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[Bug]: Severe 60s hangs on multi-step tool calls with OAuth (google-gemini-cli), but 6x faster with self-hosted API Proxy (Using the EXACT SAME Account) #36399

@2639823773

Description

@2639823773

Bug type

Crash (process/app exits or hangs)

Summary

Multi-step tool calls using the google-gemini-cli provider (native OAuth) consistently hang for exactly 60 seconds between steps, likely due to silent HTTP 429 rate limits and hardcoded retries. In contrast, using a self-hosted API proxy (cliproxyapi) with the exact same Google account executes the same workflow seamlessly in seconds.

Steps to reproduce

1.Configure OpenClaw to use the default google-gemini-cli provider (which uses native web OAuth).

2.Submit a prompt that strictly requires a multi-step tool-calling chain. For example: "Read openclaw config and .bashrc, then search Wikipedia in the browser and send me a screenshot, do this in one go."

3.Monitor the debug logs. Observe the time gap between embedded run prompt start and embedded run tool start.

4.Notice the severe ~60s hangs during the LLM's thinking phase.

5.Change the provider to a custom API proxy (cliproxyapi) using the EXACT SAME underlying Google account.

6.Re-run the exact same prompt and observe that the hangs disappear entirely.

Expected behavior

The agent should process consecutive tool calls without arbitrary 60-second freezes. If the OAuth web endpoint is actively rate-limiting the requests (HTTP 429) due to the agent's rapid tool-calling loop and large context, the google-gemini-cli adapter should either:

1.Explicitly expose the 429 Too Many Requests or "Rate Limit" warning in the [info] or [debug] logs.

2.Fail gracefully rather than entering a silent, hardcoded exponential backoff (sleep 60s) that makes the user think the OpenClaw process has frozen or deadlocked.

Actual behavior

When using the OAuth provider, the local tool execution is instantaneous (0s), but the LLM network turnaround silently stalls for exactly ~60s or ~44s between steps.

Run 1: google-gemini-cli (OAuth) - Total Time: ~183s

Step 1 (Read file): LLM ~7s -> Tool ~0s

Step 2 (Read file): LLM ~44s (Hang) -> Tool ~0s

Step 3 (Browser search): LLM ~60s (Hang) -> Tool ~1s

Step 4 (Browser screenshot): LLM ~4s -> Tool ~0s

Step 5 (Final reply): LLM ~64s (Hang)

Run 2: Self-hosted Proxy (cliproxyapi with SAME account) - Total Time: ~29s

Step 1 (Read file): LLM ~5s -> Tool ~0s

Step 2 (Read file): LLM ~3s -> Tool ~0s

Step 3 (Browser search): LLM ~5s -> Tool ~0s

Step 4 (Browser screenshot): LLM ~5s -> Tool ~0s

Step 5 (Final reply): LLM ~11s

The identical account performs 6x faster purely by changing the endpoint/adapter, proving the OAuth adapter is silently swallowing rate limits and hanging the agent's event loop.

OpenClaw version

2026.3.2

Operating system

Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)

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