Summary

If a host-level OpenClaw gateway is already running, it can steal port 18789 and cause NemoClaw onboarding to continue with a dead dashboard.

Problem

The current flow prints an error but still proceeds, leaving users with a partially configured system and no clear next step.

Expected behavior

Onboarding should detect the conflict, identify the process or service holding the port, and stop before claiming success.

Acceptance criteria

• Onboarding checks whether the required gateway port is already in use.
• The error identifies the conflicting process or service when possible.
• Onboarding exits non-zero instead of continuing silently.
• The troubleshooting docs include the systemd user-service case and the recovery workflow.