Bug type
Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)
Beta release blocker
No
Summary
After upgrading from 2026.4.23 to 2026.4.24, every gateway request fails with "Requested agent harness 'claude-cli' is not registered and PI fallback is disabled" — affecting all Claude model fallbacks and compaction.
Steps to reproduce
- On macOS with OpenClaw 2026.4.23 working correctly (Anthropic Claude CLI provider, default model claude-cli/claude-opus-4-7), upgrade with: npm install -g openclaw@latest
- Verify version: openclaw --version (shows 2026.4.24)
- Restart gateway: pkill -f openclaw-gateway (auto-respawns)
- Open the dashboard URL and send any message in the web UI, OR click Compact when context is full
- Observe failure: every request returns "Requested agent harness 'claude-cli' is not registered and PI fallback is disabled."
- Run openclaw configure --section model and re-select Anthropic > Anthropic Claude CLI; the configure flow completes successfully but does not resolve the runtime error.
- Rolling back via npm install -g openclaw@2026.4.23 restores full functionality.
Expected behavior
Same behavior as 2026.4.23: gateway accepts requests, embedded harness "claude-cli" is registered, messages route to the configured Claude model, and Compact works against accumulated context.
Actual behavior
Every gateway request fails with the harness registration error. Gateway log (~/.openclaw/logs/gateway.err.log) shows:
2026-04-26T16:34:28.026-07:00 [gateway/channels] channel startup failed: Error: Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
2026-04-26T16:35:34.562-07:00 [diagnostic] lane task error: lane=main durationMs=2 error="Error: Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled."
2026-04-26T16:35:34.570-07:00 [model-fallback/decision] model fallback decision: decision=candidate_failed requested=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 candidate=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 reason=unknown next=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6 detail=Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
The fallback chain attempts (and fails on) every model: opus-4-7 → sonnet-4-6 → opus-4-6 → opus-4-5 → sonnet-4-5 → haiku-4-5. Channel startup itself fails. Compact button in the web UI surfaces the same error to the user.
Config field agents.defaults.embeddedHarness.runtime is still "claude-cli" (carried over from 2026.4.23 install) — implying the harness name was renamed or its registration moved in 2026.4.24 without a config migration.
OpenClaw version
2026.4.24 (cbcfdf6) — broken 2026.4.23 (a979721) — working (rollback target)
Operating system
Mac OS 26.4.1
Install method
npm global (npm install -g openclaw)
Model
anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 (default), with fallbacks: claude-sonnet-4-6, claude-opus-4-6, claude-opus-4-5, claude-sonnet-4-5, claude-haiku-4-5
Provider / routing chain
openclaw -> claude-cli (embedded harness) -> Anthropic API
Additional provider/model setup details
Auth profile: anthropic:claude-cli (oauth, sourced from Claude CLI Keychain via openclaw configure --section model).
Embedded harness configured as agents.defaults.embeddedHarness.runtime = "claude-cli" in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json — this value was set by 2026.4.23 and not modified by the upgrade or by re-running configure on 2026.4.24.
Claude Code CLI (the underlying claude binary) is version 2.1.114 and is independently logged in (claude auth status shows loggedIn: true, subscriptionType: max).
Logs, screenshots, and evidence
~/.openclaw/logs/gateway.err.log excerpt during 2026.4.24:
2026-04-26T16:34:28.026-07:00 [gateway/channels] channel startup failed: Error: Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
2026-04-26T16:35:34.562-07:00 [diagnostic] lane task error: lane=main durationMs=2 error="Error: Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled."
2026-04-26T16:35:34.570-07:00 [model-fallback/decision] model fallback decision: decision=candidate_failed requested=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 candidate=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 reason=unknown next=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6 detail=Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
2026-04-26T16:35:34.582-07:00 [model-fallback/decision] model fallback decision: decision=candidate_failed requested=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 candidate=anthropic/claude-opus-4-6 reason=unknown next=anthropic/claude-opus-4-5 detail=Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
2026-04-26T16:35:34.592-07:00 [model-fallback/decision] model fallback decision: decision=candidate_failed requested=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 candidate=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5 reason=unknown next=anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5 detail=Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
2026-04-26T16:36:38.386-07:00 [gateway] request handler failed: Error: Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
Impact and severity
Affected: All users on 2026.4.24 with default Anthropic Claude CLI provider (the standard setup created by openclaw configure --section model).
Severity: High - blocks all gateway functionality. Web UI accepts the user message but cannot get any model response. Compact fails. Channel startup fails on boot.
Frequency: Always (deterministic; reproduces 100% of the time after upgrade until rollback).
Consequence: Tool is unusable on 2026.4.24 with the most common provider configuration. Users must roll back to 2026.4.23, which still has the disappearing-messages bug from issue #69406.
Additional information
This is a regression. Last known good: 2026.4.23 (a979721). First known bad: 2026.4.24 (cbcfdf6).
Important: 2026.4.24 fixes the disappearing-messages bug from issue #69406 (verified — messages persist correctly through re-renders in the web UI on 2026.4.24). Rolling back to 2026.4.23 reintroduces that bug. Please preserve the #69406 fix when addressing this harness regression.
Workaround: pin openclaw@2026.4.23 until a fix is released. Users on Anthropic Claude CLI as their provider should hold off upgrading.
Bug type
Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)
Beta release blocker
No
Summary
After upgrading from 2026.4.23 to 2026.4.24, every gateway request fails with "Requested agent harness 'claude-cli' is not registered and PI fallback is disabled" — affecting all Claude model fallbacks and compaction.
Steps to reproduce
Expected behavior
Same behavior as 2026.4.23: gateway accepts requests, embedded harness "claude-cli" is registered, messages route to the configured Claude model, and Compact works against accumulated context.
Actual behavior
Every gateway request fails with the harness registration error. Gateway log (~/.openclaw/logs/gateway.err.log) shows:
2026-04-26T16:34:28.026-07:00 [gateway/channels] channel startup failed: Error: Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
2026-04-26T16:35:34.562-07:00 [diagnostic] lane task error: lane=main durationMs=2 error="Error: Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled."
2026-04-26T16:35:34.570-07:00 [model-fallback/decision] model fallback decision: decision=candidate_failed requested=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 candidate=anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 reason=unknown next=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6 detail=Requested agent harness "claude-cli" is not registered and PI fallback is disabled.
The fallback chain attempts (and fails on) every model: opus-4-7 → sonnet-4-6 → opus-4-6 → opus-4-5 → sonnet-4-5 → haiku-4-5. Channel startup itself fails. Compact button in the web UI surfaces the same error to the user.
Config field agents.defaults.embeddedHarness.runtime is still "claude-cli" (carried over from 2026.4.23 install) — implying the harness name was renamed or its registration moved in 2026.4.24 without a config migration.
OpenClaw version
2026.4.24 (cbcfdf6) — broken 2026.4.23 (a979721) — working (rollback target)
Operating system
Mac OS 26.4.1
Install method
npm global (npm install -g openclaw)
Model
anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 (default), with fallbacks: claude-sonnet-4-6, claude-opus-4-6, claude-opus-4-5, claude-sonnet-4-5, claude-haiku-4-5
Provider / routing chain
openclaw -> claude-cli (embedded harness) -> Anthropic API
Additional provider/model setup details
Auth profile: anthropic:claude-cli (oauth, sourced from Claude CLI Keychain via openclaw configure --section model).
Embedded harness configured as agents.defaults.embeddedHarness.runtime = "claude-cli" in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json — this value was set by 2026.4.23 and not modified by the upgrade or by re-running configure on 2026.4.24.
Claude Code CLI (the underlying claude binary) is version 2.1.114 and is independently logged in (claude auth status shows loggedIn: true, subscriptionType: max).
Logs, screenshots, and evidence
Impact and severity
Affected: All users on 2026.4.24 with default Anthropic Claude CLI provider (the standard setup created by openclaw configure --section model).
Severity: High - blocks all gateway functionality. Web UI accepts the user message but cannot get any model response. Compact fails. Channel startup fails on boot.
Frequency: Always (deterministic; reproduces 100% of the time after upgrade until rollback).
Consequence: Tool is unusable on 2026.4.24 with the most common provider configuration. Users must roll back to 2026.4.23, which still has the disappearing-messages bug from issue #69406.
Additional information
This is a regression. Last known good: 2026.4.23 (a979721). First known bad: 2026.4.24 (cbcfdf6).
Important: 2026.4.24 fixes the disappearing-messages bug from issue #69406 (verified — messages persist correctly through re-renders in the web UI on 2026.4.24). Rolling back to 2026.4.23 reintroduces that bug. Please preserve the #69406 fix when addressing this harness regression.
Workaround: pin openclaw@2026.4.23 until a fix is released. Users on Anthropic Claude CLI as their provider should hold off upgrading.