The log includes browser state transitions and result‑set changes.

## When to disable Bonjour

Disable Bonjour only when LAN multicast advertising is unavailable or harmful.

The common case is a Gateway running behind Docker bridge networking, WSL, or a

network policy that drops mDNS multicast. In those environments the Gateway is

still reachable through its published URL, SSH, Tailnet, or wide-area DNS-SD,

but LAN auto-discovery is not reliable.

Prefer the existing environment override when the problem is deployment-scoped:

```bash

OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1

```

That disables LAN multicast advertising without changing plugin configuration.

It is safe for Docker images, service files, launch scripts, and one-off

debugging because the setting disappears when the environment does.

Use plugin configuration only when you intentionally want to turn off the

bundled LAN discovery plugin for that OpenClaw config:

```bash

openclaw plugins disable bonjour

```

## Docker gotchas

Bundled Docker Compose sets `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1` for the Gateway service

by default. Docker bridge networks usually do not forward mDNS multicast

(`224.0.0.251:5353`) between the container and the LAN, so leaving Bonjour on can

produce repeated ciao `probing` or `announcing` failures without making discovery

work.

Important gotchas:

- Disabling Bonjour does not stop the Gateway. It only stops LAN multicast

advertising.

- Disabling Bonjour does not change `gateway.bind`; Docker still defaults to

`OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_BIND=lan` so the published host port can work.

- Disabling Bonjour does not disable wide-area DNS-SD. Use wide-area discovery

or Tailnet when the Gateway and node are not on the same LAN.

- Reusing the same `OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR` outside Docker does not inherit the

Compose default unless the environment still sets `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR`.

- Set `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=0` only for host networking, macvlan, or another

network where mDNS multicast is known to pass.

## Troubleshooting disabled Bonjour

If a node no longer auto-discovers the Gateway after Docker setup:

1. Confirm whether the Gateway is intentionally suppressing LAN advertising:

```bash

docker compose config | grep OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR

```

2. Confirm the Gateway itself is reachable through the published port:

```bash

curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18789/healthz

```

3. Use a direct target when Bonjour is disabled:

- Control UI or local tools: `http://127.0.0.1:18789`

- LAN clients: `http://<gateway-host>:18789`

- Cross-network clients: Tailnet MagicDNS, Tailnet IP, SSH tunnel, or

wide-area DNS-SD

4. If you deliberately enabled Bonjour in Docker with

`OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=0`, test multicast from the host:

```bash

dns-sd -B _openclaw-gw._tcp local.

```

If browsing is empty or the Gateway logs show repeated ciao watchdog

cancellations, restore `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1` and use a direct or

Tailnet route.

## Common failure modes

- **Bonjour doesn’t cross networks**: use Tailnet or SSH.