--- name: node-connect description: "Diagnose OpenClaw Control UI browser and native Android, iOS, or macOS node connection failures across route, auth, pairing, QR/setup-code, and reconnect states." --- # Node Connect Goal: fix one exact client against one exact Gateway, then prove that client's fresh connection. ## 1. Lock the target Record the target environment/profile, OpenClaw binary, config/state root, Gateway URL/port, and service before changing anything. - Use the named deployment wrapper/profile for every config, log, service, device, and node command. - Never drift to a bare `openclaw`, proof environment, or similarly named deployment. - If the global executable is stale, invoke the target through its owner. - Verify status, config, logs, and process identity describe the same Gateway. Identify the target Gateway before changing pairing or auth. ## 2. Classify the client Classify from the request and Gateway log before choosing commands: - **Control UI browser:** the user says browser, dashboard, Control UI, or webchat; logs show `client=openclaw-control-ui` or `mode=webchat`. - **Native mobile/node:** the official app shows Connect, Scan QR, or setup code; logs/request metadata show a native client or `role=node`. A phone can be either client. Do not use `openclaw qr` or `openclaw nodes status` for a phone browser; those belong to native mobile/node pairing. ## 3. Observe the failing attempt Run these through the locked target: ```bash openclaw gateway status --deep openclaw logs --follow --json openclaw devices list openclaw config get gateway.mode openclaw config get gateway.bind openclaw config get gateway.remote.url openclaw config get gateway.auth.mode openclaw config get gateway.auth.allowTailscale openclaw config get gateway.tailscale.mode ``` Have the client retry once while logs are live. Correlate its client ID, mode, platform, address, auth result, device ID, user, and close code. Ignore other paired devices. Interpret the first failed transition: - No matching Gateway attempt: route, DNS, TLS, origin, or proxy problem. - `token_missing`, `password_missing`, mismatch, or Tailscale identity failure: auth failed **before** pairing, so an empty pending list is expected. - `pairing required`: route and auth succeeded; approve the exact pending request. - `client connected`: match `conn`, `client`, `mode`, and `role` to the exact client. Admission precedes the hello response; if followed by `1006`, preserve auth/pairing and inspect hello delivery, lifecycle, transport, proxy, or reconnect. Older builds use overlapping `authenticated user connected` / `webchat connected` records that omit ephemeral clients. - `1006` without a matching application-level admission record does not prove auth/pairing; inspect the earlier handshake transition. ## 4. Prove the route Choose one topology: same machine, LAN, tailnet, or public reverse proxy. Do not mix them. - Browser Control UI needs HTTPS or localhost for browser device identity. A remote plain-HTTP Tailnet/LAN URL is not a valid substitute. - `gateway.tailscale.mode=off` means OpenClaw is not managing Serve/Funnel. It does not prove that Tailscale or an externally managed Serve route is absent. - When Tailscale is involved, inspect live state rather than inferring it from OpenClaw config: ```bash tailscale status --json tailscale serve status --json ``` Match the client's URL to the listener/proxy route reaching the locked Gateway. ## 5A. Control UI browser lane Restore browser auth before looking for a pairing request: - For token/password auth, enter the credential in Control UI settings. Never put permanent secrets in chat, logs, or URLs. - Prefer `openclaw dashboard` on the Gateway host for a one-time signed handoff. Use `--no-open` only when the operator can retrieve that host's clipboard, and keep the host browser/clipboard outside agent tooling. Never capture `dashboard --json`: it can expose the handoff and shared credentials. Never relay, rewrite, or send a loopback handoff URL to a remote phone. - For Tailscale Serve, verify the live route and forwarded identity. Enable `gateway.auth.allowTailscale` only for that intended trust boundary. Verified Tailscale Control UI auth with browser device identity can skip pairing. After auth succeeds: - Retry; never infer pairing from the pre-auth attempt. Token/password auth can reveal `pairing required`; verified Tailscale identity can skip it. - If logs say `pairing required`, re-list devices and approve the exact request ID. - A successful verified-Tailscale connection may correctly create no pending or paired-device row. - After a repeated `1006`, preserve auth/pairing and inspect reconnect evidence. ## 5B. Native mobile/node lane Inspect the native route through the locked target without exposing the setup credential: ```bash openclaw qr --json | jq '{gatewayUrl, gatewayUrls, auth, access, accessDowngraded, urlSource}' ``` For a CLI controlling a remote Gateway, add `--remote` before `--json`; it selects `gateway.remote.url` and remote credentials. If the redaction filter is unavailable, do not run raw QR JSON in agent-visible output. Verify `gatewayUrl` and `urlSource`. The setup code is password-equivalent: have the operator copy it from **Control UI → Devices → Pair device**, or run `openclaw qr --setup-code-only` in a terminal outside agent tooling and paste it directly into the official app. Never relay it through agent/chat/tool output. Generate a fresh code after a URL/auth fix or expiry. If the app reports `pairing required`: ```bash openclaw devices list openclaw devices approve --latest # preview only; exits without approval openclaw devices approve openclaw nodes status ``` `--latest` only previews the current request; never treat it as approval. Re-list immediately before the exact-ID command because retries can supersede the request. Never approve by position, age, or similarity. ## 6. Correlate and finish Before approval, match available request, device/public-key, client, mode/role, platform, address, user, and retry-time facts. Declare success only after a new attempt made after the final change proves all applicable checks: - the exact client reaches the locked Gateway; - intended auth succeeds; - the browser completes initial requests, or the native node appears in `openclaw nodes status`; - approval used the exact request ID; and - no immediate auth, pairing, or reconnect failure follows. A QR/setup code, launched browser, empty pending list, approval, paired-device count, or Tailscale ping proves only one transition. Report the diagnosis, chosen route/auth lane, exact-client evidence, and any remaining failed transition. --- Source attribution: openclaw Original project: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/blob/cbac30f3b63366a37ed583ad2f03c0e2eef2c0c7/skills/node-connect/SKILL.md License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 OpenClaw Foundation Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: openclaw Original project: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/blob/cbac30f3b63366a37ed583ad2f03c0e2eef2c0c7/skills/node-connect/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Development & Engineering, Customer Support Roles: Backend Developer, DevOps / SRE, Technical Support Specialties: Backend Tools: OpenAI API, Openclaw Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 40f47cc3c6922049acb5b9a6871572a1f0d4c5b01eb7abfa9f36d0b933fe91ba