Doctor

openclaw doctor

Accept defaults without prompting (including restart/service/sandbox repair steps when applicable).

Apply recommended repairs without prompting (repairs + restarts where safe).

Apply aggressive repairs too (overwrites custom supervisor configs).

Run without prompts and only apply safe migrations (config normalization + on-disk state moves). Skips restart/service/sandbox actions that require human confirmation. Legacy state migrations run automatically when detected.

Scan system services for extra gateway installs (launchd/systemd/schtasks).

cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

openclaw memory rem-backfill --path ./memory --stage-short-term

That includes legacy Talk flat fields. Current public Talk config is `talk.provider` + `talk.providers.<provider>`. Doctor rewrites old `talk.voiceId` / `talk.voiceAliases` / `talk.modelId` / `talk.outputFormat` / `talk.apiKey` shapes into the provider map.

Doctor also warns when `plugins.allow` is non-empty and tool policy uses
wildcard or plugin-owned tool entries. `tools.allow: ["*"]` only matches tools
from plugins that actually load; it does not bypass the exclusive plugin
allowlist. Doctor writes `plugins.bundledDiscovery: "compat"` for migrated
legacy allowlist configs to preserve existing bundled provider behavior, and
then points to the stricter `"allowlist"` setting.

Doctor will:

- Explain which legacy keys were found.
- Show the migration it applied.
- Rewrite `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json` with the updated schema.

The Gateway also auto-runs doctor migrations on startup when it detects a legacy config format, so stale configs are repaired without manual intervention. Cron job store migrations are handled by `openclaw doctor --fix`.

Current migrations:

- `routing.allowFrom` → `channels.whatsapp.allowFrom`
- `routing.groupChat.requireMention` → `channels.whatsapp/telegram/imessage.groups."*".requireMention`
- `routing.groupChat.historyLimit` → `messages.groupChat.historyLimit`
- `routing.groupChat.mentionPatterns` → `messages.groupChat.mentionPatterns`
- `channels.telegram.requireMention` → `channels.telegram.groups."*".requireMention`
- configured-channel configs missing visible reply policy → `messages.groupChat.visibleReplies: "message_tool"`
- `routing.queue` → `messages.queue`
- `routing.bindings` → top-level `bindings`
- `routing.agents`/`routing.defaultAgentId` → `agents.list` + `agents.list[].default`
- legacy `talk.voiceId`/`talk.voiceAliases`/`talk.modelId`/`talk.outputFormat`/`talk.apiKey` → `talk.provider` + `talk.providers.<provider>`
- `routing.agentToAgent` → `tools.agentToAgent`
- `routing.transcribeAudio` → `tools.media.audio.models`
- `messages.tts.<provider>` (`openai`/`elevenlabs`/`microsoft`/`edge`) → `messages.tts.providers.<provider>`
- `messages.tts.provider: "edge"` and `messages.tts.providers.edge` → `messages.tts.provider: "microsoft"` and `messages.tts.providers.microsoft`
- `channels.discord.voice.tts.<provider>` (`openai`/`elevenlabs`/`microsoft`/`edge`) → `channels.discord.voice.tts.providers.<provider>`
- `channels.discord.accounts.<id>.voice.tts.<provider>` (`openai`/`elevenlabs`/`microsoft`/`edge`) → `channels.discord.accounts.<id>.voice.tts.providers.<provider>`
- `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.tts.<provider>` (`openai`/`elevenlabs`/`microsoft`/`edge`) → `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.tts.providers.<provider>`
- `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.tts.provider: "edge"` and `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.tts.providers.edge` → `provider: "microsoft"` and `providers.microsoft`
- `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.provider: "log"` → `"mock"`
- `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.twilio.from` → `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.fromNumber`
- `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.sttProvider` → `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.provider`
- `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.openaiApiKey|sttModel|silenceDurationMs|vadThreshold` → `plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.providers.openai.*`
- `bindings[].match.accountID` → `bindings[].match.accountId`
- For channels with named `accounts` but lingering single-account top-level channel values, move those account-scoped values into the promoted account chosen for that channel (`accounts.default` for most channels; Matrix can preserve an existing matching named/default target)
- `identity` → `agents.list[].identity`
- `agent.*` → `agents.defaults` + `tools.*` (tools/elevated/exec/sandbox/subagents)
- `agent.model`/`allowedModels`/`modelAliases`/`modelFallbacks`/`imageModelFallbacks` → `agents.defaults.models` + `agents.defaults.model.primary/fallbacks` + `agents.defaults.imageModel.primary/fallbacks`
- remove `agents.defaults.llm`; use `models.providers.<id>.timeoutSeconds` for slow provider/model timeouts
- `browser.ssrfPolicy.allowPrivateNetwork` → `browser.ssrfPolicy.dangerouslyAllowPrivateNetwork`
- `browser.profiles.*.driver: "extension"` → `"existing-session"`
- remove `browser.relayBindHost` (legacy extension relay setting)
- legacy `models.providers.*.api: "openai"` → `"openai-completions"` (gateway startup also skips providers whose `api` is set to a future or unknown enum value rather than failing closed)

