Node Connect

Other

Diagnose OpenClaw node connection and pairing failures for Android, iOS, and macOS companion apps. Use when manual connect fails, local Wi-Fi works but VPS/tailnet does not, or errors mention pairing required, unauthorized, bootstrap token invalid or expired, gateway.bind, gateway.remote.url, Tailscale, or plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl.

Install

openclaw skills install @ciklopentan/node-connect-smith

Node Connect

Goal: find the one intended route from node -> gateway, verify OpenClaw config matches that route, then fix pairing/auth.

Instructions

Step 0: topology gate

Classify the intended route before executing any command. If the route is unclear, ask at most two short questions:

Same device, emulator, or USB tunnel? → same machine
Same local Wi-Fi / LAN? → same LAN
Same Tailscale tailnet? → same Tailscale tailnet
Public URL or reverse proxy? → public URL / reverse proxy

If the route is still ambiguous after two questions, stop and ask for:

the intended topology
whether they used manual host/port or a manually entered WebSocket URL
the exact app text/status/error, quoted exactly if possible
whether openclaw devices list shows a pending pairing request

Do not guess from can't connect. Do not mix topologies.

Same-machine / emulator / USB-tunnel problem: keep the diagnosis on loopback / explicit local forwarding first. Do not switch to LAN, Tailscale, or public URL unless the user is truly leaving the local machine.
Local Wi-Fi problem: do not switch to Tailscale unless remote access is actually needed.
VPS / remote gateway problem: do not keep debugging localhost or LAN IPs.

If topology is same machine, short-circuit the network ladder:

prefer loopback or the explicit forwarded local address the user is actually using
verify the setup/manual URL is local (127.0.0.1, localhost, or the tunnel endpoint)
do not recommend gateway.bind=lan, Tailscale, or publicUrl unless the route is no longer local

Canonical checks

Prefer config-driven route checks. Read only the minimum config needed to identify the intended route.

Execution order

⚠️ Sequential execution only. Do not run approval checks, nodes checks, extra route/auth checks, or fallback commands until the numbered steps explicitly branch to them. Never run commands speculatively.

Phase 1 — route discovery (always first)

Confirm the intended topology first.
If topology is same machine, use a local-only route check first and skip remote-route advice unless the user is actually leaving the local machine.
Read only the core route selectors first:

openclaw config get gateway.mode
openclaw config get gateway.bind
openclaw config get gateway.tailscale.mode
openclaw config get gateway.remote.url
openclaw config get plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl

Match the effective route against the route map below.
Stop here if the route already matches the intended topology.

Phase 2 — manual entry gate

Before treating config as the full truth, check whether the user is troubleshooting a manually entered route.

Ask this only when relevant:

Is the app using a manual host/port or manual WebSocket URL?
If yes, what exact address did they enter?

Rules:

For default config-driven flows, treat the active route config as canonical route evidence.
For manual host/port or manual WebSocket entry, treat the manually entered address as intended-route evidence and compare config against that address.
If the user cannot say whether a manual address was used, fall back to the default config route map.

Phase 3 — route mismatch / route unknown only

Run only the smallest config subset that matches the mismatch you already identified. Do not dump every route/auth key unless the mismatch type is still unclear.

If the mismatch is LAN vs loopback / local bind confusion:

openclaw config get gateway.bind

If the mismatch is Tailscale route confusion (direct tailnet bind vs Serve/Funnel vs no tailnet IP):

openclaw config get gateway.bind
openclaw config get gateway.tailscale.mode
tailscale status --json

If the mismatch is public URL / reverse proxy / Funnel / remote-gateway confusion:

openclaw config get plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl
openclaw config get gateway.remote.url
openclaw config get gateway.tailscale.mode

If the mismatch is auth-mode expectation on an otherwise correct route:

openclaw config get gateway.auth.mode
openclaw config get gateway.auth.allowTailscale

If the mismatch type is still unclear after reading the route selectors, then fall back once to the broader set:

openclaw config get gateway.mode
openclaw config get gateway.bind
openclaw config get gateway.tailscale.mode
openclaw config get gateway.remote.url
openclaw config get gateway.auth.mode
openclaw config get gateway.auth.allowTailscale
openclaw config get plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl

Phase 4 — auth / pairing checks only after the route matches

Run approval-state checks only after the route matches the intended topology, or when the app error explicitly shows an auth / pairing problem.

Device-pair approval path:

openclaw devices list
openclaw devices approve <requestId>

Use openclaw devices approve <requestId> after listing current pending requests. Prefer the explicit current request id over --latest, because a retried pairing request can supersede an older pending entry.

Auth detail-code branch after the route matches:

AUTH_TOKEN_MISSING → paste/set the required token first; do not rotate devices or rewrite route settings yet.
PAIRING_REQUIRED → approve the pending device request.
AUTH_TOKEN_MISMATCH with canRetryWithDeviceToken=true → allow one trusted retry first; if it still fails, use the token-drift recovery path.
AUTH_DEVICE_TOKEN_MISMATCH → rotate or re-approve the affected device token instead of treating it like a fresh route problem.
bootstrap token invalid or expired → old bootstrap payload; generate a fresh bootstrap flow only after the route is correct.
generic unauthorized without detail code → verify the intended auth mode, token/password, and Tailscale expectation.

Token / device-token drift recovery path:

openclaw config get gateway.auth.token
openclaw devices list
openclaw devices rotate --device <deviceId> --role operator

If rotation is not enough, remove the stale pairing, approve the current pending request again, then reconnect.

