Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Summary

Environment:

• OpenClaw version: 2026.3.13 (61d171a)
• OS: Windows 10.0.26100 (x64)
• Node: 24.14.0
• Gateway: local loopback (127.0.0.1:18789)

Problem:
All CLI commands that connect to the gateway fail with handshake timeout.
Gateway is running and RPC probe: ok, but WebSocket connections timeout.

Error message:
gateway connect failed: Error: gateway closed (1000):
Error: gateway closed (1000 normal closure): no close reason

Gateway log shows:
[ws] handshake timeout conn=xxx remote=127.0.0.1
[ws] closed before connect conn=xxx remote=127.0.0.1 code=1000 reason=n/a

openclaw status shows:
Gateway: unreachable (missing scope: operator.read)

What I tried:

• Restarted gateway multiple times
• Set gateway.auth.mode to "none"
• Ran openclaw doctor --fix
• Ran openclaw gateway probe - shows "Connect: failed - timeout"
• Set up Google billing (was hitting rate limits earlier, now resolved)

Config (gateway section):
"gateway": {
"mode": "local",
"bind": "loopback",
"auth": {
"mode": "none"
}
}

Expected: openclaw cron list should work
Actual: Handshake times out after 10 seconds

Steps to reproduce

openclaw cron list should connect to the local gateway and display the list
of cron jobs without timing out.

Expected behavior

openclaw cron list should connect to the local gateway and display the list
of cron jobs without timing out.

Actual behavior

openclaw cron list should connect to the local gateway and display the list
of cron jobs without timing out.

OpenClaw version

2026.3.13 (61d171a)

Operating system

Windows 10.0.26100 (x64)

Install method

No response

Model

google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview

Provider / routing chain

google (primary), openrouter (fallback)

Config file / key location

No response

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response