Task Sync Failures

What Is Task Sync?

OpenClaw can read and write tasks to external task managers (Things 3, Himalaya, Todoist, etc.) using skills. Sync failures occur when the connection between OpenClaw and the task manager breaks.

Diagnosis

openclaw doctor --skill task-sync
openclaw logs --skill task-sync --tail 50

Common Issues

Things 3 Not Found (macOS)

OpenClaw communicates with Things 3 via AppleScript/URL scheme. Ensure Things 3 is installed and running:

open -a "Things3"

If Things 3 is running but the skill still fails, grant Terminal/OpenClaw Automation permissions in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation.

Himalaya Auth Error

Himalaya uses its own mailbox credentials. Re-run Himalaya's setup:

himalaya account configure

Then update the path to Himalaya's config in OpenClaw's config.yaml if you moved it.

Duplicate Tasks Being Created

This usually happens when the sync skill runs too frequently and the deduplication check fails. Check your cron schedule:

openclaw skills list --verbose

Ensure the deduplicate: true flag is set in the skill config.

Sync Runs But Nothing Happens

• Verify the skill is enabled: openclaw skills enable task-sync
• Run a manual sync: openclaw run task-sync
• Check for permission errors in the logs