fix(bonjour): bound stuck advertiser restarts

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Plugins/Bonjour: stop ciao mDNS watchdog failures from looping forever when
+  the advertiser stays stuck in `probing` or `announcing`; Bonjour now disables
+  itself for the current Gateway process after repeated failed restarts while
+  the Gateway keeps running. Fixes #69011. Thanks @siddharthaagarwalofficial-ux,
+  @FiredMosquito831, and @spikefcz.
 - Feishu: accept Schema 2.0 card action callbacks that report
   `context.open_chat_id` instead of legacy `context.chat_id`, so button
   callbacks no longer drop as malformed. Fixes #71670. Thanks @eddy1068.

docs/gateway/bonjour.md

@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ The Gateway writes a rolling log file (printed on startup as
 - `bonjour: advertise failed ...`
 - `bonjour: ... name conflict resolved` / `hostname conflict resolved`
 - `bonjour: watchdog detected non-announced service ...`
+- `bonjour: disabling advertiser after ... failed restarts ...`
 
 ## Debugging on iOS node
 
@@ -155,6 +156,10 @@ The log includes browser state transitions and result‑set changes.
 
 - **Bonjour doesn’t cross networks**: use Tailnet or SSH.
 - **Multicast blocked**: some Wi‑Fi networks disable mDNS.
+- **Advertiser stuck in probing/announcing**: hosts with blocked multicast,
+  container bridges, WSL, or interface churn can leave the ciao advertiser in a
+  non-announced state. OpenClaw retries a few times and then disables Bonjour
+  for the current Gateway process instead of restarting the advertiser forever.
 - **Sleep / interface churn**: macOS may temporarily drop mDNS results; retry.
 - **Browse works but resolve fails**: keep machine names simple (avoid emojis or
   punctuation), then restart the Gateway. The service instance name derives from

extensions/bonjour/src/advertiser.test.ts

@@ -533,6 +533,38 @@ describe("gateway bonjour advertiser", () => {
     expect(shutdown).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
 
+  it("disables bonjour for the process after repeated stuck advertiser restarts", async () => {
+    enableAdvertiserUnitMode();
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+
+    const stateRef = { value: "announcing" };
+    const destroy = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+    const advertise = vi.fn(() => new Promise<void>(() => {}));
+    mockCiaoService({ advertise, destroy, stateRef });
+
+    const started = await startAdvertiser({
+      gatewayPort: 18789,
+      sshPort: 2222,
+    });
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(65_000);
+
+    expect(logger.warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining("disabling advertiser after 3 failed restarts"),
+    );
+    expect(createService).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
+    expect(advertise).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
+    expect(destroy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
+    expect(shutdown).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(60_000);
+    expect(createService).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
+    expect(advertise).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
+
+    await started.stop();
+    expect(shutdown).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
   it("normalizes hostnames with domains for service names", async () => {
     // Allow advertiser to run in unit tests.
     delete process.env.VITEST;

extensions/bonjour/src/advertiser.ts

@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ type BonjourAdvertiserDeps = {
 const WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS = 5_000;
 const REPAIR_DEBOUNCE_MS = 30_000;
 const STUCK_ANNOUNCING_MS = 8_000;
+const MAX_CONSECUTIVE_RESTARTS = 3;
 const BONJOUR_ANNOUNCED_STATE = "announced";
 const CIAO_SELF_PROBE_RETRY_FRAGMENT =
   "failed probing with reason: Error: Can't probe for a service which is announced already.";
@@ -332,7 +333,9 @@ export async function startGatewayBonjourAdvertiser(
 
     let stopped = false;
     let recreatePromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
-    let cycle = createCycle();
+    let disabled = false;
+    let consecutiveRestarts = 0;
+    let cycle: BonjourCycle | null = createCycle();
     const stateTracker = new Map<string, ServiceStateTracker>();
     attachConflictListeners(cycle.services);
     startAdvertising(cycle.services);
@@ -353,13 +356,26 @@ export async function startGatewayBonjourAdvertiser(
     };
 
     const recreateAdvertiser = async (reason: string) => {
-      if (stopped) {
+      if (stopped || disabled) {
         return;
       }
       if (recreatePromise) {
         return recreatePromise;
       }
       recreatePromise = (async () => {
+        consecutiveRestarts += 1;
+        if (consecutiveRestarts > MAX_CONSECUTIVE_RESTARTS) {
+          disabled = true;
+          logger.warn(
+            `bonjour: disabling advertiser after ${MAX_CONSECUTIVE_RESTARTS} failed restarts (${reason}); set discovery.mdns.mode="off" or OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1 to disable mDNS discovery`,
+          );
+          const previous = cycle;
+          cycle = null;
+          stateTracker.clear();
+          await stopCycle(previous, { shutdownResponder: true });
+          restoreConsoleLog();
+          return;
+        }
         logger.warn(`bonjour: restarting advertiser (${reason})`);
         const previous = cycle;
         await stopCycle(previous);
@@ -378,12 +394,18 @@ export async function startGatewayBonjourAdvertiser(
       if (stopped || recreatePromise) {
         return;
       }
+      if (disabled || !cycle) {
+        return;
+      }
       updateStateTrackers(cycle.services);
       for (const { label, svc } of cycle.services) {
         const stateUnknown = (svc as { serviceState?: unknown }).serviceState;
         if (typeof stateUnknown !== "string") {
           continue;
         }
+        if (stateUnknown === "announced") {
+          consecutiveRestarts = 0;
+        }
         const tracked = stateTracker.get(label);
         if (
           stateUnknown !== "announced" &&