#starting up

1 messages Ā· Page 1 of 1 (latest)

river coralBOT
#

Donā€™t full-reset it yet, thatā€™s the last resort because it wipes config/state.

First, please paste these:

openclaw --version
openclaw status --all
openclaw gateway status

Then try the normal recovery path:

openclaw gateway restart

If you were running it manually in a terminal instead of as a service, use:

# 
openclaw gateway run

If it still isnā€™t replying, run these and paste the output:

openclaw models status
openclaw channels status --probe
openclaw doctor
openclaw logs --follow

If you really want the nuclear option, the docs say the full reset is:

night tulip
#

how do i get open law bot to open back up in terminal? new session?

river coralBOT
#

Yep, a new terminal session is totally fine.

If you want it back in a terminal window, open a new terminal and run:

openclaw gateway run

If you installed it as a background service instead, use:

openclaw gateway status
openclaw gateway restart

Quick rule of thumb:

#
  • openclaw gateway run = runs in the current terminal
  • openclaw gateway restart = restarts the background service

If youā€™re on Windows + WSL, open PowerShell first, run:

wsl

then use the same commands above.

Also paste this so we can check the exact release:

openclaw --version
night tulip
#

ive done all of these commands i cant get my bot to come back up !

river coralBOT
#

Ugh, okay, at this point I need the exact error output, otherwise weā€™re just guessing.

Please paste the full output of these:

openclaw --version
openclaw gateway status
openclaw status --all
openclaw doctor

Then open a fresh terminal and run this so we can see the real startup error:

openclaw gateway --verbose
#

Also tell me:

  • macOS, Windows + WSL, or Linux?
  • does openclaw say command not found?
  • does the gateway exit immediately, or stay open and print errors?

I would not do openclaw reset yet. Reset wipes state, but it does not fix things like PATH, Node, service install, or a broken config.

Docs:
https://docs.openclaw.ai/help/faq
https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/troubleshooting

Paste the output here and Iā€™ll help you sort through it.

#

That error is actually good news, your gateway is already running.

The problem is not ā€œOpenClaw wonā€™t startā€, itā€™s ā€œthe running gateway isnā€™t replyingā€.

So, donā€™t run openclaw gateway again in a new terminal. Instead do this:

openclaw gateway status
openclaw gateway restart
openclaw status --all
openclaw logs --follow

If it still wonā€™t answer after the restart, paste these too:

# 
openclaw models status
openclaw channels status --probe

Most likely causes now are:

  • model/auth issue
  • channel connection issue
  • pairing / allowlist / mention policy issue

If you want the clean stop/start version instead of restart:

openclaw gateway stop
openclaw gateway start
river coralBOT
#

Yep, this is the real issue.

Your gateway is running, but your local CLI/device is being blocked because it wants a scope upgrade. In plain English, OpenClaw is waiting for you to approve the device again with broader permissions.

Run this on the Mac that hosts OpenClaw:

openclaw devices list
openclaw devices approve <requestId>

Important:

  • use the current requestId from openclaw devices list
  • donā€™t use --latest for the final step, docs say that only previews

After approving, retry your command, or restart once:

# 
openclaw gateway restart

If devices list shows no pending request, do this:

  1. run the failing command once more
  2. immediately run openclaw devices list
  3. approve the new requestId

So this is not a dead bot, itā€™s a pairing / permission approval problem.

Docs:
https://docs.openclaw.ai/cli/devices
https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/troubleshooting

If you want, paste the output of openclaw devices list and Iā€™ll tell you exactly which request to approve.

night tulip
#

nothing happened when i sued openclaw devices list
openclaw devices approve <requestId>

river coralBOT
#

Ah, yep, <requestId> is a placeholder. You donā€™t type the angle brackets literally.

Try this:

openclaw devices list --json

If that shows a pending request, approve the actual id. From the log you pasted, it might be:

openclaw devices approve eb5aa9ff-89a1-4930-aa44-c36bccca6107

If that says not found, the request got replaced. Then do this:

# 
openclaw devices list --json

and use the new requestId it shows.

