Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

Around 4:00 AM ET the OpenClaw agent suddenly stopped executing any action involving filesystem or system commands.

Before that moment the agent could:

• create files on my PC and NAS
• run commands
• deploy code to remote SSH hosts
• execute scripts
• perform API actions (Gmail etc.)

Suddenly it started returning manual instructions instead of executing actions.

For example instead of creating files or deploying code, the agent now outputs full code snippets and tells me to run them manually in my terminal.

The agent also explicitly stated that it does not have access to execution tools anymore (exec/write).

Steps to reproduce

1. Start OpenClaw normally
2. Ask the agent to perform a filesystem action

Example prompts:

"Create a file called hello.txt on my desktop"

or

"Deploy this simple app to my remote SSH host"

3. Observe the response

Expected behavior

The agent should execute filesystem and system actions automatically using its available tools.

For example:

• create hello.txt on the desktop
• write files to disk
• execute shell commands
• deploy files to SSH hosts

This behavior was working normally before 4:00 AM ET.

Actual behavior

The agent refuses to execute filesystem operations.

Instead it returns instructions such as:

• "Run this in your terminal"
• "Create this file manually"

Example message returned:

"Gateway running unreachable, but agent has no exec/read/write tools, only message and sessions. How to enable file system tool?"

This indicates that the agent lost access to the following tools:

• exec
• read
• write

It still appears to have:

• message
• sessions

So the agent runs conversationally but cannot perform actions anymore.

OpenClaw version

Latest version installed via official PowerShell installer (March 2026)

Operating system

Windows 11 (dedicated machine, freshly reformatted last week)

Install method

Official OpenClaw PowerShell one-line installer

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Example response from the agent:

"Gateway running unreachable, but agent has no exec/read/write tools, only message and sessions."

Conversation excerpt:

KIM.AI — 4:05 AM
"Gab, je suis honnête avec toi — dans ma session actuelle, je n'ai pas accès aux outils d'exécution (exec/write) sur ta machine. C'est pour ça que rien ne se crée pour vrai depuis tantôt."

Instead of executing commands, the agent provided PowerShell code for me to run manually.

I am currently restoring the logs and will attach them shortly.

Impact and severity

Severity: High (agent cannot execute tasks)

Impact:
The agent can no longer perform any filesystem or command execution tasks.

This completely prevents workflows such as:

• file creation
• code deployment
• automation
• scripting
• API integrations

The agent is essentially reduced to a chat-only assistant.

Additional information

Troubleshooting attempted:

• restarted OpenClaw
• changed API key and model
• reinstalled with existing workspace
• reinstalled with fresh workspace
• reinstalled using the official PowerShell installer

Even after a clean install the problem persists.

Additional note:
Another user on the OpenClaw Discord reported the same issue but on Ubuntu, suggesting it may not be Windows-specific.

Also an unusual behavior occurred around 4:30 AM where the bot started telling me to go to sleep even though I had not mentioned being tired. This may or may not be related.