openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Subagent errors (e.g. 429 Rate Limit) are not surfaced to user, messages appear to be swallowed [1 participants]

When a subagent encounters an error (e.g., 429 Rate Limit), the error is not surfaced to the user in the original chat. Instead: 2. No error message is shown to the user 2. Trigger a 429 Rate Limit error (or any other error that causes the subagent to fail) 4. Observe: message is sent but no response, no error shown

1. When a subagent encounters an error, the Gateway should notify the user in the original chat:

• "Subagent encountered an error: 429 Rate Limit. Please wait and try again."
• "Subagent is not responding. It may have encountered an error."

1. Run sessions_history to see the error messages
2. Add error propagation from subagent to parent session This affects user experience significantly - users may think OpenClaw is broken when it's actually just a temporary API error.

Fix Plan

To address the issue, we'll implement the following steps:

• Error Propagation: Modify the subagent to propagate errors to the parent session.
• Timeout Mechanism: Implement a timeout mechanism to notify the user if the subagent doesn't respond within a specified time frame (e.g., 30 seconds).
• Error Logging: Log errors to a user-accessible location.

Example Code

# Error Propagation
def handle_subagent_error(error):
    # Propagate error to parent session
    parent_session.send_error_message(f"Subagent encountered an error: {error}")

# Timeout Mechanism
import threading

def send_timeout_notification(subagent):
    def timeout_callback():
        parent_session.send_message("Subagent is not responding. It may have encountered an error.")
    
    timer = threading.Timer(30.0, timeout_callback)  # 30-second timeout
    timer.start()

# Error Logging
import logging

def log_error(error):
    logging.error(f"Subagent error: {error}")
    # Log error to user-accessible location (e.g., database or file)

Configuration Changes

• Update the subagent configuration to include error propagation and timeout mechanisms.
• Configure the logging system to store errors in a user-accessible location.

Verification

To verify the fix, follow these steps:

1. Trigger a 429 Rate Limit error (or any other error that causes the subagent to fail).
2. Send a message to the subagent.
3. Verify that the error message is propagated to the parent session and displayed to the user.
4. Verify that the timeout notification is sent to the user if the subagent doesn't respond within the specified time frame.

Extra Tips

• Ensure that the error logging mechanism is secure and doesn't expose sensitive information.
• Consider implementing a retry mechanism for temporary API errors.
• Monitor user feedback and adjust the timeout mechanism as needed to improve the user experience.