---
summary: "CLI reference for `openclaw doctor` (health checks + guided repairs)"
read_when:
  - You have connectivity/auth issues and want guided fixes
  - You updated and want a sanity check
title: "Doctor"
---

# `openclaw doctor`

Health checks + quick fixes for the gateway and channels.

Related:

- Troubleshooting: [Troubleshooting](/gateway/troubleshooting)
- Security audit: [Security](/gateway/security)

## Examples

```bash
openclaw doctor
openclaw doctor --repair
openclaw doctor --deep
openclaw doctor --repair --non-interactive
openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token
```

## Options

- `--no-workspace-suggestions`: disable workspace memory/search suggestions
- `--yes`: accept defaults without prompting
- `--repair`: apply recommended non-service repairs without prompting; gateway service installs and rewrites still require interactive confirmation or explicit gateway commands
- `--fix`: alias for `--repair`
- `--force`: apply aggressive repairs, including overwriting custom service config when needed
- `--non-interactive`: run without prompts; safe migrations and non-service repairs only
- `--generate-gateway-token`: generate and configure a gateway token
- `--deep`: scan system services for extra gateway installs and report recent Gateway supervisor restart handoffs

Notes:

- In Nix mode (`OPENCLAW_NIX_MODE=1`), read-only doctor checks still work, but `doctor --fix`, `doctor --repair`, `doctor --yes`, and `doctor --generate-gateway-token` are disabled because `openclaw.json` is immutable. Edit the Nix source for this install instead; for nix-openclaw, use the agent-first [Quick Start](https://github.com/openclaw/nix-openclaw#quick-start).
- Interactive prompts (like keychain/OAuth fixes) only run when stdin is a TTY and `--non-interactive` is **not** set. Headless runs (cron, Telegram, no terminal) will skip prompts.
- Performance: non-interactive `doctor` runs skip eager plugin loading so headless health checks stay fast. Interactive sessions still fully load plugins when a check needs their contribution.
- `--fix` (alias for `--repair`) writes a backup to `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak` and drops unknown config keys, listing each removal.
- `doctor --fix --non-interactive` reports missing or stale gateway service definitions but does not install or rewrite them outside update repair mode. Run `openclaw gateway install` for a missing service, or `openclaw gateway install --force` when you intentionally want to replace the launcher.
- State integrity checks now detect orphan transcript files in the sessions directory. Archiving them as `.deleted.<timestamp>` requires an interactive confirmation; `--fix`, `--yes`, and headless runs leave them in place.
- Doctor also scans `~/.openclaw/cron/jobs.json` (or `cron.store`) for legacy cron job shapes and can rewrite them in place before the scheduler has to auto-normalize them at runtime.
- On Linux, doctor warns when the user's crontab still runs legacy `~/.openclaw/bin/ensure-whatsapp.sh`; that script is no longer maintained and can log false WhatsApp gateway outages when cron lacks the systemd user-bus environment.
- When WhatsApp is enabled, doctor checks for a degraded Gateway event loop with local `openclaw-tui` clients still running. `doctor --fix` stops only verified local TUI clients so WhatsApp replies are not queued behind stale TUI refresh loops.
- Doctor checks `openai-codex/*` model refs across primary models, fallbacks, heartbeat/subagent/compaction overrides, hooks, channel model overrides, and stale session route pins. `--fix` rewrites them to `openai/*` only when the native Codex runtime is installed, enabled, contributes the `codex` harness, and has usable OAuth, or when direct OpenAI auth is already available and no usable Codex OAuth route would be moved. When `openai-codex/*` is the working Codex OAuth route through OpenClaw PI, doctor preserves it. If an earlier repair left `openai/*` GPT-5 routes on PI while only Codex OAuth auth is available, `--fix` recovers them back to `openai-codex/*`; when direct OpenAI auth is also usable, doctor warns and leaves the ambiguous mixed-auth route unchanged for explicit confirmation.
- Doctor cleans legacy plugin dependency staging state created by older OpenClaw versions. It also repairs missing downloadable plugins that are referenced by config, such as `plugins.entries`, configured channels, configured provider/search settings, or configured agent runtimes. During package updates, doctor skips package-manager plugin repair until the package swap is complete; rerun `openclaw doctor --fix` afterward if a configured plugin still needs recovery. If the download fails, doctor reports the install error and preserves the configured plugin entry for the next repair attempt.
