OpenClaw operators should watch update and Gateway freeze regressions
New OpenClaw reports describe two reliability traps around 2026.5.6: package swaps or npm installs can leave old hashed runtime chunks unresolved, breaking the CLI, sessions_send, and web_fetch until restart or a compatibility alias lands; separately, synchronous macOS keychain reads can block the Gateway event loop long enough to cause Telegram timeouts, pending turns, or duplicate sends.
ImpactRisk Sources3 Audienceoperator · developer
These bugs hit the operational path rather than a niche feature: update safety, tool loading, web fetch, and Gateway responsiveness are the basics that determine whether a personal agent can run unattended.
- Issue #78820 reports update.run leaving dist modules missing, causing openclaw --version to fail with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND until restart
- Issue #78804 reports npm install leaving sessions_send and web_fetch pointed at old hashed filenames
- PR #78823 adds compatibility aliases for the reported stale chunks but is still fresh/open
- Issue #78805 reports Gateway event-loop delays up to about 3936ms from synchronous keychain and file I/O, with Telegram pending states and duplicate sends
- PR #78818 replaces macOS keychain execSync calls with async exec, but no tagged release includes it yet
- Impact varies by install/update method, runtime OS, and whether the Gateway stays alive during package replacement
- The proposed aliases target the exact reported chunk names, so operators should still verify their own error paths
- The event-loop fix focuses on keychain access first; other synchronous I/O reports may need follow-up