search, government websites)

Expected behavior

Expected Behavior: Snapshot should return page content/A11y tree for browser automation

Actual behavior

Actual Behavior: Returns error: "timed out. Restart the OpenClaw gateway..."

OpenClaw version

2026.4.25 (aa36ee6)

Operating system

OS: macOS (Darwin 25.4.0 arm64)

Install method

No response

Model

LLM Model: ollama/kimi-k2.5:cloud

Provider / routing chain

User (Telegram) → OpenClaw Main Agent → Gateway (127.0.0.1:18800) → Browser (Chromium via DevTools Protocol)

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

User (Telegram) → OpenClaw Main Agent → Gateway (127.0.0.1:18800) → Browser (Chromium via DevTools Protocol)

User (Telegram) → OpenClaw Main Agent → Gateway (127.0.0.1:18800) → Browser (Chromium via DevTools Protocol)

extent analysis

TL;DR

The most likely fix is to restart the OpenClaw gateway as suggested by the error message.

Guidance

  • Verify the gateway status using openclaw gateway status to ensure it's running and connectivity probe is ok.
  • Attempt to restart the OpenClaw gateway using the OpenClaw.app menubar or the command openclaw gateway to see if it resolves the timeout issue.
  • If the issue persists, try checking the browser version and DevTools Protocol compatibility with the OpenClaw gateway.
  • Review the provider/model setup details to ensure correct routing and configuration.

Example

No code snippet is provided as it's not clearly supported by the issue.

Notes

The issue seems to be specific to the snapshot action, and other browser actions like open and navigate work fine. The error message suggests a gateway restart, which might indicate a temporary issue with the gateway.

Recommendation

Apply workaround: Restart the OpenClaw gateway as suggested by the error message, as it might resolve the timeout issue temporarily.

Vote matrix · Quick signals

Works
Did the solution work? Tap to confirm.
Easy Fix
Was it a quick fix?
Time Saver
Did it save you time?
Blocking
Was it severely blocking?
Common Issue
Are others likely hitting this too?
Flaky / Intermittent
Is it intermittent?
Verified / Reproducible
Can you reproduce it reliably?
Loading…

FAQ

Expected behavior

Expected Behavior: Snapshot should return page content/A11y tree for browser automation

Still need to ship something?

×6

Another batch ranked right after the header list — different links, same matching logic.

Back to top recommendations

TRENDING

openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Browser snapshot action consistently times out despite successful open/navigate [1 participants]