Bug Description

On a headless Ubuntu Linux node, the exec-approvals.sock socket file is never created, causing all exec commands to timeout with SYSTEM_RUN_DENIED.

Environment

• Clawdbot version: 2026.1.24-3
• Gateway: Running in Docker on Unraid (192.168.1.9)
• Node: Headless Ubuntu 24.04 on Beelink Mini PC (192.168.1.188)
• Node installed via: npm global install, systemd user service

Symptoms

1. Node shows as "paired · connected" in gateway status
2. All nodes run commands timeout after 35 seconds
3. Gateway logs show exec.approval.request timing out at 120001ms
4. The socket file ~/.clawdbot/exec-approvals.sock is never created
5. Node logs only show PATH initialization, no approval daemon startup

What I've Tried

• Configured allowlist with * pattern for all agents
• Set defaults.security: "full" in exec-approvals.json
• Set tools.exec.ask: "off" in clawdbot.json
• Used --security full flag on gateway commands
• Reinstalled node service
• Updated to beta channel and back to stable

Expected Behavior

The node should create the exec-approvals.sock socket and respond to approval requests, or respect the allowlist/security settings to bypass approval.

Reproduction Steps

1. Install clawdbot globally on headless Ubuntu: npm i -g clawdbot
2. Configure remote gateway in clawdbot.json
3. Install and start node service: clawdbot node install
4. Verify node connects: shows "paired · connected"
5. Try to run command: clawdbot nodes run --node <name> --agent <agent> echo test
6. Command times out with "gateway timeout after 35000ms"

Related Issues

Possibly related to #2402 (exec approval flow is fire-and-forget)