Fix approval runtime gateway calls (#83433)

* fix approval runtime gateway calls

* docs: credit approval runtime fix contributors

* docs: include maintainer changelog credit

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Agents/exec approvals: forward approval-runtime credentials on agent-owned Gateway approval calls so approved async commands complete through the existing runtime path instead of stalling on unauthenticated follow-up calls. Thanks @IWhatsskill, @Patrick-Erichsen, and @jesse-merhi.
 - Gateway/skills: preflight remote macOS skill-bin refreshes with a WebSocket connectivity check so stale node sessions skip quickly instead of logging slow `system.which` timeout warnings.
 - GitHub Copilot: drop unsafe native Responses reasoning replay items with non-replayable IDs before dispatch, preventing affected Copilot sessions from failing with `invalid_request_body`. Fixes #83220. Thanks @galiniliev.
 - Agents/Codex: fail closed when an explicitly requested Codex harness is not registered instead of silently trying configured model fallbacks. Fixes #83349. Thanks @r2-vibes.

src/agents/tools/gateway.test.ts

@@ -246,6 +246,42 @@ describe("gateway tool defaults", () => {
     expect(call.scopes).toEqual(["operator.admin"]);
   });
 
+  it("marks local approval request calls as approval runtime calls", async () => {
+    mocks.callGateway.mockResolvedValueOnce({ id: "approval-id" });
+
+    await callGatewayTool("exec.approval.request", {}, { command: "printf hi" });
+
+    const call = capturedGatewayCall();
+    expect(call.method).toBe("exec.approval.request");
+    expect(call.scopes).toEqual(["operator.approvals"]);
+    expect(call.approvalRuntimeToken).toEqual(expect.any(String));
+  });
+
+  it("marks local approval wait calls as approval runtime calls", async () => {
+    mocks.callGateway.mockResolvedValueOnce({ decision: "allow-once" });
+
+    await callGatewayTool("exec.approval.waitDecision", {}, { id: "approval-id" });
+
+    const call = capturedGatewayCall();
+    expect(call.method).toBe("exec.approval.waitDecision");
+    expect(call.scopes).toEqual(["operator.approvals"]);
+    expect(call.approvalRuntimeToken).toEqual(expect.any(String));
+  });
+
+  it("does not send the local approval runtime token to gatewayUrl overrides", async () => {
+    mocks.callGateway.mockResolvedValueOnce({ decision: "allow-once" });
+
+    await callGatewayTool(
+      "exec.approval.waitDecision",
+      { gatewayUrl: "ws://127.0.0.1:18789", gatewayToken: "t" },
+      { id: "approval-id" },
+    );
+
+    const call = capturedGatewayCall();
+    expect(call.url).toBe("ws://127.0.0.1:18789");
+    expect(call).not.toHaveProperty("approvalRuntimeToken");
+  });
+
   it("default-denies unknown methods by sending no scopes", async () => {
     mocks.callGateway.mockResolvedValueOnce({ ok: true });
     await callGatewayTool("nonexistent.method", {}, {});

src/agents/tools/gateway.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   resolveLeastPrivilegeOperatorScopesForMethod,
   type OperatorScope,
 } from "../../gateway/method-scopes.js";
+import { getOperatorApprovalRuntimeToken } from "../../gateway/operator-approval-runtime-token.js";
 import { GATEWAY_CLIENT_MODES, GATEWAY_CLIENT_NAMES } from "../../gateway/protocol/client-info.js";
 import { formatErrorMessage } from "../../infra/errors.js";
 import {
@@ -145,6 +146,26 @@ export function resolveGatewayOptions(opts?: GatewayCallOptions) {
   return { url: validatedOverride?.url, token, timeoutMs };
 }
 
+const APPROVAL_RUNTIME_METHODS = new Set<string>([
+  "exec.approval.request",
+  "exec.approval.waitDecision",
+  "plugin.approval.request",
+  "plugin.approval.waitDecision",
+]);
+
+function resolveApprovalRuntimeTokenForGatewayTool(params: {
+  method: string;
+  opts: GatewayCallOptions;
+}): string | undefined {
+  if (!APPROVAL_RUNTIME_METHODS.has(params.method)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  if (trimToUndefined(params.opts.gatewayUrl) !== undefined) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return getOperatorApprovalRuntimeToken();
+}
+
 export async function callGatewayTool<T = Record<string, unknown>>(
   method: string,
   opts: GatewayCallOptions,
@@ -155,6 +176,7 @@ export async function callGatewayTool<T = Record<string, unknown>>(
   const scopes = Array.isArray(extra?.scopes)
     ? extra.scopes
     : resolveLeastPrivilegeOperatorScopesForMethod(method, params);
+  const approvalRuntimeToken = resolveApprovalRuntimeTokenForGatewayTool({ method, opts });
   return await callGateway<T>({
     url: gateway.url,
     token: gateway.token,
@@ -165,6 +187,7 @@ export async function callGatewayTool<T = Record<string, unknown>>(
     clientName: GATEWAY_CLIENT_NAMES.GATEWAY_CLIENT,
     clientDisplayName: "agent",
     mode: GATEWAY_CLIENT_MODES.BACKEND,
+    ...(approvalRuntimeToken ? { approvalRuntimeToken } : {}),
     scopes,
   });
 }

src/gateway/call.test.ts

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ let lastClientOptions: {
   clientName?: string;
   clientDisplayName?: string;
   mode?: string;
+  approvalRuntimeToken?: string;
   scopes?: string[];
   deviceIdentity?: unknown;
   onHelloOk?: (hello: { features?: { methods?: string[] } }) => void | Promise<void>;
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ vi.mock("./client.js", () => ({
       clientName?: string;
       clientDisplayName?: string;
       mode?: string;
+      approvalRuntimeToken?: string;
       scopes?: string[];
       onHelloOk?: (hello: { features?: { methods?: string[] } }) => void | Promise<void>;
       onClose?: (code: number, reason: string) => void;
@@ -628,6 +630,18 @@ describe("callGateway url resolution", () => {
     expect(lastClientOptions?.clientDisplayName).toBe("gateway:sessions.delete");
   });
 
+  it("passes approval runtime tokens to backend gateway clients", async () => {
+    setLocalLoopbackGatewayConfig();
+
+    await callGateway({
+      method: "exec.approval.waitDecision",
+      scopes: ["operator.approvals"],
+      approvalRuntimeToken: "runtime-token",
+    });
+
+    expect(lastClientOptions?.approvalRuntimeToken).toBe("runtime-token");
+  });
+
   it("does not synthesize display names for CLI calls", async () => {
     setLocalLoopbackGatewayConfig();
 

src/gateway/call.ts

@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ type CallGatewayBaseOptions = {
   clientVersion?: string;
   platform?: string;
   mode?: GatewayClientMode;
+  approvalRuntimeToken?: string;
   deviceIdentity?: DeviceIdentity | null;
   instanceId?: string;
   minProtocol?: number;
@@ -698,6 +699,7 @@ async function executeGatewayRequestWithScopes<T>(params: {
       clientVersion: opts.clientVersion ?? VERSION,
       platform: opts.platform,
       mode: opts.mode ?? GATEWAY_CLIENT_MODES.CLI,
+      ...(opts.approvalRuntimeToken ? { approvalRuntimeToken: opts.approvalRuntimeToken } : {}),
       role: "operator",
       scopes,
       deviceIdentity: