NVIDIA
diff --git a/‎src/lib/actions/sandbox/connect-flow.test.ts‎
Lines changed: 79 additions & 0 deletions b/‎src/lib/actions/sandbox/connect-flow.test.ts‎
Lines changed: 79 additions & 0 deletions
diff --git a/‎src/lib/actions/sandbox/connect.ts‎
Lines changed: 33 additions & 5 deletions b/‎src/lib/actions/sandbox/connect.ts‎
Lines changed: 33 additions & 5 deletions
@@ -907,4 +907,83 @@ describe("connectSandbox flow", () => {
     expect(logOutput).not.toContain("Probe complete");
     expect(exitSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1);
   });
+
+  it("does not suggest a manual forward when gateway recovery fails before forward start", async () => {
+    const harness = createConnectHarness({
+      processCheck: {
+        checked: true,
+        wasRunning: false,
+        recovered: false,
+        forwardRecovered: false,
+        recoveryFailureDetail:
+          "the replacement container identity changed during the final managed supervisor health check",
+      },
+    });
+
+    await expect(harness.connectSandbox("alpha", { probeOnly: true })).rejects.toThrow(
+      "process.exit(1)",
+    );
+
+    const errorOutput = harness.errorSpy.mock.calls.map((call) => String(call[0] ?? "")).join("\n");
+    expect(errorOutput).toContain("NemoClaw could not recover the OpenClaw gateway in 'alpha'");
+    expect(errorOutput).toContain(
+      "the replacement container identity changed during the final managed supervisor health check",
+    );
+    expect(errorOutput).not.toContain("gateway is running");
+    expect(errorOutput).not.toContain("openshell forward start");
+    expect(harness.runAutoPairSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(exitSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1);
+  });
+
+  it("redacts untrusted gateway recovery details before reporting them", async () => {
+    const opaqueToken = "opaque-gateway-recovery-token";
+    const harness = createConnectHarness({
+      processCheck: {
+        checked: true,
+        wasRunning: false,
+        recovered: false,
+        forwardRecovered: false,
+        recoveryFailureDetail: `OpenShell failed\nAuthorization: Bearer ${opaqueToken}\u001b[31m`,
+      },
+    });
+
+    await expect(harness.connectSandbox("alpha", { probeOnly: true })).rejects.toThrow(
+      "process.exit(1)",
+    );
+
+    const errorOutput = harness.errorSpy.mock.calls.map((call) => String(call[0] ?? "")).join("\n");
+    expect(errorOutput).toContain("Recovery detail:");
+    expect(errorOutput).not.toContain(opaqueToken);
+    expect(errorOutput).not.toContain("\u001b");
+    expect(errorOutput).toMatch(/Recovery detail: .*\.$/mu);
+    expect(exitSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a direct recovery failure detail separate from an earlier callback layer", () => {
+    const harness = createConnectHarness();
+    harness.checkAndRecoverSpy.mockImplementation(
+      (
+        _sandboxName: string,
+        options?: {
+          onRecoveryFailureLayer?: (layer: string, detail?: string) => void;
+        },
+      ) => {
+        options?.onRecoveryFailureLayer?.("supervisor not running", "SUPERVISOR_NOT_RUNNING");
+        return {
+          checked: true,
+          wasRunning: false,
+          recovered: false,
+          forwardRecovered: false,
+          recoveryFailureDetail:
+            "the managed supervisor health check for the recreated sandbox did not pass",
+        };
+      },
+    );
+
+    expect(harness.restoreSandboxStartupState("alpha")).toMatchObject({
+      recoveryFailureDetail:
+        "the managed supervisor health check for the recreated sandbox did not pass",
+      recoveryFailureLayer: null,
+    });
+  });
 });
@@ -260,6 +260,21 @@ function exitOnForwardRecoveryFailure(
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
+function exitOnGatewayRecoveryFailure(
+  sandboxName: string,
+  agentName: string,
+  detail: string,
+): never {
+  const safeDetail = sanitizeSandboxStartupRecoveryDetail(detail);
+  const terminalPunctuation = /[.!?]$/u.test(safeDetail) ? "" : ".";
+  console.error("");
+  console.error(
+    `  Probe failed: NemoClaw could not recover the ${agentName} gateway in '${sandboxName}'.`,
+  );
+  console.error(`  Recovery detail: ${safeDetail}${terminalPunctuation}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
 async function settlePortablePairingOrExit(sandboxName: string): Promise<boolean> {
   const result = await settlePortableOpenClawPairing(sandboxName);
   if (result.kind === "incomplete") {
@@ -318,6 +333,13 @@ async function runSandboxConnectProbe(sandboxName: string): Promise<void> {
       detail,
     );
   }
+  if ("recoveryFailureDetail" in processCheck && processCheck.recoveryFailureDetail) {
+    exitOnGatewayRecoveryFailure(
+      sandboxName,
+      agentName,
+      String(processCheck.recoveryFailureDetail),
+    );
+  }
   if (processCheck.wasRunning) {
     await ensureSandboxInferenceRouteOrExit(sandboxName, agent);
     // Defense-in-depth scope-upgrade approval on the probe-only / `recover`
@@ -958,16 +980,22 @@ function maybeEnsureHermesToolGatewayBroker(sb: SandboxEntry | null): void {
 }
 
 export function restoreSandboxStartupState(sandboxName: string): SandboxStartupRecoveryResult {
-  let recoveryFailureDetail: string | null = null;
-  let recoveryFailureLayer: GatewayRestartFailureLayer | null = null;
+  let reportedRecoveryFailureDetail: string | null = null;
+  let reportedRecoveryFailureLayer: GatewayRestartFailureLayer | null = null;
   const processCheck = checkAndRecoverSandboxProcesses(sandboxName, {
     quiet: true,
     onRecoveryFailureLayer: (layer, detail) => {
-      recoveryFailureLayer = layer;
-      recoveryFailureDetail = detail ?? null;
+      reportedRecoveryFailureLayer = layer;
+      reportedRecoveryFailureDetail = detail ?? null;
     },
   });
-  return { ...processCheck, recoveryFailureDetail, recoveryFailureLayer };
+  const directRecoveryFailureDetail =
+    "recoveryFailureDetail" in processCheck ? processCheck.recoveryFailureDetail : null;
+  const recoveryFailureDetail = directRecoveryFailureDetail ?? reportedRecoveryFailureDetail;
+  const recoveryFailureLayer = directRecoveryFailureDetail
+    ? null
+    : reportedRecoveryFailureLayer;
+  return Object.assign(processCheck, { recoveryFailureDetail, recoveryFailureLayer });
 }
 
 function restoreInteractiveTerminal(): void {