fix: align unknown cooldown expectations

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Telegram/final preview cleanup follow-up: clear stale cleanup-retain state only for transient preview finals so archived-preview retains no longer leave a stale partial bubble beside a later fallback-sent final. (#41763) Thanks @obviyus.
 - Signal/config schema: accept `channels.signal.accountUuid` in strict config validation so loop-protection configs no longer fail with an unrecognized-key error. (#35578) Thanks @ingyukoh.
 - Telegram/config schema: accept `channels.telegram.actions.editMessage` and `createForumTopic` in strict config validation so existing Telegram action toggles no longer fail as unrecognized keys. (#35498) Thanks @ingyukoh.
+- Agents/cooldowns: default cooldown windows with no recorded failure history to `unknown` instead of `rate_limit`, avoiding false API rate-limit warnings while preserving cooldown recovery probes. (#42911) Thanks @VibhorGautam.
 
 ## 2026.3.8
 

src/agents/model-fallback.test.ts

@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ describe("runWithModelFallback", () => {
       usageStat: {
         cooldownUntil: Date.now() + 5 * 60_000,
       },
-      expectedReason: "rate_limit",
+      expectedReason: "unknown",
     });
   });
 

src/agents/pi-embedded-runner.run-embedded-pi-agent.auth-profile-rotation.e2e.test.ts

@@ -981,7 +981,7 @@ describe("runEmbeddedPiAgent auth profile rotation", () => {
         }),
       ).rejects.toMatchObject({
         name: "FailoverError",
-        reason: "rate_limit",
+        reason: "unknown",
         provider: "openai",
         model: "mock-1",
       });
@@ -1153,7 +1153,7 @@ describe("runEmbeddedPiAgent auth profile rotation", () => {
         }),
       ).rejects.toMatchObject({
         name: "FailoverError",
-        reason: "rate_limit",
+        reason: "unknown",
         provider: "openai",
         model: "mock-1",
       });