Troubleshooting
Common symptoms — a missing model, integration 401s, a slow deploy, a quiet Teammate — with why they happen and what to do.
A model is missing from /model
Why it happens: /model and /models only show models on your allowed list, not every model OpenClaw supports. If a model isn't in your company's allowed list, or is excluded by the agent server's override, it simply won't appear.
What to do: Add the model to the company allowed list (or the agent server's override, if it has one) in the dashboard, then deploy. Model list changes always trigger a full agent-server refresh, so expect that deploy to take longer than a workspace-file edit. See Model configuration.
My custom integration gets 401s and I see my placeholder string in the error
Why it happens: Secrets on this platform are never handed to a Teammate as raw values — only a placeholder. The real value is substituted in only when a request goes to a host that key's allowlist explicitly permits. If the destination host isn't on that allowlist, the platform ships the literal placeholder instead of the real key, and the destination rejects it — usually with a 401 or an "invalid credential" error that names the placeholder.
What to do: Check the host allowlist on the secret your integration uses and make sure the destination host is on it. See Secrets & egress.
A deploy is taking longer than I expected
Why it happens: Not every deploy costs the same. Workspace and skill file edits hot-reload onto a running agent server in place — fast, no reboot. Changes to allowed models, secrets, or channel configuration are only read when a server boots, so those trigger a full refresh that relaunches the server, roughly five minutes. If a single deploy mixes both kinds of change, the whole deploy is treated as a full refresh.
What to do: Nothing's wrong — check the deploy's progress view to confirm it's still running rather than stuck. See Deploys & pending changes for the full breakdown of what triggers which.
A Teammate stopped replying
Work through this in order:
- Balance. If your team is metered and your balance has run out, replies pause until you add funds — this is deliberate fail-closed behavior, not a bug. Check your balance and top up if needed. See Team & billing.
- Allowlist. Every channel is allowlist-gated by default. If the person messaging the Teammate isn't on its allowlist (or the channel is set to selected rather than everyone), the Teammate won't respond to them. See Messaging channels.
- Deploy in progress. If there's a deploy running — especially a full refresh — the agent server may be mid-relaunch and briefly unavailable. Check deploy history to see if one's in flight. See Deploys & pending changes.
"/config says it isn't available"
Why it happens: This is by design, not a bug. /config, /mcp, /plugins, /bash, and /debug are intentionally disabled in chat — configuration changes go through the dashboard's pending-changes-and-review flow instead of a chat message, the same trust boundary that governs secrets.
What to do: Make the change in the dashboard and deploy it. See Slash commands for the full list of what's different on this platform.
Slack /status does nothing
Why it happens: Slack reserves /status as a native Slack command, so it never reaches your Teammate.
What to do: Send /status as plain message text instead of using it as a Slack slash command, or use your Teammate's configured slash command (/aai by default) for everything else. See Messaging channels and Slash commands.
/login doesn't work in a group
Why it happens: /login is restricted to owners and admins, and only works in a private direct message — it won't run in a group or channel context.
What to do: DM the Teammate directly to use /login.
Can I undo customizing a Teammate or skill?
Why it happens: No — customizing a managed Teammate or skill (editing its workspace files or skill files directly) converts it to custom permanently. There's no path back to managed, and template switching is only available while something is still managed.
What to do: Decide whether you want to keep receiving template updates before you make your first edit. If you're not sure yet, create a new Teammate (or duplicate a skill) from the template to experiment on, and leave your original managed until you're certain. See Creating Teammates and Skills.
Where to get help
If something here doesn't cover your situation, reach out through /contact.