openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: 2026.5.18 gateway crashes on macOS with uncaught AssertionError `assert(!this.paused)`; rollback to 2026.5.12 stabilizes [4 comments, 2 participants]

Summary

After upgrading a local macOS install from a previously stable release to 2026.5.18, the Gateway began restarting repeatedly. The immediate cause appears to be an uncaught runtime assertion:

AssertionError [ERR_ASSERTION]
The expression evaluated to a falsy value:

  assert(!this.paused)

This is not just a restart request path (SIGUSR1 / SIGTERM); at least some of the restarts are caused by the process exiting with code 1, after which the LaunchAgent respawns it.

Rolling back the core package and bundled plugins to 2026.5.12 stabilized the Gateway again.

Environment

• OpenClaw version with crash: 2026.5.18 (50a2481)
• Stable after rollback: 2026.5.12 (f066dd2)
• OS: macOS 26.4.1 (arm64)
• Node: 24.15.0
• Install method: npm -g
• Gateway: local loopback LaunchAgent (ws://127.0.0.1:18789)
• Channels in use: Feishu multi-account setup (default + 5 routed accounts)

What happened

During the investigation, there were two different classes of restart:

1. Expected / requested restarts

   • SIGUSR1
   • SIGTERM
   • update.run
   • launchd handoff / kickstart

2. Unexpected crash / respawn

   • LaunchAgent showed last exit code = 1
   • Gateway then came back up automatically
   • Stability bundles recorded uncaught_exception

The crash signature was consistent.

Crash evidence

Recent stability bundles:

• ~/.openclaw/logs/stability/openclaw-stability-2026-05-19T03-32-56-095Z-71579-uncaught_exception.json
• ~/.openclaw/logs/stability/openclaw-stability-2026-05-19T03-33-38-770Z-73490-uncaught_exception.json

Relevant fields from the latest bundle:

{
  "reason": "uncaught_exception",
  "process": {
    "pid": 73490,
    "platform": "darwin",
    "arch": "arm64",
    "node": "24.15.0",
    "uptimeMs": 42600
  },
  "error": {
    "name": "AssertionError",
    "code": "ERR_ASSERTION",
    "message": "The expression evaluated to a falsy value: assert(!this.paused)"
  }
}

At the time of crash, the snapshot still showed only light activity (1 active session, no obvious memory pressure), e.g.:

• active = 1
• queued = 0
• latest RSS around 630964224
• latest heap used around 335068624
• no pressure count reported

Relevant timestamps

Examples from local logs (America/Los_Angeles):

• 2026-05-18T20:32:56.087-07:00 → OpenClaw hit an unexpected runtime error.
• 2026-05-18T20:32:56.090-07:00 → AssertionError: assert(!this.paused)
• 2026-05-18T20:33:38.762-07:00 → same uncaught assertion again
• 2026-05-18T20:33:39.408-07:00 → Gateway starts up again

Additional oddities seen on 2026.5.18

While debugging the upgrade, I also saw these 5.18-era failures during service/update flows:

Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find module '.../legacy-config-issues-*.js'
Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find module '.../hook-runner-global-*.js'

and a temporary plugin/core mismatch symptom after downgrade until plugins were also aligned:

TypeError: (0 , _setup.createSetupTranslator) is not a function

That last one was resolved by downgrading @openclaw/feishu and @openclaw/codex to 2026.5.12 to match the core package, so I believe it was version skew rather than the main crash.

Recovery / workaround

What restored stability locally:

1. Downgrade core package from 2026.5.18 to 2026.5.12
2. Reinstall matching plugin versions (@openclaw/[email protected], @openclaw/[email protected])
3. Reinstall/restart the LaunchAgent

After rollback:

• openclaw status --deep reports Gateway reachable
• Gateway self version is 2026.5.12
• Feishu channel status is OK
• Repeated assert(!this.paused) crashes stopped during validation

Why this looks like a regression

• System was stable enough before the 2026.5.18 upgrade
• The crash signature is deterministic and repeats on 2026.5.18
• Rolling back to 2026.5.12 stabilizes the same machine/config

If useful, I can provide next

• Full redacted status --deep
• Full redacted stability bundle JSON
• Longer log window around the crash
• Exact Feishu multi-account shape (redacted app IDs / open_ids)