Description

A clean nemoclaw onboard on macOS / Colima (docker driver) prints three alarming-looking lines during the [6/8]–[8/8] phases that turn out to be harmless. They make a successful build look broken and aren't covered in troubleshooting docs.

Environment

Device:        MacBook (M4)
OS:            macOS 26.1 (Darwin 25.1.0)
Architecture:  arm64
Node.js:       v23.10.0
npm:           11.3.0
Docker:        27.4.0 (Colima context)
OpenShell CLI: 0.0.39
NemoClaw:      v0.0.44
OpenClaw:      2026.4.24 (cbcfdf6)

Steps to Reproduce

1. From a clean macOS host with Colima running, run nemoclaw onboard.
2. Walk through the wizard, accept defaults.
3. Wait for sandbox build to complete and policy presets to apply.

Cosmetic Issues Observed

Issue 1 — Spurious VM-driver path warning during dashboard wait (docker-driver build)

We are running the DOCKER driver, but the build emits a warning about a VM-driver state path being missing. Dead code firing on the wrong code path. Sandbox is healthy, but a new user reading the build log thinks something is broken.

Waiting for NemoClaw dashboard to become ready...
Dashboard taking longer than expected to start. Continuing...
! No active forward found for port 18790
Warning: OpenShell VM DNS monkeypatch did not apply: OpenShell VM sandbox directory not found:
  /Users/lynnh/.local/state/nemoclaw/openshell-docker-gateway/vm-driver/sandboxes/<uuid>
✓ Sandbox 'nv-test' created

Issue 2 — Policy version display race during preset application

The "loaded (active version: 5)" while "submitted: 6" appears self-contradictory. Subsequent version 7 self-corrects — looks like a display lag between submission and the next status read.

✓ Policy version 6 submitted (hash: d96caba06e19)
✓ Policy version 6 loaded (active version: 5)
Applied preset: brew

Issue 3 — Port-forward warning when sandbox is healthy

The ! No active forward found for port 18790 line appears before the ✓ Sandbox created line and is followed immediately by a successful dashboard URL announcement. Confusing for first-time users.

Expected Result

• VM-driver warning is suppressed when the gateway is on the docker driver (or the path check is conditional on driver type).
• The policy version submit/active display is held until the new version is actually loaded, OR the message explicitly says "transient — re-reading…".
• Port-forward warning either rephrases ("will retry") or is suppressed if the create flow immediately establishes the forward.
• All three are documented in reference/troubleshooting.html under "Harmless warnings during onboard".

Actual Result

All three warnings appear verbatim in two separate clean builds (nv-test for option 1 and ollama-test for option 7). Sandboxes are fully functional, so they are cosmetic — but new users reasonably worry.

Logs

nv-test build excerpt (2026-05-18):

Waiting for sandbox to become ready...
Waiting for NemoClaw dashboard to become ready...
Dashboard taking longer than expected to start. Continuing...
! No active forward found for port 18790
Warning: OpenShell VM DNS monkeypatch did not apply: OpenShell VM sandbox directory not found: /Users/lynnh/.local/state/nemoclaw/openshell-docker-gateway/vm-driver/sandboxes/219275bd-...
✓ Sandbox 'nv-test' created
✓ OpenClaw gateway launched inside sandbox
...
✓ Policy version 6 submitted (hash: d96caba06e19)
✓ Policy version 6 loaded (active version: 5)
Applied preset: brew

NVB#6187480