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openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: openclaw agent exits 0 with no output on v2026.3.31; lobster CLI unregistered as command [1 comments, 1 participants]

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openclaw/openclaw#59361•Fetched 2026-04-08 02:25:31
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OpenClaw version: 2026.3.31 (213a704) OS: Ubuntu on AWS Lightsail (headless, no desktop) Previous working version: 2026.3.2

Bug 1: openclaw agent produces no output

openclaw agent --message "hello" --json exits 0 but outputs nothing Same behavior with --local flag (bypasses gateway entirely) Anthropic API key is valid (direct curl to api.anthropic.com works) Happens with and without --json flag Bug 2: lobster not registered as CLI command

openclaw lobster returns "error: unknown command 'lobster'" @clawdbot/lobster v2026.1.24 is installed Lobster plugin shows as enabled in config Bug 3: ~30s discovery delay on headless Linux

All CLI commands that touch the gateway take ~30s before responding Gateway is listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 and is reachable avahi-daemon installed and running, no improvement openclaw health --gateway ws://127.0.0.1:18789 returns instantly, suggesting discovery fallback is slow

Error Message

openclaw lobster returns "error: unknown command 'lobster'" openclaw lobster returns error: unknown command 'lobster'

Root Cause

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.31 (213a704) OS: Ubuntu on AWS Lightsail (headless, no desktop) Previous working version: 2026.3.2

Bug 1: openclaw agent produces no output

openclaw agent --message "hello" --json exits 0 but outputs nothing Same behavior with --local flag (bypasses gateway entirely) Anthropic API key is valid (direct curl to api.anthropic.com works) Happens with and without --json flag Bug 2: lobster not registered as CLI command

openclaw lobster returns "error: unknown command 'lobster'" @clawdbot/lobster v2026.1.24 is installed Lobster plugin shows as enabled in config Bug 3: ~30s discovery delay on headless Linux

All CLI commands that touch the gateway take ~30s before responding Gateway is listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 and is reachable avahi-daemon installed and running, no improvement openclaw health --gateway ws://127.0.0.1:18789 returns instantly, suggesting discovery fallback is slow

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

OpenClaw version: 2026.3.31 (213a704) OS: Ubuntu on AWS Lightsail (headless, no desktop) Previous working version: 2026.3.2

Bug 1: openclaw agent produces no output

openclaw agent --message "hello" --json exits 0 but outputs nothing Same behavior with --local flag (bypasses gateway entirely) Anthropic API key is valid (direct curl to api.anthropic.com works) Happens with and without --json flag Bug 2: lobster not registered as CLI command

openclaw lobster returns "error: unknown command 'lobster'" @clawdbot/lobster v2026.1.24 is installed Lobster plugin shows as enabled in config Bug 3: ~30s discovery delay on headless Linux

All CLI commands that touch the gateway take ~30s before responding Gateway is listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 and is reachable avahi-daemon installed and running, no improvement openclaw health --gateway ws://127.0.0.1:18789 returns instantly, suggesting discovery fallback is slow

Steps to reproduce

Install openclaw v2026.3.31 on headless Ubuntu (no desktop/GUI) Run openclaw agent --local --message "hello" --json Command exits 0, no output

Expected behavior

openclaw agent --message "hello" --json should send the message to the configured LLM, receive a response, and print JSON output to stdout openclaw lobster run <workflow> should execute the specified Lobster workflow openclaw llm-task should be registered as a CLI subcommand All three worked correctly in v2026.3.2

Actual behavior

openclaw agent exits 0 with zero bytes on stdout — no JSON output, no session created, no gateway connection logged. Same behavior with --local flag (bypasses gateway entirely) openclaw lobster returns error: unknown command 'lobster' openclaw llm-task --help prints the main openclaw help instead of plugin-specific help

OpenClaw version

2026.3.31 (213a704)

Operating system

Ubuntu on AWS Lightsail (headless, no desktop)

Install method

No response

Model

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001

Provider / routing chain

Anthropic API (direct, not Bedrock)

Additional provider/model setup details

API key confirmed working via direct curl to https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response

extent analysis

TL;DR

Downgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.3.2 to potentially resolve the issues with the OpenClaw agent, Lobster command, and discovery delay.

Guidance

  • Verify that the Anthropic API key is correctly configured in the OpenClaw settings to ensure it's not related to authentication issues.
  • Check the OpenClaw configuration file to confirm that the Lobster plugin is enabled and properly configured.
  • Test the OpenClaw agent with the --local flag and without the --json flag to see if the issue persists, which could help isolate the problem.
  • Consider checking the system's DNS resolution and avahi-daemon configuration to ensure they are not contributing to the 30-second discovery delay.

Example

No specific code example is provided due to the lack of explicit code-related issues in the problem description.

Notes

The provided information suggests a regression issue introduced in version 2026.3.31. However, without more detailed logs or error messages, it's challenging to pinpoint the exact cause. Downgrading to a previous version that worked (2026.3.2) might be a temporary workaround.

Recommendation

Apply the workaround by downgrading to OpenClaw version 2026.3.2, as it is known to work correctly and may resolve the current issues until a fix for version 2026.3.31 is available.

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FAQ

Expected behavior

openclaw agent --message "hello" --json should send the message to the configured LLM, receive a response, and print JSON output to stdout openclaw lobster run <workflow> should execute the specified Lobster workflow openclaw llm-task should be registered as a CLI subcommand All three worked correctly in v2026.3.2

#api#response parsing#generation error#database connection#vector store

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