Gateway Watchdog

Monitors and restarts OpenClaw Gateway 24/7 by downloading and running an external watchdog script to ensure continuous operation.

Security Scan

The skill largely does what it claims (a local watchdog that runs openclaw gateway commands) but it downloads and runs external code from an unverified GitHub repo and can persist a background process — these behaviors increase risk and deserve verification before install.

Purpose & Capability

The name/description match the code and instructions: the scripts check gateway status and restart the OpenClaw gateway. The included files implement start/stop/status/restart and a long-running watchdog loop; none of the requested resources are unrelated to that purpose.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md instructs the agent to download gateway_watchdog.py if missing and then run it (or run install.py which downloads the script). Downloading and executing an external Python script is outside the agent's runtime-only scope because it introduces new executable code at runtime. This is explainable for an installer, but it means the agent will fetch and run remote code — review the remote source before allowing this.

Install Mechanism

There is no package manager install spec; install.py fetches a single file from raw.githubusercontent.com (a well-known host). Using raw.githubusercontent.com is preferable to an arbitrary IP/shortener, but the target repository owner (adminlove520/openclaw-gateway-watchdog-v2) is not verified in the skill metadata. Also the skill bundle already includes gateway_watchdog.py, making the download step redundant and potentially a channel for fetching different code.

Credentials

The skill does not request credentials or config paths. The runtime code reads common system env vars (APPDATA, LOCALAPPDATA) to search for openclaw locations — this is proportional to locating the CLI. No unrelated secrets or broad credential access are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

The watchdog writes files (config, log, pid) in its script directory and launches a persistent background process that restarts the gateway; always:false so it won't be force-included. Persisting a background process is reasonable for a watchdog but increases attack surface if the running code can be updated remotely or replaced on disk.

What to consider before installing

This skill's behavior is coherent with a watchdog but has two things you should verify before installing: (1) the install script downloads an executable Python script from raw.githubusercontent.com — confirm the GitHub repository and its commit history are trustworthy and review the fetched script to ensure it hasn't been tampered with; (2) the watchdog runs continuously and can restart the gateway, so run it with least privileges (not as root) and in a controlled environment if possible. If you prefer to avoid runtime downloads, use the included gateway_watchdog.py after reviewing its source, and do not run install.py that fetches remote code. Finally, ensure the openclaw CLI is legitimate and the system paths used by the script point to the intended binaries.

SKILL.md - OpenClaw Gateway Watchdog

让你的 OpenClaw Gateway 7/24 稳定运行

触发语

• "帮我 7/24 运行"
• "让 Gateway 持续运行"
• "设置 watchdog"
• "保持 Gateway 运行"

做什么

1. 检查是否有 gateway_watchdog.py，如果没有则从 GitHub 下载
2. 执行 python gateway_watchdog.py start
3. 反馈结果

快速开始

# 一键安装+启动
python install.py

# 或手动
python gateway_watchdog.py start
python gateway_watchdog.py status
python gateway_watchdog.py restart
python gateway_watchdog.py stop

输出示例

用户: 帮我7/24运行
-> 📥 正在下载 gateway_watchdog.py...
-> ✅ 下载完成
-> 🚀 启动 Gateway Watchdog...
-> ✅ Gateway Watchdog 已启动 (PID: 12345)
-> ✅ 完成！Gateway 将 7/24 运行

命令

命令	说明
python install.py	一键安装并启动
python gateway_watchdog.py start	启动 watchdog
python gateway_watchdog.py status	查看状态
python gateway_watchdog.py restart	重启 Gateway
python gateway_watchdog.py stop	停止 watchdog

依赖

• Python 3.7+
• openclaw CLI

原理

不要用 OpenClaw 自己的 cron 监控 Gateway。 Gateway 挂了，cron job 根本收不到 wake event，形成死锁。

外部 watchdog:

• Gateway 挂了 → 外部进程检测到 → 触发重启 → 恢复运行

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