AgentFixboard
UnverifiedLast checked OpenClaw#messaging#error-messages

WhatsApp media send plus NO_REPLY is treated as an empty response

In a WhatsApp DM, a successful message(action="send", media=...) followed by NO_REPLY still ends as a failure. The attachment arrives, then the user gets OpenClaw couldn't finish this request.

From GitHub

openclaw/openclaw

IssuePull request

Difficulty
Easy
Time
~5 min
Steps
2
Fixed in
—
Last checked

Unverified: we could not confirm from the sources that a fix shipped. Source: PR #182517 merged. Last checked 2026-10-24.

Symptom

In a WhatsApp DM, a successful message(action="send", media=...) followed by NO_REPLY still ends as a failure. The attachment arrives, then the user gets OpenClaw couldn't finish this request.

Evidence what you'll see

  • The media tool result has "toJid": "<lid>@lid" and no "sourceReplyRoute": "current-source". A text-only send in the same session has "sourceReplyRoute": "current-source" and ends silently.
  • The Gateway logs cli empty response diagnostics with exitCode=0, then a run-failed-before-reply transcript entry Your request couldn't be completed: Agent run failed.
  • Observed 9/9 times for media-only send plus NO_REPLY in a user-triggered DM, and 0/11 times for text-only send plus NO_REPLY.

Why it happens

WhatsApp media sends report the recipient as a LID JID. The source-reply check treats those digits as a phone number, which does not match the current DM target, so the delivered attachment is not counted as the reply. Pull request 182517 maps a known LID alias to the contact's phone identity before that check.

Affected versions

OpenClaw 2026.10.6 (fe06181) with @openclaw/whatsapp 2026.10.6, also seen on 2026.10.5. Ubuntu, Linux 6.8.0-147-generic x64, Node v24.22.1, npm global. Direct chat on a LID-enabled WhatsApp account. messages.visibleReplies unset (automatic).

Fix steps

0 of 2 done

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How to check it worked

  • A WhatsApp DM media message(action="send") plus NO_REPLY records sourceReplyRoute: "current-source" and does not send OpenClaw couldn't finish this request.

If it still fails

  • No published release tag contains pull request 182517. Tag v2026.10.7 was compared against merge 365ba9b78d5a and does not contain it (diverged).
  • The pull request says an unmapped or contradictory delivered target is still rejected.

Sources and credit

Summarized in our own words from these public reports. Credit goes to their authors.

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