openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix RFE: expose WhatsApp/Baileys channel log level via openclaw.json (e.g., channels.whatsapp.logLevel) to suppress designed-and-benign reconnect lifecycle logs [1 participants]

Observed

gateway.err.log emits frequent lifecycle reconnect entries from the bundled WhatsApp client:

[whatsapp] Web connection closed (status 499). Retry 1/12 in 2.13s… (status=499)
[whatsapp] Web connection closed (status 428). Retry 1/12 in 2.05s… (status=428 Precondition Required Connection Terminated)
[whatsapp] Web connection closed (status 503). Retry 1/12 in 2.0s… (status=503 Service Unavailable Stream Errored (unknown))
[whatsapp] No messages received in 30m - restarting connection

Source: bundled @whiskeysockets/baileys 7.0.0-rc.9 lifecycle logging. Reconnects are designed Baileys/WhatsApp Web behavior; the library auto-recovers and inbound message flow remains uninterrupted (verified via downstream activity_event row counts in our deployment).

These dominate gateway.err.log (>200 entries in 48h on a healthy install) and obscure real signals.

Where the knob would land

In the bundled gateway, the makeWASocket(...) call site passes lifecycle options. makeWASocket accepts a logger: ILogger field (any pino-compatible logger), so:

const waLogLevel = config.channels?.whatsapp?.logLevel ?? 'info';
const sock = makeWASocket({
    // ...existing options...
    logger: pino({ level: waLogLevel }),
});

(Or a minimal pino-shape no-op logger if pino isn't already a dep — Baileys accepts any object that implements trace/debug/info/warn/error/child methods.)

Today there is no openclaw.json passthrough — the call site is in upstream bundled JS and doesn't read from config.

Proposed

openclaw.json should accept channels.whatsapp.logLevel (or channels.whatsapp.baileys.logLevel) and pipe it to the Baileys logger constructor at the makeWASocket call site. Default info (current effective behavior); allow error for quiet ops logs.

Versions

• openclaw: 2026.4.5
• @whiskeysockets/baileys: 7.0.0-rc.9

Workaround in use

Same operator-side wrapper-script log-filter daemon as our companion Slack RFE. Strips the four designed-and-benign reconnect patterns (3 WhatsApp status codes + 30m-no-messages restart) into a parallel gateway.err.clean.log. Works, but should not be necessary if the upstream config knob existed.

Notes for the implementer

• Baileys logger is required in the type, but accepting level: 'silent' on the pino instance is the cleanest universal mute — no need to introduce conditional logic at the call site.
• If pino is not already a transitive dep of openclaw, a 50-line pino-shape no-op (or level: 'silent') shim works equally well and avoids adding a new dep.
• The WhatsApp 3-digit status codes (499/428/503/408) all come from the same log path — a single error-level cutoff suppresses them as a class.