openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug] WhatsApp proactive outbound send still fails with 'No active WhatsApp Web listener' on 2026.3.13 while inbound/auto-reply work [1 comments, 2 participants]

openclaw2026-03-23 10:06:17

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openclaw/openclaw#52774•Fetched 2026-04-08 01:19:36

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On OpenClaw 2026.3.13 on macOS, WhatsApp outbound proactive sends are broken even though the channel appears healthy.

The exact failure is:

Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default)

At the same time:

openclaw channels status --probe reports WhatsApp as linked, running, connected
gateway logs say Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages.
inbound/self-chat messages work
auto-replies work
but openclaw message send --channel whatsapp ... fails every time

This matches the older issue pattern from #14406 very closely: auto-reply path works while the proactive outbound/message-tool path fails.

Error Message

Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default)

Root Cause

On OpenClaw 2026.3.13 on macOS, WhatsApp outbound proactive sends are broken even though the channel appears healthy.

The exact failure is:

Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default)

At the same time:

openclaw channels status --probe reports WhatsApp as linked, running, connected
gateway logs say Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages.
inbound/self-chat messages work
auto-replies work
but openclaw message send --channel whatsapp ... fails every time

This matches the older issue pattern from #14406 very closely: auto-reply path works while the proactive outbound/message-tool path fails.

Code Example

Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default)

---

openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp --account default

---

openclaw channels status --probe

---

openclaw message send --channel whatsapp --target +17863329415 --message "fresh relink outbound test" --json

---

Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default)

---

Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages.
Inbound message +17863329415 -> +17863329415 (direct, 69 chars)
Auto-replied to +17863329415

---

openclaw message send --channel whatsapp --target +17863329415 --message "fresh relink outbound test" --json

---

GatewayClientRequestError: Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default).
Start the gateway, then link WhatsApp with: openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp --account default.

---

if (!listener) throw new Error(`No active WhatsApp Web listener ...`)

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Summary

On OpenClaw 2026.3.13 on macOS, WhatsApp outbound proactive sends are broken even though the channel appears healthy.

The exact failure is:

Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default)

At the same time:

openclaw channels status --probe reports WhatsApp as linked, running, connected
gateway logs say Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages.
inbound/self-chat messages work
auto-replies work
but openclaw message send --channel whatsapp ... fails every time

This matches the older issue pattern from #14406 very closely: auto-reply path works while the proactive outbound/message-tool path fails.

Environment

OpenClaw: 2026.3.13
OS: macOS (Apple Silicon)
Channel: WhatsApp Web
Account: default
Node runtime from installed OpenClaw build

Exact Reproduction

Link WhatsApp successfully using:

openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp --account default

Confirm status:
```
openclaw channels status --probe
```
Output shows:
- enabled
- configured
- linked
- running
- connected
Send an inbound/self-chat message from the linked WhatsApp account
Observe that inbound handling and auto-reply work

Attempt proactive outbound send:

openclaw message send --channel whatsapp --target +17863329415 --message "fresh relink outbound test" --json

Observe failure:

Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default)

What We Already Tried

We did a very thorough recovery sequence before filing this:

verified WhatsApp channel was enabled/configured
verified status via openclaw channels status --probe
restarted the gateway multiple times
reinstalled/updated OpenClaw (npm i -g openclaw@latest --no-fund --no-audit --loglevel=error)
confirmed there was no newer npm release than 2026.3.13
checked the WhatsApp credential store size
confirmed the credential store was not bloated
- only ~72 files
- around 288K
fully logged out WhatsApp
moved the credential directory aside and started fresh
re-linked WhatsApp with a fresh QR scan using the native terminal login flow
retested proactive outbound immediately after fresh relink

The failure still reproduces on a completely fresh session.

Credential Store Observation

This does not look like the credential-bloat case from #19618.

At the time of debugging, the live WhatsApp credential directory was small and healthy (roughly 72 files), and after a full clean reset + relink the same bug still occurred.

So for this case the stronger match is the older listener-registry / duplicate-runtime-chunk problem from #14406.

