openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix QQ Bot: lane errors (rate limit, timeout) are silently swallowed with no user feedback

Summary

When a QQ Bot message triggers a lane error (e.g., API rate limit, response timeout, FailoverError), the error is silently caught and the user receives no feedback at all — the message simply disappears into the void.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Send a message to the QQ Bot that triggers a model API rate limit or timeout
2. Observe: no reply is sent to the user
3. Check gateway logs: lane task error: ... error="FailoverError: ⚠️ API rate limit reached. Please try again later."

Root Cause

In the qqbot plugin's message dispatch handler (gateway-BdWwKDtj.js), the error is caught with an empty handler:

try {
    await Promise.race([dispatchPromise, timeoutPromise]);
} catch {
    if (timeoutId) clearTimeout(timeoutId);
}

The sendErrorMessage helper function exists in the plugin and works for other error paths (stream errors, media errors), but it is not called for lane-level failures like rate limits or timeouts. The catch block only clears the timeout — it never sends any feedback to the user.

Expected Behavior

The bot should reply with a brief error message when the agent turn fails, so the user knows to retry. For example:

• Rate limit: ⚠️ 当前请求过多，请稍后再试
• Timeout: ⏱️ 响应超时，请重新发送
• Generic error: ❌ 处理失败，请稍后重试

This is especially important for QQ Bot because unlike Feishu/WebChat, there is no "thinking" indicator or verbose feedback — the user sees nothing until a reply arrives. A silent failure is indistinguishable from "the bot is offline."

Environment

• OpenClaw: 2026.5.27
• @openclaw/qqbot: 2026.5.27
• Node: 24.15.0
• OS: Linux 7.0.0-15-generic (x64)

Suggested Fix

In the catch block of the dispatch Promise.race, add a sendErrorMessage() call with a user-friendly error description based on the error type. The sendErrorToTarget function is already available in scope.