OpenClaw Health Checks Guide: How to Verify Gateway and Channel Status

If you want the short answer, use openclaw status for a quick local summary, openclaw status --deep or openclaw health --verbose when you want a live probe, and openclaw logs --follow when you need to see what the Gateway is doing in real time.

That three-command stack solves most live visibility problems.

The reason health checks matter in OpenClaw is simple. When an assistant stops feeling responsive, the real problem could live in several different places. The Gateway might be down. A channel may have gone stale. Auth may have expired. A sender may not be allowed. Or the system may actually be healthy and the issue is somewhere else.

Good health commands help you stop guessing.

The official Health Checks docs are useful because they break the problem into layers. First check the local summary. Then ask for a deeper live probe. Then look at logs if the failure is still happening.

What each health command is for

openclaw status

This is the fastest everyday check.

The docs describe it as a local summary of Gateway reachability or mode, update hints, linked channel auth age, sessions, and recent activity. That is exactly the kind of high-signal snapshot you want before you start debugging anything else.

If you only have time for one command, start here:

openclaw status

openclaw status --all

Use this when you want a fuller local diagnosis that is still read-only and easy to paste into a debugging conversation.

openclaw status --all

openclaw status --deep

This is where status becomes more than a summary.

The health docs say status --deep asks the running Gateway for a live health probe, including per-account channel probes when supported.

openclaw status --deep

If the assistant feels alive in some places and broken in others, this is often the command that separates local client looks fine from live channel state is not fine.

openclaw health

This asks the running Gateway for its health snapshot.

openclaw health
openclaw health --json

The docs explain that health can return a cached snapshot by default, while --verbose forces a live probe and prints gateway connection details.

openclaw health --verbose

Use verbose when you want the freshest possible answer.

openclaw health --verbose

This is the better choice when you are checking right after a restart, a config change, or a reconnect issue.

openclaw logs

When summary commands tell you something is wrong but not why, jump to logs.

openclaw logs
openclaw logs --follow

The logs docs explain that this tails Gateway file logs over RPC, and it works in remote mode too. In other words, logs are where you go when the system is doing something interesting right now and you need to see the pattern.

A simple health-check flow that actually works

Here is the sequence I would use after setup changes, channel weirdness, or a suspicious restart.

Step 1: confirm the Gateway is up

Start with the simplest service-level question:

openclaw gateway status

If the Gateway is not running, the rest of the debugging tree is mostly wasted motion.

Step 2: get the local summary

Then run:

openclaw status

This tells you whether the local view already shows obvious trouble, such as missing reachability or strange recent activity.

Step 3: ask for a live probe

If the problem is still unclear, go deeper:

openclaw status --deep
openclaw health --verbose

You do not always need both, but these are the commands that turn vague suspicion into something concrete.

Step 4: inspect logs if the issue is active

If a channel keeps reconnecting, messages are not arriving, or behavior is inconsistent, follow the logs:

openclaw logs --follow

That is where you spot loops, disconnects, stale events, or auth failures.

Common problems these commands help you separate

Gateway unreachable

This is the first thing to rule out.

If the Gateway is down or unreachable, dashboard and channel problems can look bigger than they are. The health docs recommend starting it again and checking the connection rather than guessing from symptoms.

Channel looks connected but messages are not arriving

The docs call out several possible causes:

• linked device is not actually online
• the sender is not allowed
• group allowlist or mention rules do not match the situation
• the channel is stale and needs relinking or health monitoring attention

This is why health checks are better than intuition. It looks connected is not a diagnosis.

Logged-out or relink cases

The official guidance mentions relinking with channel logout and login when certain logged-out states or status codes appear. If the logs or health output point in that direction, do the relink work instead of repeatedly restarting unrelated pieces.

Live but stale channels

The health docs also describe monitor settings like check interval, stale-event threshold, and max restarts per hour. That matters when a channel is technically connected but operationally sleepy.

Session-store versus channel issues

One useful detail in the docs is that status and health include session-store summary information. That is helpful because it tells you whether the problem is messages not entering the system or the system being up while conversational state looks odd.

Health checks versus doctor

These tools work together, but they are not the same thing.

Use OpenClaw Doctor Guide when the problem is setup, repair, migration, or config integrity.

Use health commands when the setup already exists and you want to know what is happening right now.

That distinction saves time.

If you are still early in setup, pair this guide with OpenClaw Onboarding Guide, OpenClaw Dashboard Guide, and OpenClaw Configuration Guide.

A practical troubleshooting stack for real teams

If I wanted a low-drama operating habit for OpenClaw, it would look like this:

1. openclaw gateway status for service reality
2. openclaw status for a fast local summary
3. openclaw status --deep or openclaw health --verbose for a live probe
4. openclaw logs --follow for active failure analysis
5. only then move into relinking, config edits, or deeper repairs

That workflow is simple, but it prevents one of the most common mistakes in ops work. People change things before they have actually observed the system.

Useful follow-up reads:

• What Is OpenClaw
• Setup Guide
• Multi-Agent
• OpenClaw Session Management Guide
• OpenClaw Session Maintenance Guide
• OpenClaw Dashboard Guide

Official references:

• Health checks docs
• openclaw logs docs
• Dashboard docs
• OpenClaw on GitHub

Final take

The best OpenClaw health-check habit is to separate summary, probe, and logs.

Start with status. Escalate to health --verbose or status --deep. Use logs when the failure is live.

That rhythm gives you a clean picture before you start changing anything.

FAQ

Which command should I run first when OpenClaw feels broken?

Start with openclaw status. It gives you the fastest high-signal summary of what the local system thinks is happening.

What is the difference between openclaw status and openclaw health?

Status is the everyday summary view. Health asks the running Gateway for its health snapshot, and health --verbose forces a live probe with extra connection detail.

When should I use openclaw status --deep?

Use it when the simple summary is not enough and you want the running Gateway to perform a deeper live check, including channel probes where supported.

When should I use openclaw logs --follow?

Use it when the issue is happening live and you want to see reconnect loops, auth failures, stale events, or other runtime behavior as it happens.

Can health commands help with channel-specific issues?

Yes. The official docs say deep status and health reporting can include per-account channel probes, plus session and recent activity details. That helps narrow down whether the problem is the Gateway, the channel, or the message path.

What if the health commands look fine but the assistant still behaves oddly?

Then move one layer up or down. Review session behavior, channel access rules, and recent config changes. If the issue feels structural rather than live, switch to OpenClaw Doctor Guide.

Two small options that make debugging easier

There are two details in the docs that are easy to miss but genuinely helpful.

First, openclaw health --json is useful when you want a machine-readable snapshot for scripts, notes, or sharing with a teammate who wants raw structure instead of styled terminal output.

Second, openclaw logs --local-time makes log review less annoying when you are matching events against messages, restarts, or user reports in your own timezone.

Neither flag changes the underlying health of the system. They simply make the output easier to work with, and that matters more than people admit when a live issue is already wasting time.

One more operational tip

When somebody says OpenClaw is broken, ask one follow-up question before you touch the system: broken where? In the dashboard, in one chat channel, for one sender, or across everything? That single clarification usually tells you whether to start with service status, a live health probe, logs, or channel-specific access rules. Small habit, big time saver.