openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: 2026.3.13 local loopback regression: operator.read failures and gateway closed (1000) on CLI commands [4 comments, 3 participants]

1. openclaw status consistently reports:

Gateway | local · ws://127.0.0.1:18789 (local loopback) · unreachable (missing scope: operator.read)

1. Successful local webchat/control-ui session in the same runtime:

[ws] webchat connected conn=941cdd3b-28b4-4a9b-8a51-f3422a124241 remote=127.0.0.1 client=openclaw-control-ui webchat v2026.3.13 [ws] ⇄ res ✓ config.get 3072ms conn=941cdd3b…4241 id=26fca091…df2f [ws] ⇄ res ✓ node.list 3137ms conn=941cdd3b…4241 id=dc9ead25…6e48 [ws] ⇄ res ✓ device.pair.list 3142ms conn=941cdd3b…4241 id=14c791cc…4dca

1. Scope failure after session churn / other local connection path:

[ws] webchat disconnected code=1001 reason=n/a conn=941cdd3b-28b4-4a9b-8a51-f3422a124241 [ws] ⇄ res ✗ status 1ms errorCode=INVALID_REQUEST errorMessage=missing scope: operator.read conn=2ca83214…deeb id=0b3ef1eb…28da [ws] ⇄ res ✗ system-presence 0ms errorCode=INVALID_REQUEST errorMessage=missing scope: operator.read conn=2ca83214…deeb id=510e4a8a…00b1 [ws] ⇄ res ✗ config.get 1ms errorCode=INVALID_REQUEST errorMessage=missing scope: operator.read conn=2ca83214…deeb id=621de533…d410

1. Additional current failing example:

[ws] ⇄ res ✗ status 1ms errorCode=INVALID_REQUEST errorMessage=missing scope: operator.read conn=d4a8674c…5724 id=a5fc0b71…60ce [ws] ⇄ res ✗ system-presence 1ms errorCode=INVALID_REQUEST errorMessage=missing scope: operator.read conn=d4a8674c…5724 id=347e5fd5…c63b [ws] ⇄ res ✗ config.get 0ms errorCode=INVALID_REQUEST errorMessage=missing scope: operator.read conn=d4a8674c…5724 id=7802935c…5c1e

1. Websocket handshake instability:

[ws] handshake timeout conn=24f73c4b-bb95-43d8-a9be-6f6f2a15091a remote=127.0.0.1 [ws] closed before connect conn=24f73c4b-bb95-43d8-a9be-6f6f2a15091a remote=127.0.0.1 fwd=n/a origin=n/a host=127.0.0.1:18789 ua=n/a code=1000 reason=n/a

1. CLI commands that fail completely:

openclaw browser status gateway connect failed: Error: gateway closed (1000): Error: gateway closed (1000 normal closure): no close reason

openclaw devices list --json gateway connect failed: Error: gateway closed (1000): [openclaw] Failed to start CLI: Error: gateway closed (1000 normal closure): no close reason

1. Restart instability:

Started openclaw-gateway.service Stopping openclaw-gateway.service Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE Failed with result 'exit-code' Started openclaw-gateway.service

Fix Plan

To address the inconsistent behavior of the local loopback gateway in OpenClaw 2026.3.13, follow these steps:

1. Update OpenClaw Configuration:

   • Ensure that the operator.read scope is properly configured and enabled for local connections.
   • Review and adjust the config.json file to include the necessary scopes for local RPC calls.

2. Implement Session Management:

   • Enhance session management to handle connection churn and scope validation more robustly.
   • Consider implementing a session refresh mechanism to prevent scope validation errors.

3. Websocket Connection Handling:

   • Improve websocket connection handling to reduce handshake timeouts and premature closures.
   • Implement retry logic for websocket connections to handle transient failures.

4. CLI Command Handling:

   • Modify CLI command handling to gracefully handle gateway connection failures.
   • Implement retry logic for CLI commands to handle transient gateway connection issues.

5. Gateway Restart Mechanism:

   • Enhance the gateway restart mechanism to prevent intermittent failures.
   • Consider implementing a retry mechanism for gateway restarts to ensure successful initialization.

Example Code Snippets

Session Management

// Example session management enhancement
const sessions = {};

// Validate scope for each session
function validateScope(sessionId, scope) {
  if (sessions[sessionId] && sessions[sessionId].scopes.includes(scope)) {
    return true;
  }
  return false;
}

// Refresh session scopes periodically
setInterval(() => {
  Object.keys(sessions).forEach((sessionId) => {
    // Refresh scopes for each session
    sessions[sessionId].scopes = getUpdatedScopes(sessionId);
  });
}, 60000); // Refresh every 1 minute

Websocket Connection Handling

// Example websocket connection handling enhancement
const ws = require('ws');

// Create a websocket connection with retry logic
function createWsConnection(url, options) {
  const wsOptions = { ...options, retry: true };
  const wsConnection = new ws(url, wsOptions);

  wsConnection.on('error', (error) => {
    console.error('Websocket connection error:', error);
    // Retry connection after a short delay
    setTimeout(() => {
      createWsConnection(url, options);
    }, 5000);
  });

  return wsConnection;
}

CLI Command Handling

// Example CLI command handling enhancement
const cli = require('cli');

// Execute CLI command with retry logic
function executeCliCommand(command, args) {
  cli.execute(command, args, (error, result) => {
    if (error) {
      console.error('CLI command error:', error);
      // Retry command after a short delay
      setTimeout(() => {
        executeCliCommand(command, args);
      }, 5000);
    } else {
      console.log('CLI command result:', result);
    }
  });