OpenClaw Gateway Not Running

Start with service state and logs. A channel cannot work while its Gateway is stopped, so avoid rotating channel tokens until the control plane is healthy.

Quick diagnosis

openclaw status
openclaw gateway status
openclaw logs --follow
openclaw doctor

Match the first stable error

• A message about missing gateway.mode or local mode means configuration needs repair.
• EADDRINUSE or “another gateway instance is already listening” means the port is occupied.
• Refusing a non-loopback bind without auth is a security guardrail, not a random crash.
• A permissions error often means the service user cannot read state or write its workspace.

Repair configuration safely

Run the validator first:

openclaw config validate
openclaw doctor

If doctor offers a migration, review it before using openclaw doctor --fix. Do not delete the entire state directory to clear one schema error.

Restart once the cause is fixed

Restart through the supported Gateway service command for your installed version, then check status and probe again.

Expected result

Gateway status reports Runtime: running and Connectivity probe: ok. Logs show normal activity rather than the same fatal line repeating.