OpenClaw Health Monitoring: MacBook Pro Node

1. Quick Service Status (Launchd)

Check if the node and tunnel services are reported as running by macOS:

launchctl list | grep ai.openclaw

ai.openclaw.node: The node runner.
ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel: The SSH entry tunnel.

A status of 0 in the middle column usually indicates success. A positive number is the PID.

2. Testing Connectivity (The "Curl" Test)

Since the tunnel maps the gateway to your local loopback, you can probe the gateway's health endpoint directly from the MacBook terminal:

curl -i http://127.0.0.1:18789/health

Success: Returns HTTP/1.1 200 OK with a JSON body {"ok":true,...}.
Failure (Tunnel Down): curl: (7) Failed to connect to 127.0.0.1 port 18789: Connection refused.
Failure (Gateway Down): curl: (52) Empty reply from server or timeout (if SSH connected but gateway is dead).

3. Log Inspection

The LaunchAgents are configured to log to ~/.openclaw/logs/.

Node Logs: tail -f ~/.openclaw/logs/node.err.log
- Look for: [node] connected to gateway, [node] authenticated.
- Errors like Device identity required indicate a pairing/token issue.
Tunnel Logs: tail -f ~/.openclaw/logs/ssh-tunnel.err.log
- Look for: Permission denied, Connection refused, or channel 0: open failed: connect failed.
- Forwarding port 18789 to 172.18.0.2:18789 should be present.

4. Using the Local CLI

You can use the openclaw CLI directly on the MacBook to interact with the gateway through the tunnel.

Check Node Status

openclaw node status

Manual Node Run (Foreground)

If the background service is acting up, stop it and run in the foreground to see real-time output:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.node.plist
openclaw node run --host 127.0.0.1 --port 18789 --display-name "Debug Node"

5. Advanced RPC Diagnostics

If you need to verify specific gateway states (e.g., if the node is actually visible in the node.list), you can use the RPC protocol. Since the openclaw CLI sometimes has scope issues, you can use a simple Node.js script (similar to the one on Luca) to send signed requests.

Example: Check Gateway Health via RPC

OPENCLAW_WS_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:18789 \
OPENCLAW_TOKEN=$(grep OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.node.plist | sed -E 's/.*<string>(.*)<\/string>.*/\1/') \
node -e "
const WebSocket = require('ws');
const ws = new WebSocket(process.env.OPENCLAW_WS_URL);
ws.on('open', () => {
  ws.send(JSON.stringify({
    type: 'req', id: '1', method: 'connect',
    params: { auth: { token: process.env.OPENCLAW_TOKEN }, role: 'operator', scopes: ['operator.read'] }
  }));
});
ws.on('message', (data) => {
  const msg = JSON.parse(data);
  if (msg.method === 'connect') {
     ws.send(JSON.stringify({ type: 'req', id: '2', method: 'health' }));
  } else if (msg.id === '2') {
     console.log(JSON.stringify(msg.payload, null, 2));
     process.exit(0);
  }
});
"

6. Restarting Services

If things get stuck, the "Standard Restart" is:

# 1. Restart Tunnel
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel.plist
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel.plist

# 2. Restart Node
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.node.plist
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.node.plist

Wait ~5 seconds between steps for the port to bind.

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