Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Control UI / WebChat messages intermittently disappear from the visible chat thread on macOS localhost, even though the backend agent is still working and tool calls complete successfully.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open the Control UI at http://127.0.0.1:18789/ on macOS.
2. Chat normally in WebChat / Control UI.
3. Observe that some assistant replies appear and later disappear from the visible thread.
4. Restart the gateway and reconnect to the Control UI.
5. Observe repeated websocket/auth reconnect issues in logs (token_missing, token_mismatch, 1008 unauthorized) and continued intermittent disappearance of visible chat messages.

Expected behavior

Assistant replies that have been received in the Control UI should remain visible and persisted in the chat thread, as implied by successful chat.history responses and normal chat operation.

Actual behavior

Assistant replies intermittently disappear from the visible Control UI chat thread. During the same periods, the backend still receives messages, executes tools, and returns replies. Logs show successful webchat connected and chat.history responses, along with intermittent auth/reconnect failures.

OpenClaw version

v2026.3.24

Operating system

macOS (Darwin 24.6.0 x64)

Install method

global npm install of OpenClaw under Node.js

Model

OpenAI Codex gpt-5.4

Provider / routing chain

browser Control UI/WebChat → local OpenClaw Gateway → OpenAI Codex provider

Additional provider/model setup details

Gateway is running locally on loopback (127.0.0.1:18789).
Observed from runtime/status and logs:
model: openai-codex/gpt-5.4
Control UI/WebChat client seen as openclaw-control-ui webchat v2026.3.24
auth mode is token-based
reconnect attempts showed both token_missing and token_mismatch before later successful reconnects

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

webchat connected ... client=openclaw-control-ui webchat v2026.3.24
res ✓ chat.history
unauthorized ... reason=token_missing
unauthorized ... reason=token_mismatch
closed before connect ... code=1008 reason=unauthorized: gateway token mismatch
webchat disconnected code=1006
webchat disconnected code=1001
Other observed evidence:
hard refresh did not reliably fix the issue
gateway restart did not reliably fix the issue
reopening with a fresh tokenized dashboard URL improved connectivity/auth but did not permanently stop disappearing messages
the issue also reproduced in a private/incognito window
tool execution still worked during the issue; for example, a local Gmail digest refresh completed successfully while visible chat persistence was still flaky

Impact and severity

Affected: Control UI/WebChat users on this macOS localhost setup
Severity: High for chat usability
Frequency: Intermittent, observed repeatedly across the session
Consequence: Visible chat becomes unreliable because assistant replies disappear even though backend work continues, making the Control UI hard to trust for normal conversation

Additional information

Grounded troubleshooting already attempted:
hard refresh
gateway restart
reconnect with fresh tokenized dashboard URL
private/incognito window
Observed evidence suggests the issue is in Control UI/WebChat rendering, persistence, auth-state handling, or websocket reconnect behavior rather than total gateway or agent failure.