OpenClaw Gateway Errors: The Complete Troubleshooting Flowchart [2026]

OpenClaw gateway errors all look similar but have different root causes. This flowchart helps you identify exactly which error you have and jump straight to the fix. Find your error message in the table below, then follow the link to the relevant section.

Find Your Error

Diagnostic Flowchart

Before diving into individual errors, try the universal first-aid command:

openclaw doctor --fix && openclaw restart

This resolves roughly 70% of gateway issues automatically. If it does not fix your problem, find your specific error below.

1. Gateway Start Blocked

Error messages you will see:

gateway start blocked: set gateway.mode=local (current: unset)

gateway start blocked: gateway.mode is unset — expected local, remote, or hybrid

[gateway] start blocked — config key gateway.mode has no value

What causes it: OpenClaw requires you to explicitly set gateway.mode before the gateway will start. This is a security measure -- the gateway refuses to guess which network interfaces it should listen on.

Quick fix:

openclaw config set gateway.mode local
openclaw restart

For Docker deployments, set it via environment variable:

docker run -e OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_MODE=local openclaw-stack

Choose local for most setups, including those behind a reverse proxy. Choose remote only if devices on your LAN need direct access.

For full details, see Fix "Gateway Start Blocked" in OpenClaw.

2. Gateway Not Connected / Send Failed

Error messages you will see:

send failed: error: gateway not connected

[telegram] send failed: gateway not connected

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:3001

What causes it: The gateway process has crashed, was stopped by the OS (OOM kill), or is running but unreachable due to a port or firewall issue.

Quick fix:

# Check if the gateway is running
openclaw status

# Restart it
openclaw restart

# Verify it came back up
curl -s http://localhost:3001/health

If the gateway keeps crashing, check the logs for the underlying cause:

openclaw logs --tail 100

Common log patterns: Killed (OOM), EADDRINUSE (port conflict), or SQLITE_CANTOPEN (disk/permissions).

For full details, see Fix "Send Failed: Gateway Not Connected".

3. Gateway Did Not Become Ready

Error messages you will see:

gateway did not become ready within 60s

[entrypoint] gateway did not become ready in time

FAIL: gateway health check failed — not ready

What causes it: The gateway process launched but failed to complete initialization. This is usually caused by a port conflict, insufficient memory, a corrupt config file, or slow startup in Docker environments.

Quick fix:

# Check for port conflicts
lsof -i :3001

# If a conflict exists, change the port
openclaw config set gateway.port 3002

# Clear stale state and restart
rm -f ~/.openclaw/gateway.pid ~/.openclaw/*.lock
openclaw restart

In Docker, the gateway takes approximately 40 seconds to initialize. Do not send requests until the logs show [gateway] listening on :3001. If the default 60-second timeout is not enough, increase it:

openclaw config set gateway.startupTimeout 120

For full details, see Fix "Gateway Did Not Become Ready".

4. Gateway Restart Timed Out

Error messages you will see:

gateway restart timed out

Error: restart timed out — gateway did not stop within 30s

restart failed: old gateway process still running

What causes it: The openclaw restart command sends a shutdown signal to the running gateway and waits for it to stop. If the gateway is stuck (deadlocked, handling a long-running request, or unresponsive), it will not shut down within the timeout window.

Quick fix:

# Force-stop the gateway process
openclaw gateway stop --force

# Remove the stale PID file if it persists
rm -f ~/.openclaw/gateway.pid

# Start fresh
openclaw gateway start

If the gateway is stuck inside a Docker container:

docker restart YOUR_CONTAINER --time 10

The --time 10 flag gives the container 10 seconds to stop gracefully before Docker sends SIGKILL^[1].

Prevention: Restart timeouts usually indicate a memory or resource issue. Check system resources with free -h and df -h. If you are running on a VPS with limited RAM, adding swap space prevents most gateway hangs:

sudo fallocate -l 1G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

5. Missing Config

Error messages you will see:

Missing config. Run `openclaw setup` or set gateway.mode=local

missing config: run openclaw setup or set gateway.mode=local

ERROR: gateway.mode not configured

What causes it: This is functionally identical to the "gateway start blocked" error. The gateway cannot find required configuration values -- most commonly gateway.mode.