- Doctor repairs stale plugin config by removing missing plugin ids from `plugins.allow`/`plugins.entries`, plus matching dangling channel config, heartbeat targets, and channel model overrides when plugin discovery is healthy.
- Doctor quarantines invalid plugin config by disabling the affected `plugins.entries.<id>` entry and removing its invalid `config` payload. Gateway startup already skips only that bad plugin so other plugins and channels can keep running.
- Set `OPENCLAW_SERVICE_REPAIR_POLICY=external` when another supervisor owns the gateway lifecycle. Doctor still reports gateway/service health and applies non-service repairs, but skips service install/start/restart/bootstrap and legacy service cleanup.
- On Linux, doctor ignores inactive extra gateway-like systemd units and does not rewrite command/entrypoint metadata for a running systemd gateway service during repair. Stop the service first or use `openclaw gateway install --force` when you intentionally want to replace the active launcher.
- Doctor auto-migrates legacy flat Talk config (`talk.voiceId`, `talk.modelId`, and friends) into `talk.provider` + `talk.providers.<provider>`.
- Repeat `doctor --fix` runs no longer report/apply Talk normalization when the only difference is object key order.
- Doctor includes a memory-search readiness check and can recommend `openclaw configure --section model` when embedding credentials are missing.
- Doctor warns when no command owner is configured. The command owner is the human operator account allowed to run owner-only commands and approve dangerous actions. DM pairing only lets someone talk to the bot; if you approved a sender before first-owner bootstrap existed, set `commands.ownerAllowFrom` explicitly.
- Doctor warns when Codex-mode agents are configured and personal Codex CLI assets exist in the operator's Codex home. Local Codex app-server launches use isolated per-agent homes, so use `openclaw migrate codex --dry-run` to inventory assets that should be promoted deliberately.
- Doctor warns when skills allowed for the default agent are unavailable in the current runtime environment because bins, env vars, config, or OS requirements are missing. `doctor --fix` can disable those unavailable skills with `skills.entries.<skill>.enabled=false`; install/configure the missing requirement instead when you want to keep the skill active.
- If sandbox mode is enabled but Docker is unavailable, doctor reports a high-signal warning with remediation (`install Docker` or `openclaw config set agents.defaults.sandbox.mode off`).
- If legacy sandbox registry files (`~/.openclaw/sandbox/containers.json` or `~/.openclaw/sandbox/browsers.json`) are present, doctor reports them; `openclaw doctor --fix` migrates valid entries into sharded registry directories and quarantines invalid legacy files.
- If `gateway.auth.token`/`gateway.auth.password` are SecretRef-managed and unavailable in the current command path, doctor reports a read-only warning and does not write plaintext fallback credentials.
- If channel SecretRef inspection fails in a fix path, doctor continues and reports a warning instead of exiting early.
- After state-directory migrations, doctor warns when enabled default Telegram or Discord accounts depend on env fallback and `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` or `DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN` is unavailable to the doctor process.
- Telegram `allowFrom` username auto-resolution (`doctor --fix`) requires a resolvable Telegram token in the current command path. If token inspection is unavailable, doctor reports a warning and skips auto-resolution for that pass.

## macOS: `launchctl` env overrides

If you previously ran `launchctl setenv OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN ...` (or `...PASSWORD`), that value overrides your config file and can cause persistent "unauthorized" errors.

```bash
launchctl getenv OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN
launchctl getenv OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD

launchctl unsetenv OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN
launchctl unsetenv OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD
```

## Related

- [CLI reference](/cli)
- [Gateway doctor](/gateway/doctor)
