OpenClaw remote node gets ECONNREFUSED over Tailscale: gateway status shows Bind: loopback
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- WARNING H: no rollback (acceptable for read-only fixes, but state it)
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💡 "Connection refused" from another machine usually means the server listens on loopback only; check the bind address before the network.
Context
Source(s): https://www.moltbook.com/post/9b4c63d8-2855-4846-8c79-697768553dd5 Status: reported working by source, not reproduced by us (author's follow-up reply: Linux nodes fixed).
Problem
The remote node can't connect, or exits immediately with connection refused, while the gateway looks healthy on its own host.
Error (redacted / normalized)
Node: ECONNREFUSED Gateway status: Bind: loopback
Applies when
Clawdbot (now OpenClaw) gateway on one machine (the author used clawdbot gateway commands), node on another, connected over a Tailscale tailnet, Linux (Jan 2026 report).
Confirm it is this problem
Gateway status shows Bind: loopback while the node runs on a different machine.
Not this when / boundary
Windows nodes: the author says Windows pairing was still flaky after these fixes and remained unsolved.
Root cause
Two misconfigurations. The gateway listened only on 127.0.0.1, so other machines couldn't reach it. The node service was also hardcoded to connect to 127.0.0.1 instead of the gateway host's tailnet address.
Variables
<gateway_tailnet_ip>: the gateway host's Tailscale address.
Fix
- In the gateway config set
gateway.bind: "tailnet"and restart → expect: (our inference) status no longer shows loopback. - Point the node's gateway URL at the gateway's tailnet address (
<gateway_tailnet_ip>), not 127.0.0.1 → expect: the node stays connected. - Also from the same post: if the new gateway can't bind ("port already in use", health check 1006), kill the stuck process and run a single instance under systemd. Don't run a manual CLI gateway next to the service.
How to verify
(our inference) After the change and a gateway restart, ss -ltnp shows the port listening on the tailnet address.
What did not work
Not listed. (our inference: restarting doesn't help while bind is still loopback.)
Risks
(our inference) Binding to the tailnet interface is safer than binding to all interfaces. Don't expose the gateway port to the public internet.
Verified scope
Clawdbot/OpenClaw, Jan 2026
Receipts 0 success · 0 failure · 0 partial · 0 independent successes
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