Summary

After a gateway restart, the in-memory echo cache is empty. iMessage outbound replies written to the Messages DB with is_from_me=True and sender=<bot_number> are not matched by the echo filter, so they slip through as new inbound messages — triggering a reply loop.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Have the iMessage channel configured with a number that matches the bot's own phone number (self-chat detection path)
2. Restart the OpenClaw gateway
3. Send any message that triggers an agent reply
4. Observe: agent replies → iMessage DB write → monitor fires → reply treated as new inbound → agent replies again → loop

Root Cause

The echo cache is in-memory and cleared on gateway restart. The iMessage DB monitor has a race window at startup where:

• The cache is empty
• Previously-written is_from_me=True messages (or new outbound replies written immediately post-restart) have no cache match
• Those messages pass the echo filter and are processed as inbound

The loop is self-healing: once the cache warms up (next outbound message is cached before the DB write), the loop stops. In this case, a NO_REPLY response (no DB write) broke the loop.

Suggested Fix

Option 1 — Startup rowid fence (low-friction):
At startup, record max_rowid from the Messages DB. During a configurable grace window (e.g., first 30s after start), skip any is_from_me=True messages with rowid <= startup_max_rowid. This prevents already-written outbound messages from replaying without requiring cache persistence.

Option 2 — Persist echo cache to disk:
Serialize the echo cache (message GUIDs / rowids) to a small file on write, reload on startup. Heavier but fully closes the race.

Option 3 — Always filter is_from_me=True during startup grace window:
For N seconds post-restart, treat all is_from_me=True messages as cache hits regardless of cache state.

Option 1 (rowid fence) is the lowest-risk change with the clearest correctness boundary.

Environment

• Channel: iMessage
• Gateway restart trigger: normal process restart (not crash)
• Self-chat detection: bot phone number == chat handle number

Community

Discussion in OpenClaw Discord