openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Interactive browser tool fails despite healthy gateway (Docker / Hostinger image) [1 participants]

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openclaw/openclaw#44565Fetched 2026-04-08 00:45:09
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Interactive Browser Tool Fails Despite Healthy Gateway (Docker / Hostinger Image) Environment

Image: ghcr.io/hostinger/hvps-openclaw:latest

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.8 (3caab92)

Deployment: Docker (Hostinger VPS)

Model: openai/gpt-5.2

OS: Linux VPS

Problem

Interactive browser automation fails even though both the OpenClaw gateway and browser controller are running.

When prompting:

open nytimes.com

the agent responds:

“I can’t open nytimes.com in the interactive browser because the OpenClaw gateway isn’t running on this host.”

It suggests running:

openclaw gateway install openclaw gateway start

However this is incorrect because the gateway is already running inside the container.

Verification

Gateway is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18789

Result:

18789_http=200

Browser controller is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18791

Result:

18791_http=401 Logs [gateway] listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 [browser/server] Browser control listening on http://127.0.0.1:18791/ [browser/service] Browser control service ready

When browser tool runs:

[tools] browser failed: timed out Browser Runtime Check

Chromium present:

/usr/bin/chromium

Playwright installed:

~/.cache/ms-playwright/chromium-* Steps Already Tried

container restart

openclaw doctor

openclaw doctor --repair

full browser state reset

recreated browser profiles

verified gateway + browser controller ports

confirmed Playwright + Chromium installed

None resolved the issue.

Expected Behavior

The browser tool should open the page in the managed browser.

Actual Behavior

Agent incorrectly reports gateway not running and falls back to HTTP fetch.

Notes

Other OpenClaw features work normally:

Telegram bot

cron jobs

web fetch/search

skills

The issue appears limited to interactive browser tool invocation.

Root Cause

“I can’t open nytimes.com in the interactive browser because the OpenClaw gateway isn’t running on this host.”

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

Interactive Browser Tool Fails Despite Healthy Gateway (Docker / Hostinger Image) Environment

Image: ghcr.io/hostinger/hvps-openclaw:latest

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.8 (3caab92)

Deployment: Docker (Hostinger VPS)

Model: openai/gpt-5.2

OS: Linux VPS

Problem

Interactive browser automation fails even though both the OpenClaw gateway and browser controller are running.

When prompting:

open nytimes.com

the agent responds:

“I can’t open nytimes.com in the interactive browser because the OpenClaw gateway isn’t running on this host.”

It suggests running:

openclaw gateway install openclaw gateway start

However this is incorrect because the gateway is already running inside the container.

Verification

Gateway is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18789

Result:

18789_http=200

Browser controller is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18791

Result:

18791_http=401 Logs [gateway] listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 [browser/server] Browser control listening on http://127.0.0.1:18791/ [browser/service] Browser control service ready

When browser tool runs:

[tools] browser failed: timed out Browser Runtime Check

Chromium present:

/usr/bin/chromium

Playwright installed:

~/.cache/ms-playwright/chromium-* Steps Already Tried

container restart

openclaw doctor

openclaw doctor --repair

full browser state reset

recreated browser profiles

verified gateway + browser controller ports

confirmed Playwright + Chromium installed

None resolved the issue.

Expected Behavior

The browser tool should open the page in the managed browser.

Actual Behavior

Agent incorrectly reports gateway not running and falls back to HTTP fetch.

Notes

Other OpenClaw features work normally:

Telegram bot

cron jobs

web fetch/search

skills

The issue appears limited to interactive browser tool invocation.

Steps to reproduce

Interactive Browser Tool Fails Despite Healthy Gateway (Docker / Hostinger Image) Environment

Image: ghcr.io/hostinger/hvps-openclaw:latest

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.8 (3caab92)

Deployment: Docker (Hostinger VPS)

Model: openai/gpt-5.2

OS: Linux VPS

Problem

Interactive browser automation fails even though both the OpenClaw gateway and browser controller are running.

When prompting:

open nytimes.com

the agent responds:

“I can’t open nytimes.com in the interactive browser because the OpenClaw gateway isn’t running on this host.”