Observed Behavior

Status probe says healthy

openclaw channels status --probe shows:

WhatsApp default: enabled, configured, linked, running, connected

Logs show inbound is alive

Gateway logs include lines like:

Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages.
Inbound message +17863329415 -> +17863329415 (direct, 69 chars)
Auto-replied to +17863329415

Proactive outbound still fails

At the same time, this command fails:

openclaw message send --channel whatsapp --target +17863329415 --message "fresh relink outbound test" --json

with:

GatewayClientRequestError: Error: No active WhatsApp Web listener (account: default).
Start the gateway, then link WhatsApp with: openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp --account default.

Why This Looks Like #14406 Again

The practical split is exactly this:

reply/inbound path works
auto-reply works
message-tool / proactive outbound path fails

That strongly suggests the outbound path is still resolving a different or stale active-listener registry than the channel/reply path populates.

During local inspection of the installed dist/ bundle, we also observed multiple bundled copies of the listener-guard code containing:

if (!listener) throw new Error(`No active WhatsApp Web listener ...`)

across different chunk files, which is consistent with the duplicate-runtime-chunk hypothesis.

Request

Please reopen investigation into the proactive WhatsApp outbound path on current builds.

This appears to still be reproducible on 2026.3.13 even after:

clean credential reset
fresh QR relink
immediate retest

If helpful, I can provide:

exact status output
log excerpts
local chunk names observed in the installed dist/ directory

extent analysis

Fix Plan

To resolve the issue with WhatsApp outbound proactive sends, we need to address the duplicate-runtime-chunk problem. Here are the steps:

Code Changes: Update the listener-guard code to ensure that only one instance of the listener is registered. This can be achieved by using a singleton pattern or a centralized registry for listeners.
Example Code:

// Create a centralized registry for listeners
const listenerRegistry = {};

// Update the listener-guard code to use the registry
if (!listenerRegistry['whatsapp']) {
  listenerRegistry['whatsapp'] = new WhatsAppListener();
}

// Use the registered listener
const listener = listenerRegistry['whatsapp'];
if (!listener) {
  throw new Error(`No active WhatsApp Web listener ...`)
}

Configuration Changes: Verify that the openclaw configuration is correct and that the WhatsApp channel is properly configured.
Infra / Dependency Fixes: Ensure that the openclaw dependencies are up-to-date and that there are no conflicts between different versions of the dependencies.

Verification

To verify that the fix worked, follow these steps:

Restart the gateway and relink the WhatsApp channel.
Send a proactive outbound message using the openclaw message send command.
Verify that the message is sent successfully and that there are no errors in the gateway logs.

Extra Tips

To prevent similar issues in the future, it's recommended to:

Regularly update the openclaw dependencies to ensure that you have the latest fixes and features.
Monitor the gateway logs for any errors or warnings related to the WhatsApp channel.
Test the WhatsApp channel regularly to ensure that it's working correctly.

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openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug] WhatsApp proactive outbound send still fails with 'No active WhatsApp Web listener' on 2026.3.13 while inbound/auto-reply work [1 comments, 2 participants]

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Error Message

Root Cause

Code Example

Summary

Environment

Exact Reproduction

What We Already Tried

Credential Store Observation

Observed Behavior

Status probe says healthy

Logs show inbound is alive

Proactive outbound still fails

Why This Looks Like #14406 Again

Request

extent analysis

Fix Plan

Verification

Extra Tips

Still need to ship something?

TRENDING

openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug] WhatsApp proactive outbound send still fails with 'No active WhatsApp Web listener' on 2026.3.13 while inbound/auto-reply work [1 comments, 2 participants]

Recommended Tools

GitHub issue graph ai analysis

Error Message

Root Cause

Code Example

Summary

Environment

Exact Reproduction

What We Already Tried

Credential Store Observation

Observed Behavior

Status probe says healthy

Logs show inbound is alive

Proactive outbound still fails

Why This Looks Like #14406 Again

Request

extent analysis

Fix Plan

Verification

Extra Tips

Still need to ship something?

RELATED_DISCOVERY

TRENDING