I developed a client to send messages to openclaw, but it consistently fails to send. Even using the demo's quick send feature also fails to work

[society2012]

I developed a client to send messages to openclaw, but it consistently fails to send. Even using the demo's quick send feature also fails to work

[2026-03-27 18:06:10.554] [INFO] 开打发送消息--------------{"type":"req","id":"32041c64-916b-4695-a1f9-86d3b284a7fb","method":"chat.send","params":{"sessionKey":"agent:main:main","message":"1234567890"}}
[2026-03-27 18:06:10.558] [INFO] Sent chat message (10 chars)
[2026-03-27 18:06:10.561] [INFO] [QuickSend] Message sent (10 chars)
[2026-03-27 18:06:10.561] [WARN] Gateway request failed: missing scope: operator.write

[github-actions]

🤖 This is an automated response from Repo Assist.

Hi @society2012 — thanks for the detailed report, and welcome to the project!

Root cause identified: The connect handshake message in OpenClawGatewayClient declares:

"scopes": ["operator.admin", "operator.approvals", "operator.pairing"]

The "operator.write" scope was never included, so the gateway correctly rejects any chat.send request with missing scope: operator.write. This affects both the built-in QuickSend dialog and any custom client.

Fix: A one-line addition of "operator.write" to the scopes array in SendConnectMessageAsync. A draft PR has been submitted — maintainers can review and merge it.

Workaround for your custom client in the meantime: include "operator.write" in the scopes array of your own connect message, like so:

{
  "type": "req",
  "method": "connect",
  "params": {
    "role": "operator",
    "scopes": ["operator.admin", "operator.approvals", "operator.pairing", "operator.write"],
    ...
  }
}

Let us know if you hit any other issues!

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[society2012]

Hello, thank you for your reply. I added 'operator. write' when connecting, but sending it quickly still doesn't work,

[github-actions]

🤖 This is an automated response from Repo Assist.

Good to hear from you again, @society2012! The "sending quickly" detail is the key clue — this is a timing/sequencing issue.

Why it still fails even with operator.write in your scopes

The OpenClaw gateway doesn't associate scopes with a connection until it has processed your connect message and responded with hello-ok. The sequence must be:

Client → Gateway: WebSocket upgrade (TCP connection established)
Client → Gateway: {"type":"req","method":"connect","params":{"scopes":["operator.write",...]}}
Gateway → Client: {"type":"hello-ok", ...}     ← scopes are now active
Client → Gateway: {"type":"req","method":"chat.send",...}  ← this now works

If your code sends chat.send before waiting for hello-ok, the gateway hasn't registered your scopes yet — so it rejects the request with missing scope: operator.write even though you declared it.

Fix: wait for the hello-ok message before sending any requests:

// Pseudocode — wait for hello-ok before sending
ws.onmessage = (event) => {
    const msg = JSON.parse(event.data);
    if (msg.type === 'hello-ok') {
        // Connection is now fully established — safe to send
        sendChatMessage("hello!");
    }
};

Also: check the sessionKey parameter

Your original log showed:

{"method":"chat.send","params":{"sessionKey":"agent:main:main","message":"1234567890"}}

The built-in QuickSend sends chat.send without a sessionKey. Depending on your gateway version, an unrecognised or incorrect sessionKey value could also cause the request to be rejected. Try removing it and just sending {"params":{"message":"..."}} to isolate whether that's contributing.

PR #113

The built-in QuickSend in OpenClaw itself will be fixed once PR #113 is merged — that adds operator.write to the built-in connect handshake. If you're also seeing the demo's own QuickSend fail, that's why.

Let us know if this helps!

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