openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: OpenClaw 2026.5.7 Discord guild reply regression: malformed send payloads and repeated outbound loops [3 comments, 2 participants]

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Discord DMs function correctly in OpenClaw 2026.5.7, but Discord guild/server channel replies intermittently fail, generate malformed outbound send actions missing required message payloads, or enter repeated outbound reply loops from a single inbound prompt.

Steps to reproduce

1. Start OpenClaw 2026.5.7 with Discord enabled and Discord guild/server allowlist mode configured.

2. Add a valid Discord guild/server ID under channels.discord.guilds.

3. Restart the OpenClaw gateway.

4. Send a guild/server channel prompt such as: @Athena ping

5. Observe one or more of the following:

   • perpetual typing with no final reply
   • [tools] message failed: message required
   • multiple duplicate outbound replies from a single inbound prompt
   • runaway reply loop requiring gateway restart

Expected behavior

A single Discord guild/server channel prompt should produce one completed outbound reply with a valid message payload and then terminate normally without retries, duplicate sends, or infinite reply loops.

Actual behavior

Observed guild/server channel behavior was inconsistent and reproducible after a single inbound @Athena ping prompt:

• sometimes Discord showed perpetual typing with no final reply
• sometimes outbound sends failed with [tools] message failed: message required
• sometimes a single inbound prompt generated 2–4 outbound replies
• sometimes replies entered a runaway loop requiring gateway restart

Gateway logs showed malformed outbound Discord send actions containing routing metadata but lacking a valid message payload.

OpenClaw version

2026.5.7

Operating system

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Install method

npm Global

Model

openrouter/x-ai/grok-4.1-fast A/B tested with ollama/minimax-m2.7:cloud

Provider / routing chain

openclaw -> openrouter (grok-4.1-fast) A/B tested with: openclaw -> ollama (minimax-m2.7:cloud)

Additional provider/model setup details

Primary testing used openrouter/x-ai/grok-4.1-fast.

A controlled A/B test was also performed using: ollama/minimax-m2.7:cloud

The Discord guild/server duplicate-reply behavior persisted across both model configurations.

Discord DM behavior remained functional during testing.

OpenClaw installed via npm-global. Relevant runtime config stored in: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Key gateway evidence:


[tools] message failed: message required


Malformed outbound Discord send attempts contained:

* action="send"
* channel="discord"
* reply metadata
* routing metadata

but lacked:

* message
* text
* media

Observed malformed payload fields included unrelated mixed-schema metadata such as:

* activityName
* status
* topic
* clearParent
* targetAuthor
* rateLimitPerUser

Trajectory evidence showed:

* one inbound Discord guild/server prompt
* one session/run
* repeated outbound send attempts from the same run

Relevant architectural observation from source inspection:


Type.Object({
    action: stringEnum(actions),
    ...ALL POSSIBLE MESSAGE TOOL PROPERTIES
})


This appears to expose one shared permissive message-tool schema across unrelated action types.

Attached:

* screenshots showing duplicate Discord replies from a single inbound prompt
* redacted gateway logs
* reproduction notes

<img width="413" height="1389" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4edc509a-3e68-4468-9426-02fbefb130c9" />
<img width="482" height="580" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a1fd7d15-87bc-4829-a3e3-0498fd87e2ca" />

Impact and severity

Affected: Discord guild/server channel users on OpenClaw 2026.5.7.

Severity: High for Discord guild/server usage because replies may fail, duplicate, or enter a runaway loop requiring gateway restart.

Frequency: Reproduced repeatedly during controlled testing with a single @Athena ping prompt.

Consequence: Guild/server channel conversations are unreliable; the bot may not reply, may reply multiple times, or may continue replying until the gateway is restarted. DM behavior was not affected in my testing.

Additional information

Additional grounded observations from testing:

• Discord DMs functioned correctly after clean reconfiguration.

• The regression appeared isolated to Discord guild/server channel reply handling.

• One inbound guild/server prompt frequently produced multiple outbound replies within the same session/run.

• Gateway logs showed malformed outbound send attempts missing a required message payload.

• A temporary TOOLS.md workaround reduced malformed send failures but did not eliminate duplicate/repeating replies.

• The duplicate reply behavior reproduced across both:

  • openrouter/x-ai/grok-4.1-fast
  • ollama/minimax-m2.7:cloud

Source inspection identified what appears to be a shared permissive message-tool schema that merges unrelated action properties into one outbound action object.