It suggests running:

openclaw gateway install openclaw gateway start

However this is incorrect because the gateway is already running inside the container.

Verification

Gateway is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18789

Result:

18789_http=200

Browser controller is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18791

Result:

18791_http=401 Logs [gateway] listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 [browser/server] Browser control listening on http://127.0.0.1:18791/ [browser/service] Browser control service ready

When browser tool runs:

[tools] browser failed: timed out Browser Runtime Check

Chromium present:

/usr/bin/chromium

Playwright installed:

~/.cache/ms-playwright/chromium-* Steps Already Tried

container restart

openclaw doctor

openclaw doctor --repair

full browser state reset

recreated browser profiles

verified gateway + browser controller ports

confirmed Playwright + Chromium installed

None resolved the issue.

Expected Behavior

The browser tool should open the page in the managed browser.

Actual Behavior

Agent incorrectly reports gateway not running and falls back to HTTP fetch.

Notes

Other OpenClaw features work normally:

Telegram bot

cron jobs

web fetch/search

skills

The issue appears limited to interactive browser tool invocation.

Expected behavior

Interactive Browser Tool Fails Despite Healthy Gateway (Docker / Hostinger Image) Environment

Image: ghcr.io/hostinger/hvps-openclaw:latest

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.8 (3caab92)

Deployment: Docker (Hostinger VPS)

Model: openai/gpt-5.2

OS: Linux VPS

Problem

Interactive browser automation fails even though both the OpenClaw gateway and browser controller are running.

When prompting:

open nytimes.com

the agent responds:

“I can’t open nytimes.com in the interactive browser because the OpenClaw gateway isn’t running on this host.”

It suggests running:

openclaw gateway install openclaw gateway start

However this is incorrect because the gateway is already running inside the container.

Verification

Gateway is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18789

Result:

18789_http=200

Browser controller is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18791

Result:

18791_http=401 Logs [gateway] listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 [browser/server] Browser control listening on http://127.0.0.1:18791/ [browser/service] Browser control service ready

When browser tool runs:

[tools] browser failed: timed out Browser Runtime Check

Chromium present:

/usr/bin/chromium

Playwright installed:

~/.cache/ms-playwright/chromium-* Steps Already Tried

container restart

openclaw doctor

openclaw doctor --repair

full browser state reset

recreated browser profiles

verified gateway + browser controller ports

confirmed Playwright + Chromium installed

None resolved the issue.

Expected Behavior

The browser tool should open the page in the managed browser.

Actual Behavior

Agent incorrectly reports gateway not running and falls back to HTTP fetch.

Notes

Other OpenClaw features work normally:

Telegram bot

cron jobs

web fetch/search

skills

The issue appears limited to interactive browser tool invocation.

Actual behavior

Interactive Browser Tool Fails Despite Healthy Gateway (Docker / Hostinger Image) Environment

Image: ghcr.io/hostinger/hvps-openclaw:latest

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.8 (3caab92)

Deployment: Docker (Hostinger VPS)

Model: openai/gpt-5.2

OS: Linux VPS

Problem

Interactive browser automation fails even though both the OpenClaw gateway and browser controller are running.

When prompting:

open nytimes.com

the agent responds:

“I can’t open nytimes.com in the interactive browser because the OpenClaw gateway isn’t running on this host.”

It suggests running:

openclaw gateway install openclaw gateway start

However this is incorrect because the gateway is already running inside the container.

Verification

Gateway is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18789

Result:

18789_http=200

Browser controller is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18791

Result:

18791_http=401 Logs [gateway] listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 [browser/server] Browser control listening on http://127.0.0.1:18791/ [browser/service] Browser control service ready

When browser tool runs:

[tools] browser failed: timed out Browser Runtime Check

Chromium present:

/usr/bin/chromium

Playwright installed:

~/.cache/ms-playwright/chromium-* Steps Already Tried

container restart

openclaw doctor

openclaw doctor --repair

full browser state reset

recreated browser profiles

verified gateway + browser controller ports

confirmed Playwright + Chromium installed

None resolved the issue.

Expected Behavior

The browser tool should open the page in the managed browser.

