Bug: openclaw gateway call times out for plugin gateway methods even when the method executes successfully

Summary

In the currently installed OpenClaw build, plugin gateway methods can execute successfully, complete their real work, and still cause openclaw gateway call to fail with:

Gateway call failed: Error: gateway timeout after 10000ms

I reproduced this with a small isolated plugin, first on a Discord component send method and then on a lightweight status/log-reader method.

Why this seems like a core/runtime issue

The issue is not limited to Discord delivery itself:

• discord-component-poc.send timed out at the CLI level, but the Discord message was actually sent successfully and the interactive callback path worked live.
• discord-component-poc.status also timed out, even though it only reads a local log file and returns recent entries.

That suggests the remaining problem is in the gateway-method RPC return/ack path for plugin methods in this build, not in the Discord sender path.

Environment

• Installed build root:
  • /home/agent/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.2/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist
• Config:
  • /home/agent/.openclaw/openclaw.json
• Gateway target in error output:
  • ws://127.0.0.1:18789
• Gateway bind:
  • lan
• Plugin under test:
  • /home/agent/.openclaw/workspace/plugins/discord-component-poc

Reproduction

Method 1: Discord send method

Command:

openclaw gateway call discord-component-poc.send --params '{"text":"Gateway-owned Discord component PoC test after timeout fix.","allowedUsers":["560583965988225046"]}'

CLI result:

Gateway call failed: Error: gateway timeout after 10000ms
Gateway target: ws://127.0.0.1:18789
Source: local loopback
Config: /home/agent/.openclaw/openclaw.json
Bind: lan

But the plugin log shows the work completed successfully:

{"ts":"2026-04-02T05:25:26.697Z","event":"dispatch.started","dispatchId":"1a92251c-ba73-4dff-a6c5-8d07132a40c0","to":"channel:1488981466003279982"}
{"ts":"2026-04-02T05:25:26.958Z","event":"dispatch.sent","dispatchId":"1a92251c-ba73-4dff-a6c5-8d07132a40c0","to":"channel:1488981466003279982","messageId":"1489133641438199858","channelId":"1488981466003279982"}

Also, the live button callback path was verified via callback data poc:ack.

Method 2: Lightweight status method

Command:

openclaw gateway call discord-component-poc.status --params '{"limit":10}'

CLI result:

Gateway call failed: Error: gateway timeout after 10000ms
Gateway target: ws://127.0.0.1:18789
Source: local loopback
Config: /home/agent/.openclaw/openclaw.json
Bind: lan

This second method was intended only to read and return recent log entries, so it helps rule out Discord-send latency as the core cause.

Expected behavior

When a plugin gateway method executes and returns normally, openclaw gateway call should return the method result rather than timing out after 10 seconds.

Actual behavior

The plugin method appears to run, but the CLI call still times out waiting for the response.

Extra notes

During investigation, I confirmed locally that registerGatewayMethod in the installed build is just storing the handler in the registry:

• loader-BrGpIitI.js:374
• loader-BrGpIitI.js:857
• loader-BrGpIitI.js:1006

So the likely issue seems to be in invocation/response handling rather than registration itself.

Impact

This makes plugin gateway methods unreliable as an operational surface even when their underlying work succeeds, because operators cannot trust the CLI return status.

Workaround

A plugin can log side effects/results to a file, but that is only a workaround and not a substitute for a reliable gateway call response.