openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Bug: WebChat UI stuck in "In progress" after tool call timeouts

Bug: WebChat UI stuck in "In progress" state after assistant completes response

Description

After the assistant finishes generating a response (especially in sessions with multiple tool calls, some of which timeout), the WebChat UI remains stuck showing "In progress" with a red Stop button visible. The state never clears on its own. Only a page refresh resolves it.

Reproduction Steps

1. Start a WebChat conversation with the assistant
2. Ask a question that triggers multiple tool calls (e.g., web searches, MCP calls)
3. Some of the tool calls timeout (e.g., MCP -32001: Request timed out)
4. The assistant eventually completes and returns a final response
5. Observe: the UI input bar still shows "In progress" badge and red "Stop" button

Expected Behavior

Once the assistant finishes responding, the "In progress" state should clear and the UI should return to the idle input state automatically.

Actual Behavior

The SSE/EventSource connection appears to lose the final completion event (likely due to the interrupted tool call flow), leaving the frontend in a perpetually "generating" state. Only a full page refresh restores the correct state.

Environment

• OpenClaw version: Installed via Homebrew (latest)
• Channel: WebChat (direct)
• OS: macOS (Apple Silicon)
• Browser: Any (reproducible across browsers)

Root Cause Hypothesis

When tool calls timeout mid-stream (especially MCP tool timeouts), the backend SSE stream may close or get interrupted before sending the final done/completion event. The frontend's EventSource listener never receives the completion signal, so the UI state machine stays in "in progress" indefinitely.

Suggested Fix

1. Frontend: Add a client-side watchdog/timeout — if no SSE events are received for N seconds after the last assistant message was rendered, auto-clear the "in progress" state
2. Backend: Ensure the SSE stream always sends a terminal event (even on error/timeout paths) so the frontend can cleanly transition
3. Frontend: On reconnection, reconcile the "in progress" state by checking the actual session run status via API

Workaround

Refresh the webchat page.