How long do OpenClaw agents freeze due to event loop starvation?

Agents can freeze for over 420 seconds (7 minutes), showing a writing indicator but producing no output while the gateway event loop is blocked.

Is there a fix for OpenClaw event loop starvation?

The fix from issue #74404 appears incomplete or regressed in v2026.5.12-beta.1. Currently the only workaround is downgrading to a previous stable version.

Which OpenClaw channels are affected by event loop starvation?

All channels are affected because the event loop starvation blocks the entire gateway, but Telegram is the primary trigger. Cross-channel latency, missed replies, and channel disconnects are common symptoms.

Does OpenClaw have event loop monitoring?

No built-in event loop monitoring exists in the OpenClaw gateway. The issue was discovered through user reports of frozen agents and manual debugging.

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clawsmith.com/signal/openclaw-event-loop-starvation-420s-delay-v2026-5-12-beta

⚠ IssueWide OpenCoreLive

OpenClaw v2026.5.12-beta Event Loop Starvation: Agents Freeze for 420+ Seconds

OpenClaw beta v2026.5.12-beta.1 introduces severe Node.js event loop starvation, with timer delays reaching 420 seconds (7 minutes). Root cause: Telegram channel startAccount makes synchronous blocking HTTP calls via fetchWithTimeout() that freeze the entire gateway. Fix from #74404 appears incomplete or regressed. Users forced to downgrade as all agents become unresponsive.

Product Idea from this Signal

A CLI tool that clones your live OpenClaw config into a staging container, applies the pending update, runs health checks against all configured channels and plugins, and only promotes to production if every check passes

169 ▲

OpenClaw ships multiple updates per week and each one risks breaking the live agent. v2026.4.26 crashed gateways and killed Discord. v2026.5.5 doctor --fix silently broke Codex OAuth routes. v2026.5.7 auto-update wiped entire configs including credentials and channel bindings. External plugins get silently dropped on minor version bumps. Users are downgrading, disabling auto-update, or switching to Hermes. The core team announced an LTS track but it has not shipped yet. Until it does, operators need a way to validate updates before they touch the production agent.

CLIOPEN-SOURCEDEVOPSSTABILITYUPDATE-MANAGEMENT

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