Beginner
macOS / Linux / Windows (WSL2) / Docker / Self-hosted
Estimated time: 25 min

OpenClaw Not Responding: Fix 'no output', Incorrect API, Rate Limits, and Silent Failures

A high-signal checklist for when OpenClaw stops replying (TUI shows '(no output)', channels go quiet, or logs show 401/403/429). Covers config precedence, provider auth, model allowlists, relay API-mode mismatch, and rate-limit/billing traps.

Implementation Steps

Separate UI/rendering issues from provider failures: use models probe + gateway logs to see if the request even reaches your LLM.

When OpenClaw “doesn’t respond”, the fastest path is to stop guessing and answer two questions:

  1. Did the gateway successfully call your model provider?
  2. If it did, did the UI/channel render the reply (or was it dropped/blank)?

This guide is a tight, repeatable checklist for the most common community failure modes.

If you’re still working through initial setup, start here first:

0) The two “truth sources”: probe + logs

Run these on the gateway host:

openclaw status --deep
openclaw models status --probe
openclaw logs --follow

Interpretation:

  • models status --probe tells you whether auth + routing + model resolution are correct.
  • logs --follow tells you whether the gateway is returning 401/403/429 (provider), model mismatch, or schema/config issues.

If you’re on a channel (Telegram/Slack/etc.), also probe channel health:

openclaw channels status --probe

1) If the TUI shows “(no output)” or a blank reply

Start with the dedicated fix page:

Then check the most common root causes.

1.1 Provider failed (but UI looks “blank”)

If logs show any of these:

  • 401 / 403 → auth or account/billing block
  • 429 → rate limit / concurrency cap / quota exceeded
  • “all models failed” → your primary + fallbacks all failed

Use:

1.2 Model selection is blocked by an allowlist (“model not allowed”)

1.3 Relay/proxy contract mismatch (silent blank output)

If you use a relay/proxy (NewAPI/OneAPI/AnyRouter/LiteLLM/etc.), “HTTP 200 but blank output” is often a response-shape mismatch (Chat Completions vs Responses vs Anthropic Messages).

Use:

2) “Incorrect API” / “configured but no calls” (auth & config precedence)

If OpenClaw keeps acting like your API key isn’t set, assume you’re debugging precedence, not “the key is wrong”.

Checklist:

  1. Confirm the gateway is reading the config file you’re editing:
  2. Check for service-level env overrides (Docker/systemd/launchd) that differ from your interactive shell.
  3. Probe auth using:
openclaw models status --probe

If you see provider entries with “unauthenticated / missing key”, fix env propagation first.

3) Rate limits, quota, and billing: what to do first

If you hit 429/rate limit, the high-value goal is to get back to a stable “it replies” baseline:

  1. Reduce concurrency (fewer parallel runs).
  2. Choose a model/provider with higher limits (or add a fallback).
  3. Confirm account credits / spending caps / organization limits.

CoClaw references:

Practical tip: probes consume tokens and can trip limits, but they save hours by proving whether auth works.

3.1 Billing fixed but OpenClaw still fails (restart + fresh session)

One annoying pattern: you top up credits / fix a spending cap, but the current OpenClaw session still looks “stuck” (especially on channels).

Fast recovery sequence:

  1. Start a fresh session so OpenClaw re-picks provider/auth state:
    • Send /new once in the affected chat.
  2. Restart the gateway (clears stuck runs and forces a clean reconnect):
openclaw gateway restart
openclaw models status --probe

If billing failures disabled your current provider profile, add a fallback model/provider so you have a “get back to green” path even during cooldown windows.

4) A minimal debug loop (copy/paste)

When you’re unsure whether a change fixed anything, use the smallest loop possible:

openclaw models status --probe
openclaw tui

In TUI, send a minimal prompt:

  • “Reply with the word OK.”

If that works, then reintroduce:

  • your real system prompt
  • your channel integration
  • your cron/automation load

This keeps you from changing five variables at once.

Verification & references

  • Reviewed by:CoClaw Editorial Team
  • Last reviewed:March 14, 2026
  • Verified on: macOS · Linux · Windows (WSL2) · Docker · Self-hosted

References

  1. OpenClaw docs — Configuration guideOfficial docs
  2. OpenClaw docs — Relay/API proxy troubleshootingOfficial docs
  3. OpenClaw GitHub repositoryGitHub

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