Diagnose channels and logs without creating a second incident

Verifiedon 2026-07-302026.7.1-2

Scope the question to one account

Use openclaw channels list to see configured account state, then openclaw channels status --probe --channel <name> to request a live account probe. If the gateway is unreachable, channel status falls back to config-only summaries; label that result as configuration evidence, not runtime proof.

Bounded logs, not a transcript

openclaw logs --limit 200 --utc --plain gives a bounded gateway log view; --json emits line-delimited events when a tool needs structure. --follow reconnects after transient faults and can move between gateway file output and a local journal fallback, so record the source kind and time window. Stop once the hypothesis has evidence. Never attach message bodies, tokens, or raw full logs to a handoff.

Dead-letter rule

Use openclaw channels dead-letters list --channel <name> --account <id> to capture event ID, failure reason, attempts, and age. Only after correcting the underlying problem may an operator use dead-letters resubmit <event-id>. Resubmission preserves payload and resets attempts; repeating it while pending or claimed refuses rather than creating another dispatch.

Lab

For a sandbox account, create a three-row observation table: configured/active tags, live probe outcome, and bounded log/dead-letter evidence. Write the condition that would permit a retry. If you cannot state it, escalate instead of resubmitting.