Summary

When using pm2 to manage the openclaw-gateway process and updating pm2-ecosystem.config.js (e.g. adding exp_backoff_restart_delay, min_uptime, restart_delay), running pm2 reload openclaw-gateway --update-env triggers a process restart but the new config values from the ecosystem file are not applied.

pm2 show openclaw-gateway continues to reflect the old config after reload.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Manage openclaw-gateway via pm2 with an ecosystem config file (e.g. pm2-ecosystem.config.js)
2. Update values in the ecosystem config (e.g. exp_backoff_restart_delay: 500)
3. Run: pm2 reload openclaw-gateway --update-env
4. Check pm2 show openclaw-gateway — new config values are not reflected

Expected Behavior

pm2 reload --update-env should pick up changes from the ecosystem config file and apply them without requiring a full pm2 delete + pm2 start.

Actual Behavior

Process restarts (restart count increments) but new ecosystem config values are ignored. Only a full pm2 delete openclaw-gateway && pm2 start pm2-ecosystem.config.js && pm2 save reliably applies the new config.

Environment

• OS: Windows 10 (x64)
• OpenClaw version: 2026.3.23-2 (7ffe7e4)
• pm2 managed via npm / Windows PowerShell

Notes

This is a pm2 behavior quirk on Windows. OpenClaw RECOVERY.txt and setup docs should clarify that pm2 reload --update-env is insufficient — the correct procedure to apply ecosystem config changes is pm2 delete + pm2 start from the ecosystem file + pm2 save.