Troubleshooting
Pincer is waiting for pairing
Section titled “Pincer is waiting for pairing”The first time a device connects, the gateway has to approve it. On the gateway host, run:
openclaw devices listopenclaw devices approve <requestId>Pincer reconnects on its own after you approve it. If you switched a gateway to Full Management, it needs to be approved again for the extra access.
“ws:// isn’t allowed” for my address
Section titled ““ws:// isn’t allowed” for my address”Plain ws:// only works with loopback (127.0.0.1), private LAN, and Tailscale addresses. For anything else, use wss://.
I can’t connect over Tailscale
Section titled “I can’t connect over Tailscale”- Check that Tailscale is running and signed in on this device.
- With Tailscale Serve, use
wss://<host>.<tailnet>.ts.netwith no port. Serve uses HTTPS on port 443. - With the tailnet IP, use
ws://100.x.y.z:18789, with the gateway’s port. - If Pincer warns about
ws://with a.ts.netname, switch it towss://.
The connection fails after pinning a certificate
Section titled “The connection fails after pinning a certificate”The fingerprint must be the SHA-256 of the gateway’s current certificate, in hex. If the certificate was renewed, update the pin under Gateway Settings → Connection, or clear it.
I don’t see the agent’s thinking
Section titled “I don’t see the agent’s thinking”Thinking has two parts:
- The gateway has to save reasoning. Turn it on with
/reasoning on, or Gateway Reasoning → Save & Stream in the chat’s ⋯ menu. - Pincer has to show it. Check Thinking Steps in the chat’s ⋯ menu. Live Only hides it once a reply is done, and All keeps it.
Gateway Settings is read-only
Section titled “Gateway Settings is read-only”Editing needs Access → Full Management on the Connection page, and the gateway has to approve the change. See Access levels.
A helper run is missing from the sidebar
Section titled “A helper run is missing from the sidebar”Subagent (helper) runs are hidden by default. Open one with Open run on the tool call that started it, or turn on listing them under their parent in Settings → Sidebar.
My Discord server is just called “Discord”
Section titled “My Discord server is just called “Discord””Pincer uses the server’s slug from the gateway’s Discord config when it’s set. Otherwise, right-click the section header and choose Rename Server….
Images from the web don’t load
Section titled “Images from the web don’t load”Check that Load images the agent links from the web is on in Settings. Images from the gateway itself always load.
Seeing what the gateway says
Section titled “Seeing what the gateway says”For a detailed log of every request and the gateway’s reply, run the app with a request log:
open --env PINCER_REQUEST_LOG=/tmp/pincer.log /Applications/Pincer.appEach request is logged with ✓ or the gateway’s error. History and image downloads are left out.
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”Open an issue on GitHub with what you tried and, if you can, the relevant part of the request log. Remove any secrets first.