openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: TUI first-connect / chat.history / models.list stalls on 2026.4.27-2026.4.29, rollback to 2026.4.23 massively improves startup [1 comments, 2 participants]

Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

TUI startup and websocket initialization are much slower and less reliable on OpenClaw 2026.4.27 and 2026.4.29 than on 2026.4.23, with isolated --dev tests showing handshake timeouts plus slow chat.history/models.list calls, while rolling back to 2026.4.23 massively improved responsiveness on the same WSL2 machine.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install/run OpenClaw 2026.4.27 or 2026.4.29 normally on WSL2 Ubuntu and start the normal gateway/TUI.

2. Observe TUI startup/connect failures or delays, including examples seen on the normal install:

   • gateway connect failed: Error: gateway request timeout for connect
   • agents list failed: Error: gateway request timeout for agents.list
   • history failed: Error: gateway request timeout for chat.history
   • slow chat.history / models.list calls in gateway logs.

3. To rule out normal workspace/session state, reproduce in an isolated dev install:

   mkdir -p ~/oc-version-test/2026.4.29 cd ~/oc-version-test/2026.4.29 npm init -y npm install [email protected]

4. Start a fresh isolated dev gateway:

   mv ~/.openclaw-dev ~/.openclaw-dev.bak.$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S) 2>/dev/null || true OPENCLAW_SKIP_MODEL_PREWARM=1 OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1 ./node_modules/.bin/openclaw --dev gateway 2>&1 | tee ~/oc-version-test/2026.4.29/gateway-dev.log

5. In a second terminal, start TUI against that dev gateway:

   cd ~/oc-version-test/2026.4.29 OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=19001 ./node_modules/.bin/openclaw --dev tui

6. Observe TUI startup delay/errors such as:

   • model list failed: Error: gateway request timeout for models.list

7. Confirm in the dev gateway log:

   egrep -i "ready|handshake timeout|closed before connect|agents.list|chat.history|models.list|sessions.list|event_loop|error|failed" ~/oc-version-test/2026.4.29/gateway-dev.log | tail -160

Observed in isolated dev repro: sessions.list 8408ms, models.list 39401ms, and event-loop liveness warning with eventLoopDelayMaxMs=11333.

1. Roll back the normal install to OpenClaw 2026.4.23 and observe that TUI/gateway responsiveness improves massively on the same machine.

Expected behavior

On the same WSL2 Ubuntu machine, OpenClaw TUI/gateway startup should behave like the known-good rollback version, OpenClaw 2026.4.23: the gateway should become usable quickly, TUI should connect without long first-connect stalls, and startup calls such as agents.list, chat.history, sessions.list, and models.list should not block for minutes.

Actual behavior

On OpenClaw 2026.4.27 and 2026.4.29, TUI/dashboard startup became slow and unreliable on the same WSL2 machine.

Observed user-visible errors on the normal install included:

• gateway connect failed: Error: gateway request timeout for connect
• agents list failed: Error: gateway request timeout for agents.list
• history failed: Error: gateway request timeout for chat.history
• model list failed: Error: gateway request timeout for models.list

In isolated --dev testing with OpenClaw 2026.4.29, the gateway log showed slow startup/UI calls including:

• sessions.list 8408ms
• models.list 39401ms
• liveness warning with eventLoopDelayMaxMs=11333

In isolated --dev testing with OpenClaw 2026.4.27, the gateway log showed:

• first websocket handshake timeout
• closed before connect
• chat.history around 25 to 26 seconds

Rolling the main install back to OpenClaw 2026.4.23 made TUI/gateway responsiveness massively better on the same machine.

OpenClaw version

Problem versions tested: 2026.4.27 (cbc2ba0), 2026.4.29 (a448042), and 2026.4.29-beta.2. Known-good rollback version: 2026.4.23 (a979721).

Operating system

Windows 11 with WSL2 Ubuntu

Install method

npm global for the normal install; local npm install for isolated version tests.

Model

openai-codex/gpt-5.5 on versions that support it. For OpenClaw 2026.4.15 comparison testing, openai-codex/gpt-5.4 was used because that version did not recognize openai-codex/gpt-5.5.

