Debugging

Debugging

This page covers debugging helpers for streaming output, especially when a provider mixes reasoning into normal text.

Runtime debug overrides

Use /debug in chat to set runtime-only config overrides (memory, not disk). /debug is disabled by default; enable with commands.debug: true. This is handy when you need to toggle obscure settings without editing remoteclaw.json.

Examples:

/debug show
/debug set messages.responsePrefix="[remoteclaw]"
/debug unset messages.responsePrefix
/debug reset

/debug reset clears all overrides and returns to the on-disk config.

Gateway watch mode

For fast iteration, run the gateway under the file watcher:

pnpm gateway:watch

This maps to:

node --watch-path src --watch-path tsconfig.json --watch-path package.json --watch-preserve-output scripts/run-node.mjs gateway --force

Add any gateway CLI flags after gateway:watch and they will be passed through on each restart.

Dev profile + dev gateway (—dev)

Use the dev profile to isolate state and spin up a safe, disposable setup for debugging. There are two --dev flags:

• Global --dev (profile): isolates state under ~/.remoteclaw-dev and defaults the gateway port to 19001 (derived ports shift with it).
• gateway --dev: tells the Gateway to auto-create a default config + workspace when missing.

Recommended flow (dev profile + dev bootstrap):

pnpm gateway:dev
REMOTECLAW_PROFILE=dev remoteclaw tui

If you don’t have a global install yet, run the CLI via pnpm remoteclaw ....

What this does:

1. Profile isolation (global --dev)

   • REMOTECLAW_PROFILE=dev
   • REMOTECLAW_STATE_DIR=~/.remoteclaw-dev
   • REMOTECLAW_CONFIG_PATH=~/.remoteclaw-dev/remoteclaw.json
   • REMOTECLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=19001 (browser/canvas shift accordingly)

2. Dev bootstrap (gateway --dev)

   • Writes a minimal config if missing (gateway.mode=local, bind loopback).
   • Sets agent.workspace to the dev workspace.
   • Creates the workspace directory if missing.
   • Default identity: C3‑PO (protocol droid).
   • Skips channel providers in dev mode (REMOTECLAW_SKIP_CHANNELS=1).

Reset flow (fresh start):

pnpm gateway:dev:reset

Note: --dev is a global profile flag and gets eaten by some runners. If you need to spell it out, use the env var form:

REMOTECLAW_PROFILE=dev remoteclaw gateway --dev --reset

--reset wipes config, credentials, sessions, and the dev workspace (using trash, not rm), then recreates the default dev setup.

Tip: if a non‑dev gateway is already running (launchd/systemd), stop it first:

remoteclaw gateway stop

Raw stream logging (RemoteClaw)

RemoteClaw can log the raw assistant stream before any filtering/formatting. This is the best way to see whether reasoning is arriving as plain text deltas (or as separate thinking blocks).

Enable it via CLI:

pnpm gateway:watch --raw-stream

Optional path override:

pnpm gateway:watch --raw-stream --raw-stream-path ~/.remoteclaw/logs/raw-stream.jsonl

Equivalent env vars:

REMOTECLAW_RAW_STREAM=1
REMOTECLAW_RAW_STREAM_PATH=~/.remoteclaw/logs/raw-stream.jsonl

Default file:

~/.remoteclaw/logs/raw-stream.jsonl

Safety notes

• Raw stream logs can include full prompts, tool output, and user data.
• Keep logs local and delete them after debugging.
• If you share logs, scrub secrets and PII first.