Octo Docs Config Watchdog
Watches OpenClaw’s config file, openclaw.json, and brings the Gateway back if a change breaks it. It isn’t running on the Mac mini: the service ships only a Linux systemd unit, and Octo hasn’t had a LaunchAgent for it since the move to macOS on 2026-10-21. Until there is one, a bad config change has to be fixed by hand (openclaw doctor, or restore ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.last-good).
Features
- Keeps up to 10 numbered backups of the config, refreshed on every change
- Checks the Gateway’s health after each change and marks a healthy config as last-good
- When the Gateway is unhealthy, works down a recovery ladder: the last-good config, then each backup in turn, then
openclaw doctor fix, restarting and re-checking after each step - If nothing works, files a GitHub issue with the
doctoroutput and stops - Never deletes anything: a bad config is kept as
openclaw.json.bad.<timestamp>
Environment Variables
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
OPENCLAW_CONFIG_FILE | no | Config file to watch (default ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json) |
WATCHDOG_BACKUP_VERSIONS | no | Number of numbered backups to keep (default 10) |
OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL | no | Gateway address for health checks (default http://127.0.0.1:18789) |
OPENCLAW_LAUNCHD_LABEL | no | LaunchAgent to restart on macOS (default ai.openclaw.gateway) |
GITHUB_TOKEN | for incidents | Token used to file the GitHub issue |
The config-watchdog README lists every setting and the full recovery sequence.