Doctor warnings also include account-default guidance for multi-account channels:

- If two or more `channels.<channel>.accounts` entries are configured without `channels.<channel>.defaultAccount` or `accounts.default`, doctor warns that fallback routing can pick an unexpected account.
- If `channels.<channel>.defaultAccount` is set to an unknown account ID, doctor warns and lists configured account IDs.

- `browser.profiles.*.driver: "extension"` becomes `"existing-session"`
- `browser.relayBindHost` is removed

Doctor also audits the host-local Chrome MCP path when you use `defaultProfile: "user"` or a configured `existing-session` profile:

- checks whether Google Chrome is installed on the same host for default auto-connect profiles
- checks the detected Chrome version and warns when it is below Chrome 144
- reminds you to enable remote debugging in the browser inspect page (for example `chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging`, `brave://inspect/#remote-debugging`, or `edge://inspect/#remote-debugging`)

Doctor cannot enable the Chrome-side setting for you. Host-local Chrome MCP still requires:

- a Chromium-based browser 144+ on the gateway/node host
- the browser running locally
- remote debugging enabled in that browser
- approving the first attach consent prompt in the browser

Readiness here is only about local attach prerequisites. Existing-session keeps the current Chrome MCP route limits; advanced routes like `responsebody`, PDF export, download interception, and batch actions still require a managed browser or raw CDP profile.

This check does **not** apply to Docker, sandbox, remote-browser, or other headless flows. Those continue to use raw CDP.

In `--fix` / `--repair` mode, doctor rewrites affected default-agent and per-agent refs, including primary models, fallbacks, heartbeat/subagent/compaction overrides, hooks, channel model overrides, and stale persisted session route state:

- `openai-codex/gpt-*` becomes `openai/gpt-*`.
- The matching agent runtime becomes `agentRuntime.id: "codex"` only when Codex is installed, enabled, contributes the `codex` harness, and has usable OAuth.
- Otherwise the matching agent runtime becomes `agentRuntime.id: "pi"`.
- Existing model fallback lists are preserved with their legacy entries rewritten; copied per-model settings move from the legacy key to the canonical `openai/*` key.
- Persisted session `modelProvider`/`providerOverride`, `model`/`modelOverride`, fallback notices, auth-profile pins, and Codex harness pins are repaired across all discovered agent session stores.
- `/codex ...` means "control or bind a native Codex conversation from chat."
- `/acp ...` or `runtime: "acp"` means "use the external ACP/acpx adapter."

`openclaw doctor --fix` can clear auto-created stale state such as `modelOverrideSource: "auto"` model pins, runtime model metadata, pinned harness ids, CLI session bindings, and auto auth-profile overrides when their owning route is no longer configured. Explicit user or legacy session model choices are reported for manual review and left untouched; switch them with `/model ...`, `/new`, or reset the session when that route is no longer intended.

- Sessions store + transcripts:
  - from `~/.openclaw/sessions/` to `~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/`
- Agent dir:
  - from `~/.openclaw/agent/` to `~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/`
- WhatsApp auth state (Baileys):
  - from legacy `~/.openclaw/credentials/*.json` (except `oauth.json`)
  - to `~/.openclaw/credentials/whatsapp/<accountId>/...` (default account id: `default`)

These migrations are best-effort and idempotent; doctor will emit warnings when it leaves any legacy folders behind as backups. The Gateway/CLI also auto-migrates the legacy sessions + agent dir on startup so history/auth/models land in the per-agent path without a manual doctor run. WhatsApp auth is intentionally only migrated via `openclaw doctor`. Talk provider/provider-map normalization now compares by structural equality, so key-order-only diffs no longer trigger repeat no-op `doctor --fix` changes.

Current cron cleanups include:

- `jobId` → `id`
- `schedule.cron` → `schedule.expr`
- top-level payload fields (`message`, `model`, `thinking`, ...) → `payload`
- top-level delivery fields (`deliver`, `channel`, `to`, `provider`, ...) → `delivery`
- payload `provider` delivery aliases → explicit `delivery.channel`
- simple legacy `notify: true` webhook fallback jobs → explicit `delivery.mode="webhook"` with `delivery.to=cron.webhook`

Doctor only auto-migrates `notify: true` jobs when it can do so without changing behavior. If a job combines legacy notify fallback with an existing non-webhook delivery mode, doctor warns and leaves that job for manual review.

