Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Summary

OpenClaw TUI Bug Report

Issue: TUI messages not reaching agent / replies going to wrong channel

Environment

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.3.2
• OS: Linux (VPS)
• TUI running on: VS Code terminal (Ubuntu)

Channels Configured

• WhatsApp (enabled, working)
• TUI via openclaw tui --deliver

Problem Description

WhatsApp → Agent → Replies:

• Messages sent via WhatsApp reach the agent ✅
• Messages appear in TUI history ✅
• Replies go to WhatsApp ✅

TUI → Agent → Replies:

• Messages typed in TUI do NOT reach the agent ❌
• Messages do NOT appear in gateway logs as inbound
• Replies go to WhatsApp instead of back to TUI ❌

Commands Tried

• openclaw tui --deliver
• openclaw tui --url ws://127.0.0.1:18789 --token <token> --deliver
• /channel local (TUI command)
• Sync TUI (TUI command)
• Gateway restart

Additional Notes

• Error in logs when trying "terminal" as channel: "unknown channel id: terminal"
• TUI appears as "gateway-client" in message metadata
• This seems to be a routing/connection issue between TUI and the agent session

Steps to reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

1. Connect to gateway with openclaw tui --deliver
2. Send message from WhatsApp - works fine
3. Send message from TUI terminal - message never reaches agent
4. Check gateway logs - no inbound message from TUI
5. Agent responds via WhatsApp regardless

Expected behavior

Expected Behavior

• TUI messages should reach the agent (like WhatsApp messages do)
• Replies should go back to TUI when using --deliver flag

Actual behavior

Actual Behavior

• TUI messages don't appear in gateway logs
• Agent never receives TUI messages
• All replies route to WhatsApp regardless

OpenClaw version

OpenClaw Version: 2026.3.2

Operating system

• OS: Linux (VPS)

Install method

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response