openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Bug: WhatsApp auto-reply delivery silently fails in group chats (typing indicator only, message never sent) [1 comments, 2 participants]

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openclaw/openclaw#75178Fetched 2026-05-01 05:37:17
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WhatsApp auto-reply delivery silently fails in group chats. The bot shows a "typing" indicator but the message is never actually delivered to the group. This happens only for auto-reply responses — manual sends via the message tool work fine.

Error Message

  1. Message is never delivered — no error in logs, no auto-reply sent log entry for the group inbound message: from:"[email protected]" body:"hi kamu kok error terus sih"
  • No error logged
  • After a gateway restart, there were multiple outbound delivery failed; retrying: Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener errors during the reconnection phase, suggesting the delivery mechanism may be silently dropping messages when the listener state is inconsistent

Root Cause

WhatsApp auto-reply delivery silently fails in group chats. The bot shows a "typing" indicator but the message is never actually delivered to the group. This happens only for auto-reply responses — manual sends via the message tool work fine.

Fix Action

Workaround

Manually sending messages via the message tool to the group works. But auto-reply from bot responses does not deliver to groups.

Code Example

inbound message: from:"[email protected]" body:"hi kamu kok error terus sih"
inbound web message: [processed and enqueued]

---

sending message -> sha256:e925c480d800
Sent message 3EB03576DD4D45453249F8 -> sha256:e925c480d800 (1640ms)
auto-reply sent (text)
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Description

WhatsApp auto-reply delivery silently fails in group chats. The bot shows a "typing" indicator but the message is never actually delivered to the group. This happens only for auto-reply responses — manual sends via the message tool work fine.

Environment

  • OpenClaw: 2026.4.27
  • Node: 22.22.1
  • OS: Linux 6.8.0-110-generic (x64)
  • Channel: WhatsApp (Baileys-based plugin)
  • Model: zai/glm-5.1

Reproduction Steps

  1. Send a message mentioning the bot in a WhatsApp group
  2. Bot receives the inbound message (confirmed in gateway logs: inbound message, inbound web message)
  3. Bot generates a response (confirmed in session history)
  4. Typing indicator appears in the group
  5. Message is never delivered — no error in logs, no auto-reply sent log entry for the group
  6. Manual send via message tool to the same group works perfectly

Evidence from Logs

Inbound (works ✅)

inbound message: from:"[email protected]" body:"hi kamu kok error terus sih"
inbound web message: [processed and enqueued]

Outbound auto-reply (FAILS ❌)

  • No auto-reply sent log entry exists for this group
  • No error logged
  • Session history shows the response was generated successfully
  • User sees typing indicator but message never appears

Manual tool send (works ✅)

sending message -> sha256:e925c480d800
Sent message 3EB03576DD4D45453249F8 -> sha256:e925c480d800 (1640ms)
auto-reply sent (text)

Additional Context

  • This issue persists across gateway restarts
  • openclaw doctor --fix does not resolve it
  • The WhatsApp listener is active and connected (manual sends prove this)
  • Direct chat (1:1) auto-reply delivery works fine — issue is specific to group chats
  • After a gateway restart, there were multiple outbound delivery failed; retrying: Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener errors during the reconnection phase, suggesting the delivery mechanism may be silently dropping messages when the listener state is inconsistent

Workaround

Manually sending messages via the message tool to the group works. But auto-reply from bot responses does not deliver to groups.

Expected Behavior

Auto-reply responses should be delivered to WhatsApp groups the same way they are delivered to direct chats, and the same way manual message tool sends work.

extent analysis

TL;DR

The WhatsApp auto-reply delivery issue in group chats may be resolved by investigating and addressing the inconsistent WhatsApp Web listener state during gateway reconnection.

Guidance

  • Verify the WhatsApp Web listener state and connection stability, especially during gateway restarts, to ensure it doesn't drop messages.
  • Check the openclaw and Baileys-based plugin configurations for any settings that might affect group chat auto-replies differently than direct chats or manual sends.
  • Investigate the outbound delivery failed; retrying: Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener errors during reconnection phases to understand their impact on auto-reply delivery.
  • Consider adding logging or monitoring to track the auto-reply generation and delivery process specifically for group chats to identify where the issue occurs.

Example

No specific code snippet can be provided without more details on the openclaw or Baileys plugin implementation. However, ensuring that the WhatsApp Web listener is properly initialized and connected before attempting to send auto-replies could be a crucial step.

Notes

The issue seems specific to the interaction between the openclaw version, the Baileys-based WhatsApp plugin, and the group chat functionality. The fact that manual sends and direct chat auto-replies work suggests a nuanced problem that may require deeper investigation into the plugin's handling of group chats.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by manually sending critical messages via the message tool until the root cause of the auto-reply issue in group chats is identified and fixed, as this ensures message delivery while the underlying problem is investigated.

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