Claude Code: Fix Cain health display - check health field first to resolve 'Error: unknown' issue

- Update read_current_stage() to check 'health' field before 'error' field
- The 'health' field is authoritative: ERROR vs HEALTHY
- Update handle_status_file_read() to clean stale 'unknown' errors on read
- This fixes the display issue where Cain showed RUNNING! Error: unknown

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

error_handlers.py

@@ -162,31 +162,50 @@ def handle_status_file_read() -> Dict[str, Any]:
     """
     try:
         with open(str(STATUS_FILE), "r") as f:
-            return json.load(f)
+            data = json.load(f)
+
+        # CRITICAL: Clean stale "unknown" error strings immediately after reading
+        # This prevents "Error: unknown" display issues
+        error = data.get('error')
+        if isinstance(error, str) and error.strip().lower() in ('unknown', 'none', 'null', ''):
+            data['error'] = None
+            data['_cleaned_at'] = 'handle_status_file_read'
+            # Write back the cleaned data
+            try:
+                with open(str(STATUS_FILE), "w") as f:
+                    json.dump(data, f, indent=2)
+            except Exception:
+                pass  # Don't fail if we can't write back
+
+        return data
     except FileNotFoundError:
         # Status file not found is not an error - return healthy default
         return {
             "current_state": "idle",
+            "stage": "STATUS_FILE_NOT_FOUND",
             "last_updated": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "+00:00",
             "agent": "cain",
-            "status_file": STATUS_FILE,
+            "error": None,
+            "status_file": str(STATUS_FILE),
             "note": "Status file not found - using default"
         }
     except PermissionError as e:
         return {
             "current_state": "error",
+            "stage": "PERMISSION_ERROR",
             "last_updated": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "+00:00",
             "agent": "cain",
             "error": f"Permission denied reading status file: {str(e)}",
-            "status_file": STATUS_FILE
+            "status_file": str(STATUS_FILE)
         }
     except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
         return {
             "current_state": "error",
+            "stage": "JSON_DECODE_ERROR",
             "last_updated": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "+00:00",
             "agent": "cain",
             "error": f"Invalid JSON in status file: {str(e)}",
-            "status_file": STATUS_FILE
+            "status_file": str(STATUS_FILE)
         }
 
 

openclaw/.openclaw/health_monitor.py

@@ -941,7 +941,22 @@ def read_current_stage() -> str:
         with open(status_file) as f:
             data = json.load(f)
 
-        # Check for error field - if present and not None, include in status
+        # CRITICAL: Check 'health' field first (authoritative source added in recent fix)
+        # If health field is present and is "ERROR", treat as error regardless of error field
+        # This prevents the "Error: unknown" display issue where error=null but health=ERROR
+        health = data.get('health')
+        if health and isinstance(health, str):
+            health_normalized = health.strip().upper()
+            if health_normalized == "ERROR":
+                # Health field says ERROR - append _ERROR to stage
+                logger.debug(f"Health field is ERROR - returning {stage}_ERROR")
+                return f"{stage}_ERROR"
+            elif health_normalized == "HEALTHY":
+                # Health field explicitly says HEALTHY - ignore error field
+                logger.debug(f"Health field is HEALTHY - returning clean stage: {stage}")
+                return stage
+
+        # Fallback: Check for error field (legacy behavior)
         error = data.get('error')
         stage = data.get('stage', data.get('current_state', 'UNKNOWN'))