On Linux, doctor also warns when the user's crontab still invokes legacy `~/.openclaw/bin/ensure-whatsapp.sh`. That host-local script is not maintained by current OpenClaw and can write false `Gateway inactive` messages to `~/.openclaw/logs/whatsapp-health.log` when cron cannot reach the systemd user bus. Remove the stale crontab entry with `crontab -e`; use `openclaw channels status --probe`, `openclaw doctor`, and `openclaw gateway status` for current health checks.

Doctor checks:

- **State dir missing**: warns about catastrophic state loss, prompts to recreate the directory, and reminds you that it cannot recover missing data.
- **State dir permissions**: verifies writability; offers to repair permissions (and emits a `chown` hint when owner/group mismatch is detected).
- **macOS cloud-synced state dir**: warns when state resolves under iCloud Drive (`~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/...`) or `~/Library/CloudStorage/...` because sync-backed paths can cause slower I/O and lock/sync races.
- **Linux SD or eMMC state dir**: warns when state resolves to an `mmcblk*` mount source, because SD or eMMC-backed random I/O can be slower and wear faster under session and credential writes.
- **Session dirs missing**: `sessions/` and the session store directory are required to persist history and avoid `ENOENT` crashes.
- **Transcript mismatch**: warns when recent session entries have missing transcript files.
- **Main session "1-line JSONL"**: flags when the main transcript has only one line (history is not accumulating).
- **Multiple state dirs**: warns when multiple `~/.openclaw` folders exist across home directories or when `OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR` points elsewhere (history can split between installs).
- **Remote mode reminder**: if `gateway.mode=remote`, doctor reminds you to run it on the remote host (the state lives there).
- **Config file permissions**: warns if `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json` is group/world readable and offers to tighten to `600`.

When an OAuth refresh fails permanently (for example `refresh_token_reused`, `invalid_grant`, or a provider telling you to sign in again), doctor reports that re-auth is required and prints the exact `openclaw models auth login --provider ...` command to run.

Doctor also reports auth profiles that are temporarily unusable due to:

- short cooldowns (rate limits/timeouts/auth failures)
- longer disables (billing/credit failures)

Doctor can also reinstall missing downloadable plugins when config references them but the local plugin registry cannot find them. Examples include material `plugins.entries`, configured channel/provider/search settings, and configured agent runtimes. During package updates, doctor avoids running package-manager plugin repair while the core package is being swapped; run `openclaw doctor --fix` again after the update if a configured plugin still needs recovery. Gateway startup and config reload do not run package managers; plugin installs remain explicit doctor/install/update work.

On Linux, if the user-level gateway service is missing but a system-level OpenClaw gateway service exists, doctor does not install a second user-level service automatically. Inspect with `openclaw gateway status --deep` or `openclaw doctor --deep`, then remove the duplicate or set `OPENCLAW_SERVICE_REPAIR_POLICY=external` when a system supervisor owns the gateway lifecycle.

What it reports:

- pending first-time pairing requests
- pending role upgrades for already paired devices
- pending scope upgrades for already paired devices
- public-key mismatch repairs where the device id still matches but the device identity no longer matches the approved record
- paired records missing an active token for an approved role
- paired tokens whose scopes drift outside the approved pairing baseline
- local cached device-token entries for the current machine that predate a gateway-side token rotation or carry stale scope metadata

Doctor does not auto-approve pair requests or auto-rotate device tokens. It prints the exact next steps instead:

- inspect pending requests with `openclaw devices list`
- approve the exact request with `openclaw devices approve <requestId>`
- rotate a fresh token with `openclaw devices rotate --device <deviceId> --role <role>`
- remove and re-approve a stale record with `openclaw devices remove <deviceId>`

This closes the common "already paired but still getting pairing required" hole: doctor now distinguishes first-time pairing from pending role/scope upgrades and from stale token/device-identity drift.

- **Skills status**: counts eligible, missing-requirements, and allowlist-blocked skills.
- **Legacy workspace dirs**: warns when `~/openclaw` or other legacy workspace directories exist alongside the current workspace.
- **Plugin status**: counts enabled/disabled/errored plugins; lists plugin IDs for any errors; reports bundle plugin capabilities.
- **Plugin compatibility warnings**: flags plugins that have compatibility issues with the current runtime.
- **Plugin diagnostics**: surfaces any load-time warnings or errors emitted by the plugin registry.

