OpenClaw Browser Control Bug Report

Title

Browser control service fails to start Chrome CDP on macOS 15.6 (Sequoia) with Apple Silicon - Manual Chrome CDP works fine

Environment

System Information:

• macOS Version: 15.6 (Sequoia)
• Build: 24G84
• Architecture: arm64 (Apple Silicon)
• OpenClaw Version: 2026.2.19-2 (latest)
• Chrome Version: 145.0.7632.76
• Chrome Path: /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome
• Node.js Version: 24.13.0

Network/VPN:

• ClashX running
• Tailscale active (utun4: 100.65.188.41)
• Issue persists even with VPN-friendly configuration

Problem Description

OpenClaw's browser control service consistently fails to start Chrome with CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol) on port 18800. The service times out after ~15-17 seconds with error:

Failed to start Chrome CDP on port 18800 for profile "openclaw"

However, manual testing confirms that Chrome can successfully start with CDP on the same system in under 3 seconds.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install OpenClaw 2026.2.19-2 on macOS 15.6 (Apple Silicon)
2. Configure browser in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "browser": {
    "enabled": true,
    "executablePath": "/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome",
    "headless": true,
    "noSandbox": true
  }
}

3. Start gateway: openclaw gateway
4. Try to start browser: openclaw browser start --profile openclaw
5. Observe 15-second timeout error

Expected Behavior

Chrome should start with CDP enabled on port 18800, allowing browser automation through OpenClaw.

Actual Behavior

Browser request times out after ~15-17 seconds with error:

errorCode=UNAVAILABLE errorMessage=Error: Failed to start Chrome CDP on port 18800 for profile "openclaw"

Diagnostic Information

Test Results

✅ Manual Chrome CDP Start (SUCCESSFUL):

/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome \
  --remote-debugging-port=18800 \
  --headless=new \
  --user-data-dir=/tmp/test-chrome

Result: Chrome starts successfully in <3 seconds, CDP endpoint responds correctly.

❌ OpenClaw Browser Start (FAILED):

openclaw browser start --profile openclaw

Result: Times out after ~15 seconds consistently.

Gateway Logs

2026-02-21T03:43:29.763Z [browser/service] Browser control service ready (profiles=3)
...
2026-02-21T03:44:01.708Z [ws] ⇄ res ✗ browser.request 16309ms errorCode=UNAVAILABLE errorMessage=Error: Failed to start Chrome CDP on port 18800 for profile "openclaw"

All attempts show 15-17 second timeout pattern.

Configuration Attempts Tried

1. Default configuration - Failed
2. With noSandbox: true - Failed
3. With headless: true - Failed
4. With headless: false - Failed
5. Custom VPN-friendly wrapper script - Failed
6. Complete reinstall - Failed
7. Different CDP ports (18800, 18792, 18801) - All failed

Security Verification

• ✅ Gatekeeper enabled (normal state)
• ✅ Chrome code signature valid (TeamIdentifier: EQHXZ8M8AV)
• ✅ No security denial logs in past hour
• ✅ Chrome is ARM native (not Rosetta)

Workaround

Using Playwright directly works perfectly:

# Install
npm install -g playwright
npx playwright install chromium

# Use
web-screenshot https://www.google.com
web-screenshot full https://github.com
web-pdf https://www.apple.com

This bypasses OpenClaw's browser control service entirely and works without issues.

Hypothesis

Root Cause: OpenClaw's browser control service has a 15-second timeout when starting Chrome. On macOS 15.6 (Sequoia), Chrome may take longer to initialize due to:

1. Stricter security mechanisms in Sequoia
2. Different process launch behavior
3. Additional validation steps

Why manual start works: Direct Chrome launch completes in <3 seconds, but OpenClaw's method of launching Chrome (possibly with additional flags, spawn logic, or process management) exceeds the 15-second timeout.

Impact

• Severity: Medium - Core functionality unavailable
• Platform: macOS 15.x (Sequoia) with Apple Silicon
• Frequency: 100% reproducible on this system
• Workaround Available: Yes (Playwright)

Additional Context

This appears to be macOS 15 (Sequoia) specific. Users on macOS 12-14 (Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma) report browser control works fine.

Suggested Fix

1. Increase browser start timeout from 15 seconds to 30-45 seconds
2. Add macOS version-specific handling for Sequoia
3. Investigate Chrome launch parameters compatibility with macOS 15
4. Add better error messages distinguishing between:
   • Chrome failed to start
   • Chrome started but CDP not responding
   • Timeout occurred

Attachments

System Info:

ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:		15.6
BuildVersion:		24G84
Architecture:		arm64

Chrome Version:

Google Chrome 145.0.7632.76

OpenClaw Version:

2026.2.19-2

Gateway Logs Available: Yes (~200 lines of relevant logs)
Backup Location: /Users/clawlobster/openclaw-backup-20260221-114116

Priority

Medium - Core browser automation functionality is broken on latest macOS, but workarounds exist.

Reporter: OpenClaw user on macOS 15.6
Date: 2026-02-21
Contact: Will respond to follow-up questions