openclaw/docs/help/debugging.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Debugging tools: watch mode, raw model streams, and tracing reasoning leakage	You need to inspect raw model output for reasoning leakage You want to run the Gateway in watch mode while iterating You need a repeatable debugging workflow	Debugging

Debugging helpers for streaming output, especially when a provider mixes reasoning into normal text.

Runtime debug overrides

Use /debug in chat to set runtime-only config overrides (memory, not disk). /debug is disabled by default; enable with commands.debug: true. This is handy when you need to toggle obscure settings without editing openclaw.json.

Examples:

/debug show
/debug set messages.responsePrefix="[openclaw]"
/debug unset messages.responsePrefix
/debug reset

/debug reset clears all overrides and returns to the on-disk config.

Session trace output

Use /trace when you want to see plugin-owned trace/debug lines in one session without turning on full verbose mode.

Examples:

/trace
/trace on
/trace off

Use /trace for plugin diagnostics such as Active Memory debug summaries. Keep using /verbose for normal verbose status/tool output, and keep using /debug for runtime-only config overrides.

Plugin lifecycle trace

Use OPENCLAW_PLUGIN_LIFECYCLE_TRACE=1 when plugin lifecycle commands feel slow and you need a built-in phase breakdown for plugin metadata, discovery, registry, runtime mirror, config mutation, and refresh work. The trace is opt-in and writes to stderr, so JSON command output remains parseable.

Example:

OPENCLAW_PLUGIN_LIFECYCLE_TRACE=1 openclaw plugins install tokenjuice --force

Example output:

[plugins:lifecycle] phase="config read" ms=6.83 status=ok command="install"
[plugins:lifecycle] phase="slot selection" ms=94.31 status=ok command="install" pluginId="tokenjuice"
[plugins:lifecycle] phase="registry refresh" ms=51.56 status=ok command="install" reason="source-changed"

Use this for plugin lifecycle investigation before reaching for a CPU profiler. If the command is running from a source checkout, prefer measuring the built runtime with node dist/entry.js ... after pnpm build; pnpm openclaw ... also measures source-runner overhead.

CLI startup and command profiling

Use the checked-in startup benchmark when a command feels slow:

pnpm test:startup:bench:smoke
pnpm tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --preset real --case status --runs 3
pnpm tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --preset real --cpu-prof-dir .artifacts/cli-cpu

For one-off profiling through the normal source runner, set OPENCLAW_RUN_NODE_CPU_PROF_DIR:

OPENCLAW_RUN_NODE_CPU_PROF_DIR=.artifacts/cli-cpu pnpm openclaw status

The source runner adds Node CPU profile flags and writes a .cpuprofile for the command. Use this before adding temporary instrumentation to command code.

Gateway watch mode

For fast iteration, run the gateway under the file watcher:

pnpm gateway:watch

By default, this starts or restarts a tmux session named openclaw-gateway-watch-main (or a profile/port-specific variant such as openclaw-gateway-watch-dev-19001) and auto-attaches from interactive terminals. Non-interactive shells, CI, and agent exec calls stay detached and print attach instructions instead. Attach manually when needed:

tmux attach -t openclaw-gateway-watch-main

The tmux pane runs the raw watcher:

node scripts/watch-node.mjs gateway --force

Use foreground mode when tmux is not wanted:

pnpm gateway:watch:raw
# or
OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WATCH_TMUX=0 pnpm gateway:watch

Disable auto-attach while keeping tmux management:

OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WATCH_ATTACH=0 pnpm gateway:watch

Profile watched Gateway CPU time when debugging startup/runtime hotspots:

pnpm gateway:watch --benchmark

The watch wrapper consumes --benchmark before invoking the Gateway and writes one V8 .cpuprofile per Gateway child exit under .artifacts/gateway-watch-profiles/. Stop or restart the watched gateway to flush the current profile, then open it with Chrome DevTools or Speedscope:

npx speedscope .artifacts/gateway-watch-profiles/*.cpuprofile

Use --benchmark-dir <path> when you want profiles somewhere else.

