Bug Report: Heartbeat session Target Not Working for Non-Main Agents

OpenClaw Version: 2026.2.19-2 (45d9b20)
Platform: macOS 26.2 (arm64)
Date: 2026-02-20

Summary

When configuring heartbeat.session to target a Discord channel for non-main agents, heartbeats do not fire. The same configuration works correctly for the main agent.

Configuration

{
  "agents": {
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "main",
        "name": "Kuki",
        "workspace": "/Users/yesilay/.openclaw/workspace",
        "heartbeat": {
          "every": "30m",
          "session": "discord:channel:1473606310695010463"
        }
      },
      {
        "id": "avci",
        "name": "Avcı",
        "workspace": "/Users/yesilay/.openclaw/workspace/agents/avci",
        "heartbeat": {
          "every": "1h",
          "session": "discord:channel:1473606349039599723"
        }
      },
      {
        "id": "arin",
        "name": "Arin",
        "workspace": "/Users/yesilay/.openclaw/workspace/agents/arin",
        "heartbeat": {
          "every": "10m",
          "session": "discord:channel:1473606609610739857"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Expected Behavior

All agents should fire heartbeats to their configured Discord channels at the specified intervals.

Actual Behavior

• Main agent (Kuki): ✅ Heartbeats fire correctly to Discord channel every 30 minutes
• Non-main agents (Avcı, Leo, Yoda, Nova, Arin): ❌ Heartbeats do NOT fire to Discord channels
• Last heartbeat timestamps show:
  • Kuki: Active (just now)
  • Arin: Last active 1+ hour ago (10-minute interval missed 6+ times)
  • Others: Similar pattern

Session Store Verification

Sessions exist in each agent's store file:

$ cat ~/.openclaw/agents/avci/sessions/sessions.json | jq 'keys'
["agent:avci:discord:channel:1473606349039599723"]

$ cat ~/.openclaw/agents/arin/sessions/sessions.json | jq 'keys'
["agent:arin:discord:channel:1473606609610739857"]

Log Evidence

Gateway logs show heartbeats being "started" but no evidence of them actually running for non-main agents after the initial startup:

2026-02-20T13:58:35.657Z [heartbeat] started
2026-02-20T13:58:36.776Z [discord] [arin] starting provider (@Arin)

No subsequent heartbeat runs logged for arin after 13:58 (current time is ~17:00+).

Analysis

From code inspection of health--JybOkd4.js:

1. resolveHeartbeatSession() resolves the session key correctly:

   • discord:channel:XXX → agent:{agentId}:discord:channel:XXX

2. Session lookup: store[canonical] requires the session to exist in the store

   • Sessions DO exist (verified above)

3. The heartbeat runner may be:

   • Silently skipping non-main agents
   • Failing to resolve the agent's store path correctly
   • Only processing the default/main agent in the heartbeat loop

Workaround

Using cron jobs to fire heartbeat prompts directly to Discord channels works:

openclaw cron add --name "avci-heartbeat-discord" \
  --schedule "0 * * * *" \
  --targetId "1473606349039599723" \
  --message "Read HEARTBEAT.md if it exists..."

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure multiple agents with heartbeat.session targeting Discord channels
2. Restart gateway: openclaw gateway restart
3. Wait for heartbeat intervals to pass
4. Check openclaw system heartbeat last — only main agent appears
5. Check agent sessions' updatedAt timestamps — non-main agents not updating

Environment

• OS: macOS 26.2 (Sequel) arm64
• Node: v25.4.0
• Gateway: local, ws://127.0.0.1:18789
• Discord: Multiple bot accounts (one per agent), all properly authenticated

Additional Context

This is a hub-and-spoke multi-agent setup with 6 agents:

• main (Kuki) - orchestrator
• avci - YouTube analytics
• leo - Finance
• yoda - Code
• nova - Research
• arin - System monitoring

All agents share the same Discord guild but have dedicated channels and bot tokens.