openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Discord bot goes offline when SSH session disconnects (regression in 2026.5.18) [1 comments, 2 participants]

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

When an SSH session that started openclaw-tui (via openclaw chat) disconnects, the Discord bot goes offline and does not automatically reconnect until a new SSH session is established. This is a regression - previously the gateway would stay up and Discord would reconnect automatically.

Steps to reproduce

1. SSH into the VPS
2. Run openclaw chat (starts openclaw-tui attached to the SSH session's PTY)
3. Disconnect SSH (close terminal or lose connection)
4. Observe: Discord bot goes grey/offline within seconds
5. Observe: Gateway process may restart but Discord does not reconnect
6. SSH back in - Discord comes back online within seconds of login

Expected behavior

Gateway should remain running after SSH disconnect, and Discord should reconnect automatically within the normal reconnect backoff (30s-2min max).

Actual behavior

Key observations:

• The SSH session's TTY becomes the controlling terminal for openclaw-tui
• When SSH disconnects, openclaw-tui process dies and something triggers SIGTERM to the gateway
• kill -9 on openclaw-tui does NOT trigger gateway SIGTERM - only SSH disconnect does
• If SSH is kept open (e.g., running tail -f in a second session), the bot stays connected
• This behavior appears to be new in 2026.5.18 or 2026.5.17

Changelog suspects:

• Plugins/session-end: fire a typed session_end plugin hook... (2026.5.18)
• TUI: exit immediately on Ctrl+C/SIGINT after gateway disconnect... (2026.5.18)
• Gateway: overlap startup logging and plugin-service startup with channel
  sidecars... (2026.5.18)

Journal evidence:

  May 19 17:40:40 node[878854]: [gateway] signal SIGTERM received               
  May 19 17:40:40 node[878854]: [gateway] received SIGTERM; shutting down       
  May 19 17:40:40 systemd[878827]: Stopped openclaw-gateway.service             
  May 19 17:42:51 systemd[880708]: Started openclaw-gateway.service

Gateway restarted but Discord remained disconnected for extended period without SSH session.

Additional context:

• systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway shows Restart=always is configured
• The gateway process does restart, but Discord reconnection is unreliable
  without active SSH session
• openclaw-tui is spawned by the openclaw chat command and becomes session
  leader on the SSH PTY

OpenClaw version

2026.5.18

Operating system

Ubuntu (VPS)

Install method

npm

Model

opencode-go/minimax-m2.7

Provider / routing chain

opencode-go

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

Affected - Discord Severity - blocks workflow Frequency - Always Consequence - Unable to interact with open claw unless SSH'd in to the VPS - not sustainable

Additional information

No response