Skip to content

[Bug]: TUI loading spinner freezes when queuing message during active run #49763

Description

@CrimsonDump

Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

TUI loading spinner (circling indicator) freezes/stops animating when user sends a new message while Agent is still running. The spinner should continue showing activity but appears stuck, making user think the Agent has hung.

Environment

  • OS: Windows 10
  • Node: v22.16.0
  • OpenClaw: latest
  • TUI: openclaw-tui
  • Terminal: Windows Terminal / openclaw-tui

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open TUI: \openclaw tui\
  2. Send a message that takes time to process
  3. While Agent is still running (spinner animating), send another message
  4. Observe the loading spinner

Expected behavior

Loading spinner should continue animating to indicate Agent is still processing

Actual behavior

  • Loading spinner freezes/stops animating
  • Appears as if Agent has hung
  • Pressing Ctrl+O (toggle tool output) can also trigger this issue
  • User has no visual feedback that work is still in progress

Additional information

This affects user experience as there's no visual indication that the Agent is still working. User may think the TUI has crashed and may restart or take other actions unnecessarily.

OpenClaw version

Latest (2026-03-18)

Impact and severity

Medium - affects UX and may cause user confusion/unnecessary troubleshooting

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    P2Normal backlog priority with limited blast radius.clawsweeper:fix-shape-clearClawSweeper found a clear likely implementation shape for this issue.clawsweeper:linked-pr-openClawSweeper found an open linked pull request for this issue.clawsweeper:no-new-fix-prClawSweeper does not recommend queueing a new automated fix PR for this issue.clawsweeper:queueable-fixClawSweeper marked this issue as an existing queue_fix_pr work candidate.clawsweeper:source-reproClawSweeper found a high-confidence source-level issue reproduction.impact:otherThis issue has meaningful maintainer-visible impact outside the owned taxonomy.issue-rating: 🦞 diamond lobsterVery strong issue quality with high-confidence source-level or clear reproduction.no-staleExclude from stale automation

    Type

    No type

    Fields

    No fields configured for issues without a type.

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions