Summary
Attempting to run two NemoClaw sandboxes against two separate OpenShell gateways (8080 and 8081) results in:
- Only the latest gateway (
nemoclaw-8081) being active.
- Both sandboxes showing the same dashboard URL (18789).
- The first sandbox (
mac-ollama) becoming unreachable, failing with sandbox has no spec when connecting.
This contradicts the multi-instance test specification that expects two independent gateway+dashboard instances and isolated sandboxes.
Environment
- Host: macOS
- NemoClaw CLI: v0.0.59
- OpenShell: 0.0.44 (docker)
- Sandboxes:
mac-ollama – provider: ollama-local, model: qwen2.5:7bport-test – provider: nvidia-prod, model: nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b
- Ports: 8080/18789 free initially; 8081/18790 free for second instance.
Pre-conditions
- NemoClaw installed; Docker/OpenShell working.
- No existing onboarded sandboxes (clean state).
- Ports 8080/18789 and 8081/18790 available.
- Default OpenShell gateway uses port 8080.
Steps to Reproduce
1. Onboard first sandbox (default gateway 8080):
nemoclaw onboard
# Name sandbox: mac-ollama
# Choose local Ollama etc.
2. Verify sandbox list:
Observed:
Sandboxes:
mac-ollama
agent: openclaw
model: qwen2.5:7b
provider: ollama-local
CPU sandbox ...
dashboard: http://127.0.0.1:18789/
3. Onboard second sandbox with custom gateway port 8081:
NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8081 nemoclaw onboard
# Name sandbox: port-test
# Choose NVIDIA Endpoints etc.
4. Verify sandboxes again:
Observed:
Sandboxes:
mac-ollama
agent: openclaw
model: qwen2.5:7b
provider: ollama-local
...
dashboard: http://127.0.0.1:18789/
port-test *
agent: openclaw
model: nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b
provider: nvidia-prod
...
dashboard: http://127.0.0.1:18789/
Note: both sandboxes report the same dashboard URL (18789).
5. Check OpenShell gateway status:
Observed:
Server Status
Gateway: nemoclaw-8081
Server: http://127.0.0.1:8081
Status: Connected
Version: 0.0.44
Only nemoclaw-8081 is active; original nemoclaw-8080 is not reported.
6. Connect to second sandbox (works):
nemoclaw port-test connect
7. Connect to first sandbox (fails):
nemoclaw mac-ollama connect
Actual error:
Unable to verify sandbox 'mac-ollama' against the live OpenShell gateway.
Error: × status: Internal, message: "sandbox has no spec", details: [],
metadata: MetadataMap { headers: {"content-type": "application/grpc",
"date": "Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:07:20 GMT",
"x-request-id": "0461839c-feb1-40ff-9e52-92aa216dfd19"} }
Check `openshell status` and the active gateway, then retry.
Expected Behavior
- First onboard succeeds on default gateway (8080), with dashboard on 18789.
- Second onboard with
NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8081:
- Either starts a second, independent gateway with its own dashboard port (e.g. 18790), or
- Fails fast with a clear message if multiple simultaneous gateways are not supported.
nemoclaw list shows both sandboxes with correct, distinct dashboard URLs.nemoclaw <sandbox> connect routes each sandbox to the gateway that owns it; no sandbox becomes orphaned.
Actual Behavior
nemoclaw list shows two sandboxes, both pointing to http://127.0.0.1:18789/.openshell status shows only nemoclaw-8081 active.nemoclaw port-test connect succeeds.nemoclaw mac-ollama connect fails with sandbox has no spec because the active gateway (8081) has never seen the mac-ollama spec created on 8080.- The first sandbox is effectively unreachable even though
nemoclaw list still shows it.
Impact
- Users following the documented multi-instance test ("use
NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8081 for a second instance") end up with their original sandbox orphaned.
- Confusing mismatch between
nemoclaw list (same dashboard URL for both), openshell status (one gateway), and nemoclaw connect (fails with a low-level error instead of a clear explanation).
- The test expectation "Destroying one instance does not affect the other; no shared network corruption; no silent reuse of same gateway/TLS cert" is not met.
Suggested Fixes / Clarifications
1. Clarify multi-gateway support:
- If only one gateway at a time is supported:
NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8081 nemoclaw onboard should fail with a clear message: "Multiple OpenShell gateways are not supported; stop the existing gateway on 8080 or reconfigure it instead of starting a new one."- The multi-instance test case should be removed or updated.
- If multi-gateway is intended to be supported:
- Each sandbox must be pinned to the gateway that created it, with
connect routing accordingly.
- Dashboards must have distinct ports reflected correctly in
nemoclaw list.
2. Improve error message for orphaned sandbox:
Instead of sandbox has no spec, surface something like: "Sandbox mac-ollama is registered to gateway nemoclaw-8080, which is not currently running. Start that gateway or migrate the sandbox to the active gateway (nemoclaw-8081)."
3. Fix dashboard URLs in nemoclaw list:
Each sandbox's dashboard URL must be bound to its actual gateway instance, not just the last started gateway.
Summary
Attempting to run two NemoClaw sandboxes against two separate OpenShell gateways (8080 and 8081) results in:
nemoclaw-8081) being active.mac-ollama) becoming unreachable, failing withsandbox has no specwhen connecting.This contradicts the multi-instance test specification that expects two independent gateway+dashboard instances and isolated sandboxes.
Environment
mac-ollama– provider:ollama-local, model:qwen2.5:7bport-test– provider:nvidia-prod, model:nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12bPre-conditions
Steps to Reproduce
1. Onboard first sandbox (default gateway 8080):
2. Verify sandbox list:
Observed:
3. Onboard second sandbox with custom gateway port 8081:
4. Verify sandboxes again:
Observed:
Note: both sandboxes report the same dashboard URL (18789).
5. Check OpenShell gateway status:
Observed:
Only
nemoclaw-8081is active; originalnemoclaw-8080is not reported.6. Connect to second sandbox (works):
7. Connect to first sandbox (fails):
Actual error:
Expected Behavior
NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8081:nemoclaw listshows both sandboxes with correct, distinct dashboard URLs.nemoclaw <sandbox> connectroutes each sandbox to the gateway that owns it; no sandbox becomes orphaned.Actual Behavior
nemoclaw listshows two sandboxes, both pointing tohttp://127.0.0.1:18789/.openshell statusshows onlynemoclaw-8081active.nemoclaw port-test connectsucceeds.nemoclaw mac-ollama connectfails withsandbox has no specbecause the active gateway (8081) has never seen themac-ollamaspec created on 8080.nemoclaw liststill shows it.Impact
NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8081for a second instance") end up with their original sandbox orphaned.nemoclaw list(same dashboard URL for both),openshell status(one gateway), andnemoclaw connect(fails with a low-level error instead of a clear explanation).Suggested Fixes / Clarifications
1. Clarify multi-gateway support:
NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8081 nemoclaw onboardshould fail with a clear message: "Multiple OpenShell gateways are not supported; stop the existing gateway on 8080 or reconfigure it instead of starting a new one."connectrouting accordingly.nemoclaw list.2. Improve error message for orphaned sandbox:
Instead of
sandbox has no spec, surface something like: "Sandbox mac-ollama is registered to gateway nemoclaw-8080, which is not currently running. Start that gateway or migrate the sandbox to the active gateway (nemoclaw-8081)."3. Fix dashboard URLs in
nemoclaw list:Each sandbox's dashboard URL must be bound to its actual gateway instance, not just the last started gateway.