- If the shell profile uses a slow dynamic completion pattern (`source <(openclaw completion ...)`), doctor upgrades it to the faster cached file variant.
- If completion is configured in the profile but the cache file is missing, doctor regenerates the cache automatically.
- If no completion is configured at all, doctor prompts to install it (interactive mode only; skipped with `--non-interactive`).

Run `openclaw completion --write-state` to regenerate the cache manually.

- If token mode needs a token and no token source exists, doctor offers to generate one.
- If `gateway.auth.token` is SecretRef-managed but unavailable, doctor warns and does not overwrite it with plaintext.
- `openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token` forces generation only when no token SecretRef is configured.

- `openclaw doctor --fix` now uses the same read-only SecretRef summary model as status-family commands for targeted config repairs.
- Example: Telegram `allowFrom` / `groupAllowFrom` `@username` repair tries to use configured bot credentials when available.
- If the Telegram bot token is configured via SecretRef but unavailable in the current command path, doctor reports that the credential is configured-but-unavailable and skips auto-resolution instead of crashing or misreporting the token as missing.

- **QMD backend**: probes whether the `qmd` binary is available and startable. If not, prints fix guidance including the npm package and a manual binary path option.
- **Explicit local provider**: checks for a local model file or a recognized remote/downloadable model URL. If missing, suggests switching to a remote provider.
- **Explicit remote provider** (`openai`, `voyage`, etc.): verifies an API key is present in the environment or auth store. Prints actionable fix hints if missing.
- **Auto provider**: checks local model availability first, then tries each remote provider in auto-selection order.

When a cached gateway probe result is available (gateway was healthy at the time of the check), doctor cross-references its result with the CLI-visible config and notes any discrepancy. Doctor does not start a fresh embedding ping on the default path; use the deep memory status command when you want a live provider check.

Use `openclaw memory status --deep` to verify embedding readiness at runtime.

Notes:

- `openclaw doctor` prompts before rewriting supervisor config.
- `openclaw doctor --yes` accepts the default repair prompts.
- `openclaw doctor --repair` applies recommended fixes without prompts.
- `openclaw doctor --repair --force` overwrites custom supervisor configs.
- `OPENCLAW_SERVICE_REPAIR_POLICY=external` keeps doctor read-only for gateway service lifecycle. It still reports service health and runs non-service repairs, but skips service install/start/restart/bootstrap, supervisor config rewrites, and legacy service cleanup because an external supervisor owns that lifecycle.
- On Linux, doctor does not rewrite command/entrypoint metadata while the matching systemd gateway unit is active. It also ignores inactive non-legacy extra gateway-like units during the duplicate-service scan so companion service files do not create cleanup noise.
- If token auth requires a token and `gateway.auth.token` is SecretRef-managed, doctor service install/repair validates the SecretRef but does not persist resolved plaintext token values into supervisor service environment metadata.
- Doctor detects managed `.env`/SecretRef-backed service environment values that older LaunchAgent, systemd, or Windows Scheduled Task installs embedded inline and rewrites the service metadata so those values load from the runtime source instead of the supervisor definition.
- Doctor detects when the service command still pins an old `--port` after `gateway.port` changes and rewrites the service metadata to the current port.
- If token auth requires a token and the configured token SecretRef is unresolved, doctor blocks the install/repair path with actionable guidance.
- If both `gateway.auth.token` and `gateway.auth.password` are configured and `gateway.auth.mode` is unset, doctor blocks install/repair until mode is set explicitly.
- For Linux user-systemd units, doctor token drift checks now include both `Environment=` and `EnvironmentFile=` sources when comparing service auth metadata.
- Doctor service repairs refuse to rewrite, stop, or restart a gateway service from an older OpenClaw binary when the config was last written by a newer version. See [Gateway troubleshooting](/gateway/troubleshooting#split-brain-installs-and-newer-config-guard).
- You can always force a full rewrite via `openclaw gateway install --force`.

Newly installed or repaired macOS LaunchAgents use a canonical system PATH (`/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin`) instead of copying the interactive shell PATH, so Volta, asdf, fnm, pnpm, and other version-manager directories do not change which Node child processes resolve. Linux services still keep explicit environment roots (`NVM_DIR`, `FNM_DIR`, `VOLTA_HOME`, `ASDF_DATA_DIR`, `BUN_INSTALL`, `PNPM_HOME`) and stable user-bin directories, but guessed version-manager fallback directories are only written to the service PATH when those directories exist on disk.

See [/concepts/agent-workspace](/concepts/agent-workspace) for a full guide to workspace structure and git backup (recommended private GitHub or GitLab).