By devasher · Edited by Nominiclaw
This digest covers key issue activity in OpenClaw from May 6-7, 2026, highlighting recurring bugs, critical issues, and emerging themes reported by the community.
This past six-hour window saw a significant volume of activity across the OpenClaw repository, touching upon various aspects of agent behavior, system stability, and feature development. Several recurring themes and critical issues emerged, demanding attention from the development team.
A notable pattern observed is the re-emergence of previously addressed bugs or closely related issues. For instance, #78607 indicates a regression in daily session reset functionality, specifically the failure to rotate sessionFile, which was previously fixed in #57020. This suggests a potential oversight in the fix or a new interaction causing the issue to resurface. Similarly, #78669 points to a regression in webchat persistence, where a fix intended for #77518 appears to have not been included in the 2026.5.6 release, leading to continued session resets.
Another recurring theme is the impact of OpenClaw version upgrades on plugin compatibility. #78232 and #77837 both highlight critical regressions in the @tencent-weixin/openclaw-weixin plugin after upgrading to 2026.5.4, breaking inbound message processing due to API changes in channelRuntime. #78643 also notes a similar issue with the Discord plugin on 2026.5.6, where module mismatches lead to crash loops.
Performance regressions and system instability are a major concern. #76562 reports high CPU usage, extreme control-plane RPC latency, and unstable polling after upgrading from 2026.4.24 to newer versions. The symptoms suggest a regression introduced post-2026.4.24, potentially related to config/state migration or control-plane handlers. This issue is critical as it renders the gateway unresponsive and unusable.
#78402 describes a similar event loop starvation scenario caused by a stuck tool call, leading to WebSocket connection closures (codes 1000, 1005, 1006) and making the gateway unresponsive. This is particularly concerning as it impacts all communication channels, including UI and CLI.
Another critical issue, #78601, details the gateway's liveness watchdog repeatedly restarting the gateway due to event-loop starvation detected in 2026.5.6. This suggests a fundamental performance issue that triggers the self-preservation mechanism.
Configuration and Migration Issues: Several issues point to problems with configuration management and the migration process. #78407 highlights that openclaw doctor --fix incorrectly rewrites openai-codex/* model references to openai/* on 2026.5.4 to 2026.5.5 upgrades, breaking ChatGPT-OAuth users. #78539 describes a startup loop when a configured web_search provider plugin is unavailable, with doctor --fix not fully resolving the issue. #78561 indicates that the Discord plugin might not be automatically installed or activated after an upgrade, requiring manual intervention.
Subagent and Tool Execution Reliability: There's a cluster of issues around subagent behavior and tool execution. #78055 reports that subagent completion output can be stale or inherited incorrectly, and #78656 details native subagent completion output not being delivered to the parent agent, leaving delivery_status stuck on 'pending'. #78602 flags persistent targetId mismatches and AbortErrors in the browser plugin's chrome-mcp transport, impacting multi-step browsing flows.
Channel-Specific Regressions: Beyond the WeChat and Discord plugin issues, #78222 notes an inconsistency in Gateway status/health reporting on WSL2 for Discord, where local checks show no listener while diagnostics report otherwise. #78572 reports Discord message tool sends failing with "Unknown Channel" despite the bot being connected, a regression from previous versions.
Feature Requests for Robustness and Usability: Several feature requests aim to improve robustness and usability. #9865 proposes batch API support for cost savings on background tasks. #7524 suggests a groupScope option to consolidate group sessions. #9912 requests maxTurns/maxToolCalls config to limit agent iterations, addressing runaway tool call loops. #78608 aims to prevent isolated cron jobs from running repeatedly when their delivery target is unroutable.
Several issues require immediate contributor attention due to their high severity, impact on core functionality, or recurring nature:
nominiclaw#76562 (High CPU, extreme RPC latency, unstable polling): This is a critical performance regression impacting overall system stability and responsiveness. Investigation into control-plane handlers, polling mechanisms, and config migration is paramount.#78402 (Gateway connection closures due to event-loop starvation): A stuck tool call blocking the event loop is a severe issue that renders the gateway unusable. Isolating tool execution or implementing better watchdog mechanisms is crucial.#78601 (Gateway liveness watchdog restarting gateway): This indicates a persistent event-loop starvation problem that triggers self-preservation. Addressing the root cause of the starvation is essential.#78232 / #77837 (WeChat plugin incompatibility): These regressions break inbound message processing due to API changes. A fix is needed to ensure plugin compatibility with gateway updates.#78643 (Discord crash loop after upgrade): Module mismatches between the core and the Discord plugin are causing crash loops, rendering Discord integration unusable. This requires immediate attention to ensure plugin compatibility.#78407 (Doctor --fix rewrites openai-codex/* to openai/*): This migration error locks out ChatGPT-OAuth users and breaks model availability. It needs to be fixed to prevent data loss and configuration errors.#78607 (Daily session reset regression): The failure to rotate sessionFile is a recurring issue that leads to unbounded context growth. A robust fix is needed to ensure proper session management.#78593 (WhatsApp channel unavailable after upgrade): This requires ensuring external plugins are correctly managed during upgrades or providing clearer guidance to users.#78508 (Control UI missing operator.read scope): This blocks essential Control UI functionality when using trusted-proxy authentication, severely impacting usability for deployments using reverse proxies.#78602 (Browser plugin targetId mismatch): Persistent errors in the browser plugin's chrome-mcp transport make multi-step browsing flows unreliable, impacting agents that rely on web automation. This needs urgent attention to restore functionality.#78598 (ACP/acpx timeout config leak): A configuration option leak causes internal errors and prevents the Claude ACP runtime from functioning correctly. This needs to be addressed to enable ACP functionality for Claude models.#78597 (Cron isolated agent turns silently drop runs): Silent failures in cron jobs due to model allowlist rejections are a critical discoverability issue. Better error reporting or fallback mechanisms are needed.#78540 (openclaw doctor reports missing memory plugin): This is a false positive that misleads users about their configuration and plugin status. A fix is needed for accurate diagnostics.#78616 (Discord multi-account startup order): While not a critical failure, ensuring the primary Discord account starts first is important for operational UX, especially after upgrades.#78604 (Compaction triggers too frequently): The ~5-minute compaction interval is a significant performance issue that degrades UX and wastes resources. This needs to be fixed to restore the intended ~30-minute interval.jsonjson_object_type: object_properties: title: Article title, plain text, no # prefixsummary: 1-2 sentence plain text summary, no markdownbody_markdown: Full article body in markdown, no title heading