Actual Behavior

Agent incorrectly reports gateway not running and falls back to HTTP fetch.

Notes

Other OpenClaw features work normally:

Telegram bot

cron jobs

web fetch/search

skills

The issue appears limited to interactive browser tool invocation.

OpenClaw version

2026.03.08

Operating system

ubuntu

Install method

No response

Model

chatgpt

Provider / routing chain

...

Config file / key location

No response

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response

extent analysis

Fix Plan

To resolve the issue of the interactive browser tool failing despite a healthy gateway, follow these steps:

  1. Verify Gateway and Browser Controller Ports:

    • Ensure that the gateway is listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 and the browser controller is listening on http://127.0.0.1:18791.
    • Use curl commands to check the ports as shown in the issue description.
  2. Check Playwright and Chromium Installation:

    • Confirm that Playwright and Chromium are installed and up-to-date.
    • Run playwright install to ensure the browsers are installed.
  3. Configure OpenClaw Gateway:

    • Review the OpenClaw configuration to ensure the gateway is properly set up.
    • Check for any misconfigurations that might prevent the browser tool from connecting to the gateway.
  4. Update OpenClaw Version:

    • If possible, update OpenClaw to the latest version to ensure any known issues are resolved.
    • Use openclaw update or follow the official update instructions.
  5. Debug Browser Tool:

    • Enable debug logging for the browser tool to gather more detailed information about the failure.
    • Check the logs for any specific error messages that could indicate the root cause.

Example Code Snippets

No specific code changes are suggested without more detailed information about the custom configurations or scripts used. However, ensuring that the environment variables and configurations are correctly set for the OpenClaw gateway and browser controller is crucial.

# Example of checking gateway and browser controller ports
curl http://127.0.0.1:18789
curl http://127.0.0.1:18791

# Install Playwright browsers
playwright install

# Update OpenClaw (command may vary based on installation method)
openclaw update

Verification

After applying these steps, verify that the browser tool can open the page in the managed browser by prompting it to open a website (e.g., open nytimes.com). If the issue persists, review the logs for any error messages and consider seeking further assistance specific to your OpenClaw configuration and environment.

Extra Tips

  • Regularly update OpenClaw and its dependencies to ensure you have the latest features and bug fixes.
  • Double-check the configuration files for any typos or incorrect settings that could affect the gateway and browser controller communication.
  • If using a Docker container, ensure that the ports are correctly exposed and mapped to the host machine.

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FAQ

Expected behavior

Interactive Browser Tool Fails Despite Healthy Gateway (Docker / Hostinger Image) Environment

Image: ghcr.io/hostinger/hvps-openclaw:latest

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.8 (3caab92)

Deployment: Docker (Hostinger VPS)

Model: openai/gpt-5.2

OS: Linux VPS

Problem

Interactive browser automation fails even though both the OpenClaw gateway and browser controller are running.

When prompting:

open nytimes.com

the agent responds:

“I can’t open nytimes.com in the interactive browser because the OpenClaw gateway isn’t running on this host.”

It suggests running:

openclaw gateway install openclaw gateway start

However this is incorrect because the gateway is already running inside the container.

Verification

Gateway is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18789

Result:

18789_http=200

Browser controller is reachable:

curl http://127.0.0.1:18791

Result:

18791_http=401 Logs [gateway] listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 [browser/server] Browser control listening on http://127.0.0.1:18791/ [browser/service] Browser control service ready

When browser tool runs:

[tools] browser failed: timed out Browser Runtime Check

Chromium present:

/usr/bin/chromium

Playwright installed:

~/.cache/ms-playwright/chromium-* Steps Already Tried

container restart

openclaw doctor

openclaw doctor --repair

full browser state reset

recreated browser profiles

verified gateway + browser controller ports

confirmed Playwright + Chromium installed

None resolved the issue.

Expected Behavior

The browser tool should open the page in the managed browser.

Actual Behavior

Agent incorrectly reports gateway not running and falls back to HTTP fetch.

Notes

Other OpenClaw features work normally:

Telegram bot

cron jobs

web fetch/search

skills

The issue appears limited to interactive browser tool invocation.

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