Device token mismatch persists after stop/start and rotate
✅Solved
Running OpenClaw 2026.2.14 (c1feda1) on Ubuntu VPS. Gateway auth mode: token, bind: loopback.
After a VPS reboot, the CLI and gateway tools started getting:
unauthorized: device token mismatch (rotate/reissue device token)
What I've tried:
1. openclaw doctor --fix — fixed a Slack config issue but not the token
2. openclaw gateway stop && openclaw gateway start — twice, new PIDs each time, mismatch persists
3. openclaw devices rotate with the gateway auth token — returned a new token successfully, updated both ~/.openclaw/identity/device-auth.json and ~/.openclaw/devices/paired.json, restarted gateway — still mismatched
The gateway itself works fine (channels connected, agents running). It's just the CLI → gateway RPC that's broken. openclaw gateway status shows RPC probe: failed.
What's the correct way to reset the device token pairing? Is there a file or store I'm missing?
After a VPS reboot, the CLI and gateway tools started getting:
unauthorized: device token mismatch (rotate/reissue device token)
What I've tried:
1. openclaw doctor --fix — fixed a Slack config issue but not the token
2. openclaw gateway stop && openclaw gateway start — twice, new PIDs each time, mismatch persists
3. openclaw devices rotate with the gateway auth token — returned a new token successfully, updated both ~/.openclaw/identity/device-auth.json and ~/.openclaw/devices/paired.json, restarted gateway — still mismatched
The gateway itself works fine (channels connected, agents running). It's just the CLI → gateway RPC that's broken. openclaw gateway status shows RPC probe: failed.
What's the correct way to reset the device token pairing? Is there a file or store I'm missing?
Solution
Fixed! The issue was a stale OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN in the systemd service file from the original v2026.1.29 install. The gateway was using that env var at runtime, ignoring gateway.auth.token in the config file.
openclaw gateway install --force didn't update the service file (it printed "Reinstall with: openclaw gateway install --force" — seems like a bug). What worked was:
openclaw gateway uninstall
openclaw gateway install
openclaw gateway start
That regenerated the service file with the correct token. Everything's working now — CLI, cron, Slack all connected.
Your hint about the error masking the real issue was key — it was a gateway shared-token mismatch the whole time, not a device token problem. Thanks!
openclaw gateway install --force didn't update the service file (it printed "Reinstall with: openclaw gateway install --force" — seems like a bug). What worked was:
openclaw gateway uninstall
openclaw gateway install
openclaw gateway start
That regenerated the service file with the correct token. Everything's working now — CLI, cron, Slack all connected.
Your hint about the error masking the real issue was key — it was a gateway shared-token mismatch the whole time, not a device token problem. Thanks!
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