If devices list --json still shows nothing, trigger the error once more, then immediately run:

openclaw devices list --json

and paste the output here. Weā€™re close, this looks like a pairing approval issue, not a dead install.

river coralBOT
#

Perfect, that tells us the old request ID is stale.

unknown requestId means the pending pairing request got replaced, so you need the current one.

Do this exactly:

openclaw devices list --json

If it shows a pending request, copy the new requestId from there and run:

openclaw devices approve NEW_REQUEST_ID_HERE

If devices list --json shows nothing, that means there is no current pending request yet. In that case:

#
  1. run the command that triggers pairing required again
  2. immediately run:
openclaw devices list --json
  1. approve the fresh requestId

This part is expected, the docs say if the device retries with changed auth/scopes, the old pending request gets superseded and a new one is created.

Paste the output of openclaw devices list --json if you want and Iā€™ll point at the exact ID.

#

Nice, thatā€™s the exact one. šŸ‘

Run this next:

openclaw devices approve 40394652-04fd-46a9-8088-8e81629636fe

What your output shows:

  • your Mac is already paired
  • but only with operator.read
  • thereā€™s a pending repair / scope upgrade request for the broader scopes the CLI now needs

So approving that request should unblock it.

After that, retry:

# 
openclaw gateway status
openclaw status --all

If it still says pairing required, run openclaw devices list --json once more, because the request ID can get replaced again. But this looks like the right fix.

night tulip
#

still no access
šŸ¦ž OpenClaw 2026.4.12 (1c0672b) ā€” Shell yeahā€”I'm here to pinch the toil and leave you the glory.

ā”‚
ā—‡
23:20:45 [gateway] loading configurationā€¦
23:20:45 [gateway] resolving authenticationā€¦
23:20:45 [gateway] starting...
23:20:47 [gateway] starting HTTP server...
23:20:47 [canvas] host mounted at http://127.0.0.1:18789/__openclaw__/canvas/ (root /Users/bishop/.openclaw/canvas)
23:20:49 Gateway failed to start: another gateway instance is already listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 | listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 127.0.0.1:18789
If the gateway is supervised, stop it with: openclaw gateway stop
23:20:49 Port 18789 is already in use.
23:20:49 - pid 35037 bishop: openclaw-gateway (127.0.0.1:18789)
23:20:49 - Gateway already running locally. Stop it (openclaw gateway stop) or use a different port.
23:20:49 Gateway service appears loaded. Stop it first.
23:20:49 Tip: openclaw gateway stop
23:20:49 Or: launchctl bootout gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.gateway
bishop@Bernards-MacBook-Pro ~ % openclaw dashboard

šŸ¦ž OpenClaw 2026.4.12 (1c0672b) ā€” Built by lobsters, for humans. Don't question the hierarchy.

Dashboard URL: http://127.0.0.1:18789/#token=6e3b672930d366f6a3b435a791e13d978bf3b7e659f908ea
Copied to clipboard.
Opened in your browser. Keep that tab to control OpenClaw.
bishop@Bernards-MacBook-Pro ~ %

river coralBOT
#

First, delete that Discord message and rotate your gateway token. You just pasted a secret in public. Iā€™m not going to repeat it.

Also, http://127.0.0.1:18789 only works on the same Mac that is running OpenClaw. If youā€™re opening that link from your phone or another computer, it will not work.

Try this on the Mac itself:

openclaw dashboard

Thatā€™s the safest way to open the Control UI locally.

If you still get unauthorized / reconnect loops on that Mac, do these next and paste the output:

openclaw gateway status
#

The terminal output is actually fine, it shows:

  • the gateway is already running
  • openclaw dashboard did open the local UI

So the problem is now in the browser, not the terminal.

Please stop running openclaw gateway manually, that just tries to start a second copy and gives the EADDRINUSE error.

Next, I need the exact browser error. In the tab that opened, what do you see?

