Describe the bug

After successfully pairing WhatsApp via QR code, the WebSocket connection to WhatsApp servers fails with ETIMEDOUT immediately after the gateway starts. The provider starts but the channel exits within seconds with WebSocket timeout error.

Environment

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.4.5
• Node.js: v22.22.1
• OS: Linux x86_64 (Intel Core i7-3630QM)
• Channel: WhatsApp Web

Logs

[subsystem: gateway/channels/whatsapp] [default] starting provider (+[REDACTED])
[default] channel exited: {"error":{"data":{"code":"ETIMEDOUT"},"isBoom":true,"output":{"statusCode":408,"error":"Request Time-out"}}
WebSocket error: AggregateError

The connection attempts to start, but fails within ~5 seconds with ETIMEDOUT.

Steps to reproduce

1. Run openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp
2. Scan QR code with WhatsApp
3. Credentials are created successfully
4. Restart gateway
5. Observe WebSocket timeout in logs

Expected behavior

After successful QR scan and credential creation, WhatsApp should connect and remain connected.

Additional context

• Network connectivity to WhatsApp is confirmed (curl to web.whatsapp.com returns 200)
• Not using Tailscale exit node (direct internet connection via local gateway)
• Same issue occurred with previous credentials (401 Unauthorized after ~6 seconds)
• Issue persists across gateway restarts
• Credentials file is created (~1726 bytes) but WebSocket fails to establish connection
• Gateway shows "starting provider" but then channel exits with ETIMEDOUT

Related

• Issue [BUG] WhatsApp credentials (creds.json) corrupted every ~35 minutes during pre-key rotation #60136 - Credentials corruption during pre-key rotation (different issue)
• Issue WhatsApp WebSocket drops on WSL2 — missing TCP keepalive on underlying socket #58481 - WebSocket drops on WSL2 (TCP keepalive issue)

Frequency

Consistent - happens every time after pairing, regardless of credentials being present.