#Whatsapp Gateway Issues

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

rotund vault
#

[CRITICAL] WhatsApp Plugin Only Receiving Self-Chat — DMs & Groups Blocked

Environment: Hostinger Docker, OpenClaw 2026.5.7, @openclaw/whatsapp

Issue: WhatsApp plugin only receives self-chat messages. All DMs from other contacts and group messages are completely blocked.

What Works:

  • ✅ Self-chat: 100% received (tested increment sequence)
  • ✅ Response routing: All replies sent to WhatsApp (10-11ms)
  • ✅ Device ACTIVE in Linked Devices
  • ✅ WebSocket heartbeat every 60s
  • ✅ Baileys authenticated & connected

What Fails:

  • ❌ DMs from other contacts: ZERO received
  • ❌ Group messages: ZERO received (@g.us)
  • ❌ messagesHandled only increments on self-chat
  • ❌ No message.upsert events for other JIDs

Log Evidence:
All inbound messages show self-chat only. Grep for @g.us and DM JIDs: ZERO results across entire session.

Root Cause:
Baileys connected but plugin only subscribes to self-chat message events. Event listeners for message.upsert not registered for other JIDs or groups.

Config:
dmPolicy: "open", selfChatMode: true, groupPolicy: "open", allowFrom: ["*"], groupAllowFrom: ["*"]

Needed:
Verify Baileys event listener subscribes to ALL messages, not just self-chat. Check if message.upsert handler filters by JID incorrectly.

misty tartanBOT
#

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

native templeBOT
#

I checked the 2026.5.7 WhatsApp plugin code. The specific root-cause claim here doesn’t match the code: OpenClaw registers one Baileys listener on sock.ev for "messages.upsert", not a self-chat-only subscription. In v2026.5.7, the handler is attached globally, then processes each message by remoteJid.

What it filters before routing:

  • non-notify / non-recent append upserts
  • @status / @broadcast
  • recent outbound echoes from the gateway
  • events with no real user content, e.g. receipts/protocol/presence
  • access-control blocks (dmPolicy, groupPolicy, allowlists)

There are tests in that tag for normal DM upserts (999@s.whatsapp.net) and group upserts (123@g.us) going through the same listener. So if your logs truly contain zero messages.upsert entries for other DMs/groups, that points lower than OpenClaw’s allowlist/routing layer: Baileys/WhatsApp Web is not delivering those chats to this linked session, or the messages are not reaching the socket process at all.

Two useful next checks:

  1. Confirm this linked WhatsApp device receives those DMs/groups in actual WhatsApp Web/Linked Devices, not only self-chat.
  2. If it does, collect a minimal verbose log showing connection open + self-chat upsert + attempted external DM/group with no upsert, then file it as a bug: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/issues

Docs for the expected WhatsApp behavior/config are here: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/whatsapp

rotund vault
#

Thanks.

  1. Yes whatsapp web on my laptop which is also linked, is working 100% fine without any issues.
  2. Filed bug in github