Summary

When the OpenClaw macOS app connects to the gateway running on the same machine with the node role, the skills-remote system attempts to probe it for skill binaries via system.run / system.which. The macOS app does not handle this RPC, causing a timeout warning on every gateway startup and node reconnect:

[skills-remote] remote bin probe timed out (Researchh's Mac Studio (178b77...));
check node connectivity for Researchh's Mac Studio (178b77...)

Root Cause

1. macOS app connects → requests node role → approved
2. node-command-policy.ts → PLATFORM_DEFAULTS.macos auto-includes system.run, system.run.prepare, system.which
3. skills-remote.ts → primeRemoteSkillsCache() sees a Mac node with system.run → probes it for installed bins
4. The macOS app does not handle system.run/system.which RPCs → probe times out

This is a mismatch: the macOS platform defaults assume the node can run shell commands (designed for remote Mac nodes running the CLI/daemon), but the macOS app does not implement that capability.

Impact

• Warning spam in gateway logs on every startup and node reconnect
• 10+ second timeout delay during startup while waiting for the probe
• Confusing "check node connectivity" message when the node is actually connected and working fine

Current Workaround

Adding denyCommands to block the probe-triggering commands:

{
  "gateway": {
    "nodes": {
      "denyCommands": ["system.run", "system.run.prepare", "system.which"]
    }
  }
}

This works but is heavy-handed — it also blocks legitimate system.run for any actual remote nodes that could handle it.

Suggested Fix

A few possible approaches (not mutually exclusive):

1. Detect co-located nodes: If the node's connection originates from 127.0.0.1 / ::1 and the gateway already has local shell access, skip remote bin probing for that node.

2. Node capability declaration: Have nodes declare which commands they actually implement (the macOS app could omit system.run from its declared capabilities). The probe already checks declaredCommands via isNodeCommandAllowed() — if the app declared an empty or accurate command set, the probe would skip it.

3. Separate app vs CLI platform defaults: Distinguish between macOS (app) and macOS (CLI/daemon) in PLATFORM_DEFAULTS. The app client mode is "ui" vs "cli" — this metadata is already available in the pairing record.

4. Add a config flag: Something like gateway.nodes.skipRemoteBinProbe: true or skills.remote.enabled: false (currently skills.remote is rejected as an unrecognized config key).

Environment

• OpenClaw 2026.3.7
• macOS app 2026.3.7 (2026030790)
• Gateway and macOS app on the same Mac Studio (M1 Ultra)
• macOS 26.3.0

Related

• node-command-policy.ts — PLATFORM_DEFAULTS.macos includes SYSTEM_COMMANDS
• skills-remote.ts — primeRemoteSkillsCache() triggers the probe
• Config schema rejects skills.remote as an unrecognized key (no way to disable remote skills via config)