The tmux wrapper carries common non-secret runtime selectors such as OPENCLAW_PROFILE, OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH, OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT, and OPENCLAW_SKIP_CHANNELS into the pane. Put provider credentials in your normal profile/config, or use raw foreground mode for one-off ephemeral secrets. The managed tmux pane also defaults to colored Gateway logs for readability; set FORCE_COLOR=0 when starting pnpm gateway:watch to disable ANSI output.

The watcher restarts on build-relevant files under src/, extension source files, extension package.json and openclaw.plugin.json metadata, tsconfig.json, package.json, and tsdown.config.ts. Extension metadata changes restart the gateway without forcing a tsdown rebuild; source and config changes still rebuild dist first.

Add any gateway CLI flags after gateway:watch and they will be passed through on each restart. Re-running the same watch command respawns the named tmux pane, and the raw watcher still keeps its single-watcher lock so duplicate watcher parents are replaced instead of piling up.

Dev profile + dev gateway (--dev)

Use the dev profile to isolate state and spin up a safe, disposable setup for debugging. There are two --dev flags:

• Global --dev (profile): isolates state under ~/.openclaw-dev and defaults the gateway port to 19001 (derived ports shift with it).
• gateway --dev: tells the Gateway to auto-create a default config + workspace when missing (and skip BOOTSTRAP.md).

Recommended flow (dev profile + dev bootstrap):

pnpm gateway:dev
OPENCLAW_PROFILE=dev openclaw tui

If you don’t have a global install yet, run the CLI via pnpm openclaw ....

What this does:

1. Profile isolation (global --dev)

   • OPENCLAW_PROFILE=dev
   • OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR=~/.openclaw-dev
   • OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH=~/.openclaw-dev/openclaw.json
   • OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=19001 (browser/canvas shift accordingly)

2. Dev bootstrap (gateway --dev)

   • Writes a minimal config if missing (gateway.mode=local, bind loopback).
   • Sets agent.workspace to the dev workspace.
   • Sets agent.skipBootstrap=true (no BOOTSTRAP.md).
   • Seeds the workspace files if missing: AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, IDENTITY.md, USER.md, HEARTBEAT.md.
   • Default identity: C3‑PO (protocol droid).
   • Skips channel providers in dev mode (OPENCLAW_SKIP_CHANNELS=1).

Reset flow (fresh start):

pnpm gateway:dev:reset

`--dev` is a **global** profile flag and gets eaten by some runners. If you need to spell it out, use the env var form:

OPENCLAW_PROFILE=dev openclaw gateway --dev --reset

--reset wipes config, credentials, sessions, and the dev workspace (using trash, not rm), then recreates the default dev setup.

If a non-dev gateway is already running (launchd or systemd), stop it first:

openclaw gateway stop

Raw stream logging (OpenClaw)

OpenClaw can log the raw assistant stream before any filtering/formatting. This is the best way to see whether reasoning is arriving as plain text deltas (or as separate thinking blocks).

Enable it via CLI:

pnpm gateway:watch --raw-stream

Optional path override:

pnpm gateway:watch --raw-stream --raw-stream-path ~/.openclaw/logs/raw-stream.jsonl

Equivalent env vars:

OPENCLAW_RAW_STREAM=1
OPENCLAW_RAW_STREAM_PATH=~/.openclaw/logs/raw-stream.jsonl

Default file:

~/.openclaw/logs/raw-stream.jsonl

Raw chunk logging (pi-mono)

To capture raw OpenAI-compat chunks before they are parsed into blocks, pi-mono exposes a separate logger:

PI_RAW_STREAM=1

Optional path:

PI_RAW_STREAM_PATH=~/.pi-mono/logs/raw-openai-completions.jsonl

Default file:

~/.pi-mono/logs/raw-openai-completions.jsonl

Note: this is only emitted by processes using pi-mono’s openai-completions provider.

Safety notes

• Raw stream logs can include full prompts, tool output, and user data.
• Keep logs local and delete them after debugging.
• If you share logs, scrub secrets and PII first.

Related

• Troubleshooting
• FAQ