OpenClaw Offline? Common Fixes

Quick Diagnosis

When OpenClaw goes offline, check these first:

# Is the process running?
pm2 status

# View recent logs
pm2 logs openclaw --lines 50

# Check system resources
free -h && df -h

Common Causes & Fixes

1. Process Crashed

Symptoms: Bot shows offline everywhere

Check:

pm2 status
# Look for "errored" or "stopped" status

Fix:

pm2 restart openclaw

Prevent future crashes:

pm2 start openclaw --max-memory-restart 500M --restart-delay 5000

2. Invalid API Token

Symptoms: Bot starts but immediately goes offline

Check logs:

pm2 logs openclaw | grep -i "token\|auth\|401"

Fix:

For Discord:

1. Regenerate token at Discord Developer Portal
2. Update .env:

nano /opt/openclaw/.env
# Update DISCORD_TOKEN

3. Restart: pm2 restart openclaw

For Telegram:

1. Regenerate with @BotFather /revoke
2. Update .env with new token
3. Restart

3. API Key Expired/Invalid

Symptoms: Bot online but doesn't respond to messages

Check:

pm2 logs openclaw | grep -i "api\|anthropic\|openai\|key"

Fix:

1. Verify API key at provider's console
2. Check for billing issues
3. Update .env with valid key
4. Restart: pm2 restart openclaw

4. Memory Exhaustion

Symptoms: Bot becomes slow then crashes

Check:

pm2 monit
# Watch memory climb

Quick fix:

pm2 restart openclaw

Long-term fix:

# Increase memory limit
pm2 delete openclaw
pm2 start index.js --name openclaw \
  --node-args="--max-old-space-size=2048" \
  --max-memory-restart 1G
pm2 save

5. Network Issues

Symptoms: Intermittent offline, timeout errors

Check:

ping discord.com
ping api.anthropic.com
curl -I https://discord.com/api/v10/gateway

Fix:

• Check VPS provider status page
• Verify firewall: sudo ufw status
• Check DNS: nslookup discord.com
• Wait for provider to resolve (if their issue)

6. Discord Gateway Disconnect

Symptoms: "Gateway disconnected" in logs

Check:

pm2 logs openclaw | grep -i "gateway\|disconnect\|shard"

Fix:

pm2 restart openclaw

If persistent, check intents:

1. Go to Discord Developer Portal
2. Enable required intents:
   • Presence Intent
   • Server Members Intent
   • Message Content Intent

7. Telegram Polling Timeout

Symptoms: Telegram bot offline, "polling error" in logs

Check:

pm2 logs openclaw | grep -i "telegram\|polling\|getUpdates"

Fix:

# Sometimes webhook conflicts exist
# Clear any existing webhook
curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/deleteWebhook"

pm2 restart openclaw

8. Configuration Error

Symptoms: Bot won't start, config errors in logs

Check:

pm2 logs openclaw | grep -i "config\|env\|parse\|json"

Fix:

# Test running directly
cd /opt/openclaw
node index.js

# Check for syntax errors
node --check index.js

# Verify .env file
cat .env | head -20

Diagnostic Script

Run this comprehensive check:

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== OpenClaw Diagnostic ==="
echo ""
echo "Process Status:"
pm2 status openclaw
echo ""
echo "Memory:"
free -h
echo ""
echo "Disk:"
df -h /
echo ""
echo "Recent Errors:"
pm2 logs openclaw --err --lines 20
echo ""
echo "Network Test:"
ping -c 2 discord.com

Save as diagnose.sh, run with bash diagnose.sh.

Log Analysis

Common Error Messages

| Error | Meaning | Solution | |-------|---------|----------| | ECONNREFUSED | Can't reach server | Check network/firewall | | 401 Unauthorized | Invalid token | Update credentials | | 429 Too Many Requests | Rate limited | Wait/reduce frequency | | ENOMEM | Out of memory | Restart/increase RAM | | ETIMEDOUT | Request timeout | Check connectivity | | TOKEN_INVALID | Revoked/wrong token | Regenerate token |

Reading Stack Traces

# Get detailed error info
pm2 logs openclaw --err --lines 100

# Look for:
# - Error name (TypeError, ReferenceError, etc.)
# - File and line number
# - Stack trace showing call path

Prevention Checklist

• [ ] Auto-restart enabled: pm2 start --restart-delay 5000
• [ ] Memory limit set: --max-memory-restart 500M
• [ ] Logs rotated: pm2 install pm2-logrotate
• [ ] Monitoring active: See monitoring guide
• [ ] Backups configured
• [ ] Alert webhook set up

Recovery Steps

If nothing else works:

# 1. Stop everything
pm2 delete openclaw

# 2. Clean install
cd /opt/openclaw
rm -rf node_modules
npm install

# 3. Verify config
cat .env  # Check all values

# 4. Test manually
node index.js

# 5. If working, restart with PM2
pm2 start index.js --name openclaw
pm2 save
pm2 startup

Related Guides

• OpenClaw not responding
• Bot crashes
• Memory issues
• Monitoring setup

Still Offline?

If you've tried everything, contact us for help. Our maintenance plans include monitoring and rapid response to outages.