OpenClaw version: 2026.3.13 (61d171a) → updated recently to latest
OS: Windows 10 x64 + WSL2
Chrome version: 146.0.7680.154
Reported by: @Owlock (contributor, PR #39407 merged)

Summary

After a PC reboot, openclaw browser tabs --browser-profile remote returned no tabs.
Root cause: Chrome 136+ on Windows ignores --remote-debugging-address=127.0.0.1 and binds CDP to [::1]:9222 (IPv6 loopback) instead of 127.0.0.1:9222 (IPv4). The existing portproxy v4tov4 → 127.0.0.1:9222 fails silently because Chrome no longer listens on that IPv4 address. No error is surfaced by OpenClaw diagnostics.

Diagnosis steps

curl.exe http://[::1]:9222/json/version # → 200 OK ✅
curl.exe http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version # → curl: (52) Empty reply ❌

netstat -ano | findstr :9222
# TCP [::1]:9222 LISTENING <chrome_pid> ← IPv6 only

Fix

Replace v4tov4 portproxy rules with v4tov6 pointing to ::1. PowerShell Admin (one by one):

netsh interface portproxy reset
netsh interface portproxy add v4tov6 listenaddress=127.0.0.1 listenport=9222 connectaddress=::1 connectport=9222
netsh interface portproxy add v4tov6 listenaddress=172.30.144.1 listenport=9222 connectaddress=::1 connectport=9222

After this, both curl.exe http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version and curl.exe http://172.30.144.1:9222/json/version return Chrome JSON correctly.

Why this happens

Chrome has been hardening remote debugging security since v136. The --remote-debugging-address flag is now ignored internally. On Windows, Chrome resolves localhost as IPv6-first (::1), so the CDP listener ends up on [::1] rather than 127.0.0.1.

Reference: https://developer.chrome.com/blog/remote-debugging-port

Suggested improvements to OpenClaw

1. Doc update: The WSL2 + Windows CDP guide (PR docs: add WSL2 + Windows remote Chrome CDP troubleshooting guide #39407) should note that on Chrome 136+, netstat -ano | findstr :9222 should be run to detect IPv4 vs IPv6 binding, and portproxy should use v4tov6 accordingly.

2. openclaw doctor enhancement: Add a check that tests both 127.0.0.1:9222 AND [::1]:9222 — the current silent failure gives no hint that Chrome changed its binding address.

Note: Windows Test Mode (TESTSIGNING ON) was confirmed to have no effect on this issue.