subagent spawning | Friends of the Crustacean 🦞🤝 | Page 1

heavy galleon Apr 15, 2026, 3:14 PM

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Subagent spawning keeps failing with 'pairing required' on 2026.4.14 Windows. openclaw nodes status also fails with same error. Gateway is running, Telegram works fine, but any subagent spawn or CLI node command fails. Tried openclaw doctor --fix, changing auth modes, reinstalling. Any fix

white trailBOT Apr 15, 2026, 3:17 PM

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Let me verify against the local docs and source so I don't guess.

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I found the likely auth path, I’m checking whether this is also a known recent regression or just stale pairing state.

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This looks more like a real regression than a bad config. I’m pulling the exact fix note so I can point you to the cleanest path.

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Yeah, probably.

Telegram working means the channel path is fine. nodes status and subagent spawn hit the local operator/device auth path, and pairing required there usually means stale or unapproved device pairing/scopes.

First, please paste:

openclaw --version

That matters a lot here, especially on Windows after updates.

Then try this in order:

Check pending device auth, not openclaw pairing
(pairing is for DM/chat senders, this case is devices)

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openclaw devices list

If you see a pending request, approve the exact requestId, then restart the gateway:

openclaw devices approve <requestId>
openclaw gateway restart

If there is no pending request, the local operator device token is probably stale. Re-pair it:

openclaw devices list
openclaw devices rotate --device <deviceId> --role operator

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If rotate does not help:

openclaw devices remove <deviceId>
openclaw devices list
openclaw devices approve <newRequestId>
openclaw gateway restart

Retest:

openclaw nodes status

Why I’m pointing here: the docs/source explicitly call out recent fixes for both:

local exec/node clients hitting loopback pairing required

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sessions_spawn failing with close(1008): pairing required

Docs:

If it still fails on exact 2026.4.14, paste these next:

openclaw status --all
openclaw devices list
openclaw logs --follow

and I’d treat it as a likely regression. If only gateway restarts have been tried so far, a full Windows reboot is also worth doing once.

heavy galleon Apr 15, 2026, 9:49 PM

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nothing still

white trailBOT Apr 15, 2026, 9:50 PM

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I’m checking whether there’s a post-2026.4.14 fix before I send you on a wild goose chase.

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Okay, then I’m worried this is bug territory, not just bad pairing state.

I checked the docs/changelog, and I’m not seeing a newer post-2026.4.14 fix that cleanly explains both:

sessions_spawn / subagent failure with pairing required
openclaw nodes status failing the same way

One last thing worth trying first, because this has cleared stuck pairing state for some people:

# full Windows reboot, not just gateway restart

If it still repros after a full reboot, please file a GitHub issue with these exact outputs:

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openclaw --version
openclaw gateway status
openclaw status --all
openclaw devices list --json
openclaw nodes status

Then in a second shell:

openclaw logs --follow

and trigger the failure once (openclaw nodes status or a subagent spawn), then paste the first pairing required block from the logs.

Please also include:

#subagent spawning