Provider / routing chain

OpenClaw -> OpenAI Codex OAuth provider -> openai-codex/gpt-5.5

Additional provider/model setup details

The machine is authenticated with OpenAI Codex OAuth, not a direct OPENAI_API_KEY route.

During isolated --dev tests, the dev profile sometimes defaulted to openai/gpt-5.5, which failed because no direct OpenAI API key was configured. Switching to the Codex route, such as openai-codex/gpt-5.5 on newer versions or openai-codex/gpt-5.4 on 2026.4.15, allowed model calls to work.

Local mitigations used during testing:

• OPENCLAW_SKIP_MODEL_PREWARM=1
• OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1

A separate prewarm issue was identified earlier: sidecars.channels.prewarm.done took about 53 seconds until OPENCLAW_SKIP_MODEL_PREWARM=1 reduced it to about 2ms. The TUI startup issue described here persisted after that prewarm mitigation.

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Logs, screenshots, and evidence
Normal install symptoms included:


gateway connect failed: Error: gateway request timeout for connect
agents list failed: Error: gateway request timeout for agents.list
history failed: Error: gateway request timeout for chat.history
model list failed: Error: gateway request timeout for models.list

OpenClaw 2026.4.27 isolated --dev evidence:

[gateway] ready
[ws] handshake timeout conn=... peer=127.0.0.1:36890->127.0.0.1:19001
[ws] closed before connect ... code=1000
[ws] ⇄ res ✓ agents.list 705ms
[ws] ⇄ res ✓ chat.history 25579ms

Second 2026.4.27 isolated --dev run:

[gateway] ready
[ws] handshake timeout conn=... peer=127.0.0.1:47994->127.0.0.1:19001
[ws] closed before connect ... code=1000
[ws] ⇄ res ✓ agents.list 732ms
[ws] ⇄ res ✓ chat.history 26310ms

Direct gateway calls against the same dev gateway were fast:

health_elapsed_s=1.62
agents_elapsed_s=1.58
models_elapsed_s=1.56

OpenClaw 2026.4.29 isolated --dev evidence:

[gateway] [plugins] installed bundled runtime deps before gateway startup in 21745ms
[gateway] http server listening ... 31.8s
[gateway] ready
[ws] ⇄ res ✓ agents.list 362ms
[ws] ⇄ res ✓ sessions.list 8408ms
[diagnostic] liveness warning: reasons=event_loop_delay ... eventLoopDelayMaxMs=11333 eventLoopUtilization=0.784
[ws] ⇄ res ✓ models.list 39401ms

2026.4.23 rollback result:

OpenClaw 2026.4.23 (a979721)
TUI/gateway responsiveness improved massively on the same machine after rollback.

Impact and severity

Impact and severity

Affected: OpenClaw TUI and dashboard/gateway users on this WSL2 Ubuntu machine running newer OpenClaw versions, especially 2026.4.27 and 2026.4.29.

Severity: High. It makes the TUI/dashboard feel frozen or unreliable and causes startup operations to fail or take minutes to start

Frequency: Reproduced repeatedly in the normal install and also in isolated `--dev` tests for 2026.4.27 and 2026.4.29.

Consequence: TUI/dashboard startup becomes unreliable, startup calls such as `chat.history`, `models.list`, `sessions.list`, and `agents.list` can time out or take tens of seconds, and normal OpenClaw use becomes impractical. Rolling back to 2026.4.23 massively improved responsiveness on the same machine.

### Additional information

This appears to be a regression after 2026.4.23 on this machine.

Observed version comparison:

- 2026.4.23: currently usable and much faster after rollback.
- 2026.4.27: isolated `--dev` repro showed websocket handshake timeout / closed before connect and `chat.history` around 25 to 26 seconds.
- 2026.4.29: isolated `--dev` repro showed `sessions.list 8408ms`, `models.list 39401ms`, and event-loop delay warning with `eventLoopDelayMaxMs=11333`.
- 2026.4.15: also felt fast in comparison testing, but did not support `openai-codex/gpt-5.5`, so 2026.4.23 is the current practical rollback target.

Temporary workaround: remain on OpenClaw 2026.4.23 and avoid updating the main install to 2026.4.27 or 2026.4.29 until this TUI/gateway startup regression is fixed.