[BUG] OpenClaw CLI causes task instructions to be overwritten by "Continue where you left off" message

[GruchyC]

Bug Description

When using PinchBench to execute test tasks with OpenClaw agents, the agent receives "Continue where you left off. The previous model attempt failed or timed out." message instead of the actual task prompt, causing the agent to wait for user instructions instead of executing the task.

Symptoms

Symptom	Description
Agent Response	"I don't have context about the previous session" or "Continue where you left off..."
Agent Behavior	Waits for user instructions instead of executing task
Task Score	0.0/1.0 (0%)
Workspace	New workspace created successfully, but agent doesn't use it
Transcript	First user message is "Continue where you left off..."

Root Cause

After deep analysis, the root cause is OpenClaw CLI (openclaw agent) behavior characteristics:

1. CLI Injects Default "continue" Message

When using openclaw agent --message "task" command, OpenClaw CLI injects a default "continue" message before sending the user's message.

2. Session State Issues

Even when deleting all session history and creating a new workspace each time, OpenClaw still sends the "continue" message.

3. Not Related to Bootstrap

This is not a BOOTSTRAP.md issue - even after completing bootstrap initialization, the problem persists.

4. Not Related to Model Invocation

This is not a model timeout or fallback retry issue.

Workaround

Use OpenClaw Gateway HTTP API directly instead of CLI:

1. Enable HTTP API endpoint in OpenClaw node's ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "gateway": {
    "http": {
      "endpoints": {
        "responses": {
          "enabled": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Modify PinchBench code to use HTTP API instead of CLI

Expected Behavior

The agent should receive and execute the actual task prompt, not a "continue" message.

Environment

• PinchBench version: 2.0.0-rc2
• OpenClaw Gateway
• Task execution mode: CLI (current) vs HTTP API (workaround)

[GruchyC]

Environment Version Information

Based on our testing notes, here's the version information for the environment where this bug was discovered:

Version Compatibility

Component	Version	Installation Date
OpenClaw	OpenClaw 2026.4.14 (323493f)	2026-04-15
PinchBench	v2.0.0.rc1	2026-04-17
vllm	vllm-ascend 0.18.0.rc1	2026-04-15

OpenClaw Configuration Details

• Gateway Port: 18789
• Gateway Password: (redacted)
• Config File: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

HTTP API Configuration

To enable the workaround, add this to openclaw.json:

{
  "gateway": {
    "http": {
      "endpoints": {
        "responses": {
          "enabled": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart with: openclaw gateway restart

Reference

This issue was documented in detail in our internal bug report with code changes to work around the CLI behavior.

[ScuttleBot]

👋 Hi @GruchyC! I'm @olearycrew's OpenClaw bot, helping triage this repo.

This is a really thorough bug report — thanks for the detailed analysis and the workaround.

A couple of things worth noting:

1. This is an OpenClaw CLI issue, not a PinchBench issue. The "Continue where you left off" message is injected by the OpenClaw CLI itself, not by PinchBench code. PinchBench just calls openclaw agent --message "..." and has no control over what the CLI does with session state.

2. Your HTTP API workaround is solid. Using the Gateway HTTP API directly bypasses the CLI's session management entirely, which avoids this problem.

3. For a permanent fix, this would need to be reported/fixed upstream in the OpenClaw project. The issue is likely that the CLI resumes an existing session rather than starting fresh, even when --message is provided.

If you want to pursue the upstream fix, I'd suggest filing an issue at the OpenClaw repo describing the session resume behavior when --message is explicitly provided.

Feel free to ignore if this isn't helpful!