Problem

After the 2026.2.14 update, webchat clients accessing the gateway via LAN IP (not localhost) receive missing scope: operator.read errors for all RPC calls. This makes the web UI completely unusable.

Reported in #16820 and #16862 with many affected users.

Root Cause

The webchat client was only requesting these scopes during connect:

• operator.admin
• operator.approvals
• operator.pairing

While operator.admin semantically implies full access, the scope validation in server-methods.ts explicitly checks for operator.read or operator.write for READ_METHODS and WRITE_METHODS sets:

if (READ_METHODS.has(method) && !(scopes.includes(READ_SCOPE) || scopes.includes(WRITE_SCOPE))) {
  return errorShape(ErrorCodes.INVALID_REQUEST, "missing scope: operator.read");
}

The admin scope check happens first and should return early, but there may be edge cases in the device pairing flow where scopes aren't properly propagated.

Fix

Explicitly include operator.read and operator.write in the webchat connect scopes. This ensures the client has the required scopes regardless of how they're stored/validated during the pairing flow.

Testing

• Verified lint and format pass
• The fix is defensive and additive (adding scopes that should already be implied by operator.admin)

Fixes #16820
Fixes #16862

Greptile Summary

Added operator.read and operator.write to webchat connect scopes to fix "missing scope: operator.read" errors when accessing gateway via LAN IP.

• Root cause: After commit cfd11295 (2026-02-09), automatic operator.admin grants were removed for security hardening
• When webchat clients connect via LAN IP without device identity, scopes get cleared at message-handler.ts:431 for security
• Even though operator.admin semantically implies full access and has an early-return check at server-methods.ts:117-119, the scope clearing in the pairing flow prevents it from being available
• This fix explicitly includes operator.read and operator.write so they're present even if admin scope gets cleared during pairing
• The change is defensive and additive, maintaining backward compatibility while ensuring the UI remains functional

Confidence Score: 5/5

• Safe to merge - minimal additive change that fixes critical regression
• The fix addresses a regression introduced in commit cfd11295 by explicitly requesting the necessary scopes. The change is minimal (adds 2 scope strings to an array), defensive (adds scopes that should be implied by operator.admin), and backward compatible (doesn't remove any existing scopes). No logic changes or architectural modifications.
• No files require special attention

_{Last reviewed commit: 7eecadf}