OpenClaw Self-Management

Use this skill when something feels wrong — gateway timeouts, channel disconnects, auth errors.

STEP 1 — Health check (always start here)

bash

openclaw health 2>&1

Output	Meaning	Go to
`OK`	Gateway healthy	Done ✅
`gateway timeout after 10000ms`	Gateway not responding or device not paired	Section A
`unauthorized role: node`	Device registered as node, needs operator approval	Section A
`pairing required`	Device not yet approved as operator	Section A
Channel `disabled`	Plugin off	Section B
Channel `not configured`	Token missing	Section C

SECTION A — Device role issue (most common)

What's happening: The gateway is running (LaunchAgent ai.openclaw.gateway is active), but this device's role is node instead of operator. The fix always requires an interactive re-onboarding to approve the device — this cannot be done unattended.

Verify gateway is actually running:

bash

launchctl print gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.gateway 2>&1 | grep state
# → state = running  (gateway IS up, it's a pairing issue)
# → state missing or not found  (gateway process died — see below)

If gateway is running but CLI can't connect → interactive fix required:

Tell Raphael: "I need you to run openclaw onboard in a terminal and follow the prompts. The gateway is running but my device needs operator approval. Error: {exact error text}"

If gateway process is NOT running (not in launchctl):

bash

# Reload the LaunchAgent
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.gateway.plist 2>&1
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.gateway.plist 2>&1
sleep 5
openclaw health

If launchd plist doesn't exist yet:

bash

openclaw gateway install
# Then reload as above

After Raphael runs openclaw onboard:

bash

openclaw health   # should return OK
openclaw channels status

SECTION B — Plugin disabled

bash

openclaw plugins enable telegram
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.gateway
sleep 3
openclaw channels status

SECTION C — Channel not configured

bash

openclaw plugins enable telegram
openclaw channels add --channel telegram --token "$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"
openclaw config set channels.telegram.dmPolicy pairing
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.gateway
sleep 3
openclaw channels status

FULL SYSTEM CHECK

After any fix:

bash

openclaw health
openclaw channels status
launchctl print gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.gateway | grep -E "state|pid"

REPORTING TO RAPHAEL

When reporting, always include:

•Exact symptom seen
•Command run to diagnose
•Exact error text from logs: cat ~/.openclaw/logs/gateway.log | tail -20
•Gateway state: launchctl print gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.gateway | grep state

If interactive fix is required, be explicit: "I can't fix this without you running a command."