Fix macOS 15+ (Tahoe) Permission Blocks
New Security Baseline
macOS 15 (Tahoe) introduces Local Network Privacy and stricter Screen Recording gates. Even if OpenClaw worked on macOS 14 (Sonoma), it may fail silently or with "Permission Denied" after the upgrade.
OpenClaw agents require two critical permissions to operate: Screen Recording (to see the UI) and Accessibility (to control the mouse/keyboard).
Next Step
Fix now, then reduce repeat incidents
If this issue keeps coming back, validate your setup in Doctor first, then harden your config.
1. Fix Screen Recording Blocks
In macOS 15, the "Screen Recording" permission must be renewed or explicitly granted even for CLI tools.
Step-by-Step Fix:
- 1Open System Settings > Privacy & Security.
- 2Select Screen & System Audio Recording.
- 3Ensure your Terminal (e.g., iTerm2, Warp, or Terminal.app) is ON.
- Pro Tip: If it's already ON, toggle it OFF and back ON to force a TCC cache reset.
2. Fix "system.run.prepare" Errors
When OpenClaw tries to launch a browser or sub-process, macOS 15 may block the system.run.prepare call.
# Reset accessibility permissions tccutil reset Accessibility com.apple.Terminal # Reset screen recording permissions tccutil reset ScreenCapture com.apple.Terminal
3. Local Network Privacy
If your Control UI (localhost:18789) isn't loading, macOS 15 might be blocking the local network listener.
Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network. Ensure your terminal or the node binary is allowed.
Automated Diagnostic
The Clawkit Doctor can detect if these macOS-specific permissions are missing.
npx clawkit-doctor@latest --check permissions
Related macOS Guides
Check these if you are still having trouble on Mac:
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