fix(whatsapp): preserve watchdog message age across reconnects

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Discord/ACP: forward worker abort signals into ACP turns so timed-out Discord jobs cancel the running turn instead of silently leaving the bound ACP session working in the background.
 - Gateway/openresponses: preserve assistant commentary and session continuity across hosted-tool `/v1/responses` turns, and emit streamed tool-call payloads before finalization so client tool loops stay resumable. (#52171) Thanks @CharZhou.
 - Android/Talk: serialize `TalkModeManager` player teardown so rapid interrupt/restart cycles stop double-releasing or overlapping TTS playback. (#52310) Thanks @Kaneki-x.
+- WhatsApp/reconnect: preserve the last inbound timestamp across reconnect attempts so the watchdog can still recycle linked-but-dead listeners after a restart instead of leaving them stuck connected forever.
 
 ### Breaking
 

extensions/whatsapp/src/auto-reply.web-auto-reply.connection-and-logging.e2e.test.ts

@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ describe("web auto-reply connection", () => {
     if (!completedQuickly) {
       await vi.waitFor(
         () => {
-          expect(listenerFactory).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+          expect(listenerFactory.mock.calls.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
         },
         { timeout: 250, interval: 2 },
       );
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ describe("web auto-reply connection", () => {
       await Promise.resolve();
       await vi.waitFor(
         () => {
-          expect(listenerFactory).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+          expect(listenerFactory.mock.calls.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
         },
         { timeout: 250, interval: 2 },
       );
@@ -278,6 +278,92 @@ describe("web auto-reply connection", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("keeps watchdog message age across reconnects", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    try {
+      const sleep = vi.fn(async () => {});
+      const closeResolvers: Array<(reason: unknown) => void> = [];
+      let capturedOnMessage:
+        | ((msg: import("./inbound.js").WebInboundMessage) => Promise<void>)
+        | undefined;
+      const listenerFactory = vi.fn(
+        async (opts: {
+          onMessage: (msg: import("./inbound.js").WebInboundMessage) => Promise<void>;
+        }) => {
+          capturedOnMessage = opts.onMessage;
+          let resolveClose: (reason: unknown) => void = () => {};
+          const onClose = new Promise<unknown>((res) => {
+            resolveClose = res;
+            closeResolvers.push(res);
+          });
+          return {
+            close: vi.fn(),
+            onClose,
+            signalClose: (reason?: unknown) => resolveClose(reason),
+          };
+        },
+      );
+      const { controller, run } = startMonitorWebChannel({
+        monitorWebChannelFn: monitorWebChannel as never,
+        listenerFactory,
+        sleep,
+        heartbeatSeconds: 60,
+        messageTimeoutMs: 30,
+        watchdogCheckMs: 5,
+      });
+
+      await Promise.resolve();
+      expect(listenerFactory).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      await vi.waitFor(
+        () => {
+          expect(capturedOnMessage).toBeTypeOf("function");
+        },
+        { timeout: 250, interval: 2 },
+      );
+
+      const reply = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+      const sendComposing = vi.fn();
+      const sendMedia = vi.fn();
+
+      void capturedOnMessage?.(
+        makeInboundMessage({
+          body: "hi",
+          from: "+1",
+          to: "+2",
+          id: "m1",
+          sendComposing,
+          reply,
+          sendMedia,
+        }),
+      );
+      await Promise.resolve();
+
+      closeResolvers.shift()?.({ status: 499, isLoggedOut: false, error: "first-close" });
+      await vi.waitFor(
+        () => {
+          expect(listenerFactory).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+        },
+        { timeout: 250, interval: 2 },
+      );
+
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(200);
+      await Promise.resolve();
+      await vi.waitFor(
+        () => {
+          expect(listenerFactory.mock.calls.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3);
+        },
+        { timeout: 250, interval: 2 },
+      );
+
+      controller.abort();
+      closeResolvers.at(-1)?.({ status: 499, isLoggedOut: false, error: "aborted" });
+      await Promise.resolve();
+      await run;
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
+  });
+
   it("processes inbound messages without batching and preserves timestamps", async () => {
     await withEnvAsync({ TZ: "Europe/Vienna" }, async () => {
       const originalMax = process.getMaxListeners();

extensions/whatsapp/src/auto-reply/monitor.ts

@@ -151,7 +151,10 @@ export async function monitorWebChannel(
     const startedAt = Date.now();
     let heartbeat: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
     let watchdogTimer: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
-    let lastMessageAt: number | null = null;
+    // Preserve the last known inbound timestamp across reconnects so the watchdog
+    // can still detect a listener that comes back "connected" but never receives
+    // another message after a restart cycle.
+    let lastMessageAt: number | null = status.lastMessageAt ?? null;
     let handledMessages = 0;
     let _lastInboundMsg: WebInboundMsg | null = null;
     let unregisterUnhandled: (() => void) | null = null;