Gateway pairing is blocking subagent spawns.

[ruby pewter]

When i ask my agent to spawn subagent to do tasks this is what it replies me with. How can i fix.

[half umbra]

To help others find answers, you can mark your question as solved via Right click solution message -> Apps -> ✅ Mark Solution

[restive quartz]

That’s usually Gateway device pairing, not a subagent problem. The spawned run is trying to connect to the Gateway as an operator, and the Gateway is saying “pair this device first.”

First, please check version:

openclaw --version

Then on the machine running the Gateway:

openclaw status --all
openclaw devices list

If you see a pending request, approve the exact request id:

openclaw devices approve <requestId>

Then retry the subagent spawn.

If devices list / approve also fails with 1008 pairing required, force a local direct connection and pass your auth explicitly:

openclaw devices list --url ws://localhost:18789 --token '<your-gateway-token>'
openclaw devices approve <requestId> --url ws://localhost:18789 --token '<your-gateway-token>'

Use --password instead of --token if your Gateway uses password auth. Don’t paste the token here.

If the agent’s reply is actually “sessions_spawn not available” rather than pairing, that’s different: run /tools in that same chat and make sure the agent has sessions_spawn, sessions_yield, and subagents enabled, or use a coding/full tool profile.