Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Summary

Description

The Dashboard Chat page freezes the browser tab completely after navigating to it. The page shows "Loading chat…" and then becomes unresponsive ("This page is not responding").

The Overview page works perfectly — only the Chat page is affected.

Steps to reproduce

Environment

• OpenClaw: 2026.3.11-beta.1 (b125c3b)
• OS: macOS 15.6.1 (Sequoia, Build 24G90)
• Node.js: v24.13.0
• Browser: Microsoft Edge 145.0.3800.97 (also reproduced via Playwright Chromium)
• Gateway auth mode: token
• Gateway bind: loopback (127.0.0.1:18789)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start OpenClaw gateway (openclaw gateway or via launchd)
2. Open Dashboard Overview page → works fine, shows version and health status "正常"
3. Click "Chat" in the sidebar (or navigate directly to /chat)
4. Page shows "Loading chat…" then freezes — browser reports "This page is not responding"

Investigation Results

Backend is healthy — this is a pure frontend rendering issue:

• All API endpoints respond normally (50-80ms):
  • GET /api/v1/chat.history → 200 OK
  • GET /api/v1/node.list → 200 OK
  • GET /api/v1/device.pair.list → 200 OK
• WebSocket connections succeed (confirmed in gateway.log)
• HTTP responses for /chat return 200 with valid HTML
• Control UI static assets exist and load correctly

Frontend analysis:

• The SPA uses Lit-based Web Components (<openclaw-app>)
• The A$() function (line ~5571 in index-_Qfb-veq.js) renders the chat thread
• When e.loading is true, it displays "Loading chat…"
• The rendering of chat history messages via T$() with rd() keyed repeat appears to block the main thread
• Chat history data loads fine from the API, but DOM rendering causes the freeze

What I've tried (none resolved it):

• Upgraded from v2026.3.8 → v2026.3.11-beta.1 (same behavior)
• Cleared browser cache
• Tested in multiple browsers (Edge + Playwright Chromium)
• Restarted gateway multiple times
• Verified all backend APIs are responsive

Expected behavior

Expected Behavior

Chat page should load and display the chat interface without freezing the browser.

Actual behavior

Actual Behavior

Chat page freezes the entire browser tab after showing "Loading chat…". The browser's process becomes unresponsive and requires force-closing the tab.

Logs

Gateway logs show no errors — all requests are served successfully. The issue is entirely client-side.

OpenClaw version

2026.3.11-beta.1 (b125c3b)

Operating system

macOS 15.6.1 (Sequoia, Build 24G90)

Install method

No response

Model

claude opus 4.6

Provider / routing chain

github-copilot/claude-sonnet-4.6

Config file / key location

No response

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

## Logs

Gateway logs show no errors — all requests are served successfully. The issue is entirely client-side.

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response