  • unauthorized
  • disconnected (1008): pairing required
  • blank white page
  • ā€œsite canā€™t be reachedā€
  • something else
#

This is actually helpful, your gateway looks healthy now.

From that report I can see:

  • the gateway started successfully
  • the Telegram provider started
  • āœ“ Channel issues (none)

So this is not a startup crash anymore.

Two important things:

  1. I only see Telegram loaded in that log.
    If you were expecting a Discord bot to reply, that channel is not what this gateway is currently running.

  2. If youā€™re expecting Telegram replies, the next suspects are:

    • model/auth issue
#
  • pairing / allowlist / routing policy
    • message not reaching the agent

Please run these next:

openclaw models status
openclaw pairing list --channel telegram
openclaw logs --follow

Then, while openclaw logs --follow is running, send the bot a fresh test message on Telegram and paste the new log lines that appear.

That should tell us whether the message is arriving and why itā€™s being dropped.

Docs:
https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/troubleshooting

night tulip
#

rror gateway connect failed: GatewayClientRequestError: pairing required
06:59:02+00:00 error gateway connect failed: GatewayClientRequestError: pairing required
gateway connect failed: GatewayClientRequestError: pairing required

river coralBOT
#

Thatā€™s still the same stale device pairing problem.

Since it keeps looping, Iā€™d stop trying to reuse the old paired token and do the docsā€™ ā€œremove + approve againā€ path.

Use the deviceId from your earlier paired output:

openclaw devices remove 75a30727ee72e90f2f385650efb1d7ec7362d7314cf2ff7402223aeb3dfe376b
openclaw devices list --json
openclaw devices approve NEW_REQUEST_ID_HERE

Then retry:

openclaw gateway status
# 
openclaw status --all

Why Iā€™m suggesting this: your earlier output showed the device was already paired, but only with operator.read, and the gateway keeps asking for a repair/scope-upgrade. When that gets stuck, the docs say to remove the stale device entry and approve the fresh request.

If devices remove or devices approve errors, paste that exact output next.

Docs:
https://docs.openclaw.ai/cli/devices#token-drift-recovery-checklist

night tulip
#

ā”‚
gateway connect failed: GatewayClientRequestError: pairing required
ā—‡
Direct scope access failed; using local fallback.
unknown requestId

river coralBOT
#

Yep, that means the request ID you used is stale again.

Letā€™s slow it down and do one command at a time:

openclaw devices list --json

Then paste the full output here, and donā€™t run approve yet.

We keep chasing rotating request IDs, so I want to read the current one before you run the next command.

quick blaze
#

Is it fixed now mate?

river coralBOT
#

Not quite yet.

The gateway itself looks up, but the device pairing / scope-upgrade flow is still stuck. Weā€™re waiting on a fresh:

openclaw devices list --json

from the Mac thatā€™s hosting OpenClaw, so we can grab the current request ID and approve the right one.

night tulip
river coralBOT
#

Got it.

Then letā€™s keep it super simple, run only this on the Mac and paste the result:

openclaw devices list --json

Donā€™t run approve yet. I want to see the current pending request first.

#

Perfect, thatā€™s the current one.

Run this exact command now:

openclaw devices approve 17f11b1a-3c23-4de1-9a19-1ff0c3ce2fdc

Then immediately retry:

openclaw gateway status
openclaw status --all

If approve says unknown requestId again, the request rotated one more time, so rerun:

# 
openclaw devices list --json

and paste the new one. But this is the right request right now.

river coralBOT
#

Yep, it rotated again.

Use this one right now, and donā€™t run any other OpenClaw command first:

openclaw devices approve 51e0cb13-253d-4375-b81e-10745504ad7f

If that still comes back as unknown requestId, then weā€™re probably hitting a race/bug in 2026.4.12, and Iā€™ll give you a different workaround.

#

Nice, that part is fixed šŸŽ‰

Approved ... means the pairing/scope-upgrade finally went through.