Phase 5 — post-route capability verification (optional, narrow scope)

Use these only after route + device pairing are no longer the active problem, and only when you are diagnosing a node that should expose declared commands/capabilities beyond the default companion-app pairing flow.

Do not use this phase for default Android/iOS/macOS companion-app pairing diagnosis. Use it only when the node explicitly needs node-pair trust / declared command visibility after device pairing already succeeded.

openclaw nodes pending
openclaw nodes approve <requestId>
openclaw nodes status

Read the result, not guesses

The goal is to identify which route OpenClaw is configured to expose and compare that with the route the user actually needs.

Route map

Match the active config path against the rows below.

Config signal	Expected topology	If that does not match the intended route
`gateway.bind=lan`	same Wi-Fi / LAN	keep the diagnosis on LAN; do not switch to Tailscale or public URL unless remote access is actually required
`gateway.bind=tailnet`	same Tailscale tailnet (direct tailnet bind, not Serve/Funnel)	verify the user intentionally wants a direct tailnet bind; if they expected Serve/Funnel or a different remote route, treat it as a route mismatch instead of silently accepting it
`gateway.tailscale.mode=serve`	same Tailscale tailnet (Serve)	verify Tailscale Serve is the intended route; loopback bind can still be correct here because Serve exposes a reachable tailnet URL while the gateway stays on `127.0.0.1`; do not debug LAN IPs first
`gateway.tailscale.mode=funnel`	public URL via Tailscale Funnel (not generic reverse proxy)	verify Tailscale Funnel is really the intended public route; check Funnel-specific auth expectations before debugging generic proxy paths; do not debug LAN IPs first
`plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl`	public URL / reverse proxy	inspect the public URL / proxy path, not LAN-only config
`gateway.remote.url`	remote gateway route	inspect the remote gateway route, not local bind settings
loopback-only config such as `gateway.bind=loopback` or local-only manual entry	valid only for same-machine flows unless a separate explicit proxy/Serve layer is intentionally advertising the reachable remote URL	fix the route first before changing auth/pairing assumptions

If the route is still unclear after the route selectors, fall back to:

openclaw config get gateway.bind
openclaw config get gateway.tailscale.mode
openclaw config get plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl
openclaw config get gateway.remote.url

Then identify the effective route manually and return to the route map.

Root-cause map

If the effective config is still loopback-only:

this is fine for same-machine flows
this is also fine when a separate explicit Serve/proxy layer is intentionally exposing the reachable remote route
otherwise a remote node cannot connect yet
gateway.bind=auto is not enough if the effective route is still loopback for a route that should be LAN, direct tailnet bind, or public URL
same LAN: use gateway.bind=lan
same Tailscale tailnet: prefer gateway.tailscale.mode=serve or use gateway.bind=tailnet if direct tailnet bind is intentional
public internet: set a real plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl, gateway.remote.url, or intentional Tailscale Funnel route

If gateway.bind=tailnet is set but no tailnet IP was found:

gateway host is not actually on Tailscale

If remote mode is intended but gateway.remote.url is empty:

remote-mode config is incomplete

If the app says pairing required or the auth detail code is PAIRING_REQUIRED:

network route and auth worked well enough to reach the gateway
approve the pending device pairing request for the current request id

openclaw devices list
openclaw devices approve <requestId>

If the auth detail code is AUTH_TOKEN_MISMATCH:

shared token does not match the gateway token
if canRetryWithDeviceToken=true, allow one trusted retry first
if that still fails, follow token drift recovery instead of changing route settings

If the auth detail code is AUTH_DEVICE_TOKEN_MISMATCH:

cached per-device token is stale or revoked
rotate / re-approve the device token instead of regenerating route guesses

If device pairing succeeds but a node still does not expose the declared commands / capabilities you expected:

on current OpenClaw builds, node commands are disabled until node pairing is approved
inspect node-pair state only after the route is correct and device pairing is no longer the blocker
this is a narrow node-capability follow-up, not the default path for companion-app pairing failures

openclaw nodes pending
openclaw nodes approve <requestId>
openclaw nodes status

If the app says bootstrap token invalid or expired:

old bootstrap payload
refresh the bootstrap flow after any real route/auth fix that changes what the client must use

If the app says unauthorized without a more specific auth detail code:

wrong token/password, wrong auth mode, or wrong Tailscale expectation
for Tailscale Serve, gateway.auth.allowTailscale must match the intended flow
otherwise use explicit token/password
do not rewrite route settings until the active route is confirmed wrong

Fix style

Reply with one concrete diagnosis and one route.

If there is not enough signal yet, ask for setup + exact app text instead of guessing.

Good:

The gateway is still local-only, so a node on another network can never reach it. Enable the route that matches your topology, verify the app is using that route, then approve the pending device pairing.

Bad:

Maybe LAN, maybe Tailscale, maybe port forwarding, maybe public URL.

Hard stop & loop limit

One fix, one verify only. Apply at most one targeted route or config fix. Re-check the relevant route selectors exactly once to verify.
If the active route now matches the intended topology, stop network diagnosis. Tell the user to reconnect and approve if pairing is pending.
If the route still does not match after one fix, stop and request the relevant config output (gateway.bind, gateway.tailscale.mode, gateway.remote.url, plugins.entries.device-pair.config.publicUrl) instead of attempting a second speculative fix.
Do not attempt a second fix or iterate further.
If the route matches and topology is confirmed, exit immediately. Do not run extra config checks.