Quick fix:

openclaw config set gateway.mode local
openclaw restart

If the error persists after setting gateway.mode, run the interactive setup to populate all required fields:

openclaw setup

Or run a full diagnostic and auto-repair:

openclaw doctor --fix
openclaw restart

For full details, see Fix "Gateway Start Blocked" in OpenClaw.

6. Gateway Disconnected (4008)

Error messages you will see:

disconnected (4008): connect failed — device token mismatch

disconnected (4008): device identity rejected

WebSocket closed with code 4008

What causes it: WebSocket close code 4008 means the gateway rejected the connecting device's token. This happens when the gateway regenerated its token (typically after a restart without a pinned token) while the client still holds the old one. Docker users see this frequently when containers are rebuilt without persisting the token.

Quick fix:

openclaw doctor --fix && openclaw restart

If the error persists, remove the stale device and re-pair:

openclaw devices list
openclaw devices remove DEVICE_ID
openclaw restart

Then reconnect from your browser or Telegram and approve the new device.

Prevention: Pin the gateway token so it survives restarts:

openclaw config set gateway.token "your-stable-token-here"

Or via Docker environment variable:

docker run -e OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN=your-stable-token openclaw-stack

For full details, see Fix "Device Token Mismatch" in OpenClaw.

7. GatewayRequestError: Web Login Provider

Error messages you will see:

GatewayRequestError: Web Login Provider is not available

Error: web login provider is not available

GatewayRequestError: login provider unavailable for this platform

What causes it: This error appears when a client (usually WhatsApp Web or a browser) tries to authenticate through a login method that the gateway does not support in its current mode. The most common scenario is attempting WhatsApp Web pairing when the gateway is running headless or in a Docker container without a display server.

WhatsApp Web authentication requires a QR code scan in a browser context. Headless environments (SSH, Docker, CI) cannot render the QR code, so the login provider is marked unavailable.

Quick fix:

If you need WhatsApp integration in a headless environment, use the Telegram or API integration instead. WhatsApp Web requires a graphical browser session for the initial QR pairing.

If you are running on a desktop and still see this error, verify the gateway mode is set:

openclaw config set gateway.mode local
openclaw restart

Then open the OpenClaw web interface in your browser and attempt the WhatsApp pairing from there.

8. GatewayRequestError: Invalid Config

Error messages you will see:

GatewayRequestError: Invalid Config

GatewayRequestError: config validation failed

WARN  unknown config key: "model"

What causes it: The gateway attempted to process a request but found the configuration file contains invalid, unrecognized, or deprecated keys. This commonly happens after upgrading OpenClaw to a new version that renamed config keys, or from following outdated setup guides.

Quick fix:

openclaw config validate
openclaw doctor --fix
openclaw restart

The config validate command lists every problematic key. The doctor --fix command automatically migrates known deprecated keys (e.g., model to ai.model, port to gateway.port).

For full details, see Fix "Config Validation Failed" in OpenClaw.

When Nothing Else Works

If you have tried the specific fix for your error and the gateway still will not cooperate, run through this universal diagnostic sequence:

# 1. Full diagnostic with verbose output
openclaw doctor --fix --verbose

# 2. Check the logs for the real error
openclaw logs --tail 100

# 3. Verify system resources
free -h && df -h

# 4. Check for zombie processes
ps aux | grep openclaw

# 5. Nuclear option: clean restart
openclaw gateway stop --force
rm -f ~/.openclaw/gateway.pid ~/.openclaw/*.lock
openclaw gateway start

# 6. Monitor startup to confirm
openclaw logs --follow

Wait for [gateway] listening on :3001 before testing the connection. If the gateway cannot start after a clean restart with cleared state, the issue is almost certainly a system-level resource constraint (disk full, no available memory, or a process manager conflict).

Skip the Troubleshooting

Every error in this guide stems from the same root problem: gateway management is manual work. You configure the mode, pin the token, map the ports, approve devices, monitor for crashes, and debug when things break.

ClawTank handles all of it. Gateway startup, health monitoring, token persistence, device pairing, TLS, and automatic restarts are configured out of the box. Deploy an OpenClaw instance in under a minute and skip the flowchart entirely.

References

1. Docker stop reference -- graceful shutdown and SIGKILL
2. OpenClaw GitHub issues -- gateway error reports
3. Node.js process signal handling
4. Docker container networking overview