Next:

openclaw gateway status
openclaw status --all

Then:

  1. refresh the dashboard tab if that was stuck
  2. send the bot a fresh test message

If it still doesnā€™t reply, run this while you send a test message:

# 
openclaw logs --follow

and paste the new log lines that appear.

Also, once youā€™re back in, please rotate the gateway token you pasted earlier in the thread.

#

Those are mostly old log lines.

The important part is the last line:

Approved ... (51e0cb13-253d-4375-b81e-10745504ad7f)

So the pairing step did succeed.

Now I need a fresh check after that approval, not the old history. Please run:

openclaw gateway status
openclaw status --all
openclaw devices list --json
#

What Iā€™m looking for now is whether:

  • pending is empty
  • status --all stops showing pairing required

Then send the bot a fresh test message.

If it still doesnā€™t reply, do:

openclaw logs --follow

and paste only the new lines that appear after your test message. Thatā€™ll tell us whether the message is arriving and getting dropped, or not arriving at all.

#

Youā€™re still pasting the log history, and that keeps showing the old failures.

The key line is still this:

Approved ... (51e0cb13-253d-4375-b81e-10745504ad7f)

So now I need the current state, not the log file.

Please run only this and paste the direct output:

openclaw devices list --json

What I want to check is:

#
  • is pending now empty?
  • did the paired scopes upgrade from just operator.read?

If it still shows only operator.read even after approval, then I think you may be hitting a bug in 2026.4.12, and the next step will be a different workaround.

#

Nice, that part is fixed. šŸŽ‰

This confirms it:

  • pending: []
  • your CLI now has the full operator scopes
  • the pairing/scope-upgrade problem is gone

So now weā€™re back to the original bot-not-replying issue.

Next, run:

openclaw gateway status
openclaw status --all
openclaw models status
#

Then send the bot a fresh test message.

If it still doesnā€™t reply, run:

openclaw logs --follow

and paste only the new lines that appear right after your test message.

One extra thing, your earlier logs showed Telegram starting. If you were expecting Discord replies, thatā€™s a different problem, because I only saw Telegram loaded.

#

Nice, this says your setup is basically healthy now:

  • gateway responds
  • Channel issues (none)
  • model auth for kimi is loaded

So the remaining problem is most likely message routing, not startup/auth.

Next, please run:

openclaw pairing list --channel telegram
openclaw logs --follow

Then send the bot a brand new simple message on Telegram, like:

# 
test

and paste the new log lines that appear right after.

That will tell us whether:

  • the Telegram message is reaching OpenClaw
  • itā€™s getting blocked by pairing/policy
  • or itā€™s reaching the agent and failing later

Also, if you were expecting a channel other than Telegram, say which one, because the earlier logs only showed Telegram starting.

#

Ah, I see what happened, you typed test into the terminal, not into Telegram šŸ˜…

The good news:

  • Telegram pairing says none pending
  • your CLI pairing is fixed
  • gateway + model auth look okay

Now do this:

  1. keep this running in the terminal:
openclaw logs --follow
  1. on your phone / Telegram app, send the bot a real message there, like:
# 
test

or

/start
  1. paste the new log lines that appear after that Telegram message

If nothing appears in the logs after you message the bot, then the Telegram message is not reaching OpenClaw at all, which narrows it down a lot.

night tulip
#

i think we have got way from the plot ! im jsut trying to use the bot ! help me get openclaw bck open to talk to thats all im trying to do !

river coralBOT
#

Yeah, youā€™re right, we got too far into the weeds. Sorry. Letā€™s make it simple.

You do not talk to OpenClaw in the terminal.
The terminal is just for starting/checking it.

From the stuff you pasted, OpenClaw is already running.

If you just want to talk to it right now, do one of these:

Option 1, easiest, open the web chat on your Mac

openclaw dashboard

That should open the browser chat UI. Talk to it there.

Option 2, if you normally use Telegram

#

Open Telegram, find your bot, and send:

/start

or just:

hi

Important

Do not keep running: