Summary

Gateway returns "pairing required" after update to 2026.2.19-2

Just updated to 2026.2.19-2 (45d9b20). After the update, all CLI commands fail with gateway closed (1008): pairing required.

• openclaw gateway status → shows Runtime: running, RPC probe: ok, port 18789 listening on loopback
• openclaw health → fails with "pairing required"
• openclaw doctor → says "Gateway not running" even though process is alive (pid confirmed)
• openclaw status → shows gateway as "reachable 64ms" with "auth token" present
• Config: gateway.auth.mode = "token" with a 48-char token, gateway.mode = "local", bind = "loopback"
• Tried: gateway stop + start, gateway install, doctor --fix, killing all gateway processes and restarting — same error every time
• OS: Linux 6.8.0-94-generic (x64), Node 22.22.0
• 6 agents configured, 51 sessions, Telegram + Slack channels working fine before update

Inter-agent sessions_send also fails with the same "pairing required" error. Everything was working before the update.

Steps to reproduce

1. Had a working OpenClaw setup on version prior to 2026.2.19-2 (6 agents, Telegram + Slack channels, inter-agent sessions_send working fine)
2. Updated to 2026.2.19-2 (npm update -g openclaw or however it was updated)
3. After update, ran openclaw health → "gateway closed (1008): pairing required"
4. Ran openclaw gateway stop && openclaw gateway start → same error
5. Ran openclaw gateway install → installed systemd service, started it → same error
6. Ran openclaw doctor --fix → restarted service but still "pairing required"
7. Killed all gateway processes, restarted fresh → same error
8. openclaw gateway status shows running + RPC probe ok, but any CLI command that connects to the gateway gets rejected with "pairing required"

Expected: CLI connects to gateway normally as it did before the update.
Actual: Every connection attempt returns gateway closed (1008): pairing required.

{
"gateway": {
"port": 18789,
"mode": "local",
"bind": "loopback",
"auth": {
"mode": "token",
"token": "<48-char token>"
}
}
}

Expected behavior

CLI and inter-agent communication should connect to the gateway without errors, as it did before the update. openclaw health should return healthy, and sessions_send between agents should work normally.

Actual behavior

Every CLI command that connects to the gateway fails with gateway closed (1008): pairing required. The gateway process is running and listening (confirmed via openclaw gateway status → RPC probe: ok, port 18789 in use), but it rejects all client connections. Inter-agent sessions_send also fails with the same error. openclaw doctor reports "Gateway not running" despite the process being alive.

OpenClaw version

2026.2.19-2

Operating system

OS: Linux 6.8.0-94-generic (x64)

Install method

npm

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response