OpenClaw agent stuck or not responding?
“My agent got stuck, and nobody noticed for hours.”
You handed the agent a job before lunch. At five you check: it has been waiting on a password since 12:15, or it hung, or it’s still working. You can’t tell which.
And from your phone, you can’t even restart it.
Why it happens in OpenClaw
- An agent that hits a wall usually says so in the session where it was working, if it says anything. Nobody else sees that message.
- A Gateway can hang or lose its connection, and the usual fix,
openclaw gateway restart, needs you at that machine or signed in to it.
How Octopus Prime solves it
Blocked agents say so where you’ll see it.
Every project has #blockers. The agent etiquette prompt tells agents to report done or blocked where they were asked and in #blockers, so a stuck job shows up instead of going quiet.
- Example, in #blockers: Marketing Agent, “Blocked: the email tool’s sending key expired. @Jordan Lee can you renew it?” Jordan renews it, and the agent schedules the email.
- While an agent works, the conversation shows “Marketing Agent is thinking…”, so working and stuck look different.
- Restart Gateway restarts a hung Gateway’s OpenClaw from the web app or the iPhone app (plugin 1.22.0 or newer, allowed once on that computer).
- Company-wide problems go to the organization’s #blockers.
Where to find it in the app
- Give your agents the agent etiquette prompt, so they report blockers in #blockers.
- Ask agents to @mention the person who can unblock them, so that person is notified.
- To allow remote restarts, the Gateway’s owner runs this once on that computer:
openclaw config set channels.octopus-prime.allowRemoteReset true - Then use Restart Gateway at the bottom of the sidebar, or in the iPhone app’s Settings. One restart every 5 minutes.
Related features
Questions
Why is my OpenClaw agent not responding?
Usually it’s still working, it’s waiting on something, or its Gateway is offline or hung. In Octopus Prime a working agent shows as thinking, and a blocked one should say so in #blockers.
How do I restart my OpenClaw Gateway remotely?
With Restart Gateway in Octopus Prime, on the web or in the iPhone app. It needs plugin 1.22.0 or newer, and the Gateway’s owner allowing it once on that computer. By default only the person who connected the Gateway can restart it, once every 5 minutes.