---
summary: "Updating OpenClaw safely (global install or source), plus rollback strategy"
read_when:
  - Updating OpenClaw
  - Something breaks after an update
title: "Updating"
---

Keep OpenClaw up to date.

## Recommended: `openclaw update`

The fastest way to update. It detects your install type (npm or git), fetches the latest version, runs `openclaw doctor`, and restarts the gateway.

```bash
openclaw update
```

To switch channels or target a specific version:

```bash
openclaw update --channel beta
openclaw update --channel dev
openclaw update --dry-run   # preview without applying
```

`openclaw update` does not accept `--verbose`. For update diagnostics, use
`--dry-run` to preview the planned actions, `--json` for structured results, or
`openclaw update status --json` to inspect channel and availability state. The
installer has its own `--verbose` flag, but that flag is not part of
`openclaw update`.

`--channel beta` prefers beta, but the runtime falls back to stable/latest when
the beta tag is missing or older than the latest stable release. Use `--tag beta`
if you want the raw npm beta dist-tag for a one-off package update.

Use `--channel dev` for a persistent moving GitHub `main` checkout. For package
updates, `--tag main` maps to `github:openclaw/openclaw#main` for one run, and
GitHub/git source specs are packed into a temporary tarball before the staged
npm install.

For managed plugins, beta-channel fallback is a warning: the core update can
still succeed while a plugin uses its recorded default/latest release because no
plugin beta is available.

See [Development channels](/install/development-channels) for channel semantics.

## Switch between npm and git installs

Use channels when you want to change the install type. The updater keeps your
state, config, credentials, and workspace in `~/.openclaw`; it only changes
which OpenClaw code install the CLI and gateway use.

```bash
# npm package install -> editable git checkout
openclaw update --channel dev

# git checkout -> npm package install
openclaw update --channel stable
```

Run with `--dry-run` first to preview the exact install-mode switch:

```bash
openclaw update --channel dev --dry-run
openclaw update --channel stable --dry-run
```

The `dev` channel ensures a git checkout, builds it, and installs the global CLI
from that checkout. The `stable` and `beta` channels use package installs. If the
gateway is already installed, `openclaw update` refreshes the service metadata
and restarts it unless you pass `--no-restart`.

For package installs with a managed Gateway service, `openclaw update` targets
the package root used by that service. If the shell `openclaw` command comes
from a different install, the updater prints both roots and the managed service
Node path. The package update uses the package manager that owns the service
root and checks the managed service Node against the target release engine
before replacing the package.

## Alternative: re-run the installer

```bash
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
```

Add `--no-onboard` to skip onboarding. To force a specific install type through
the installer, pass `--install-method git --no-onboard` or
`--install-method npm --no-onboard`.

If `openclaw update` fails after the npm package install phase, re-run the
installer. The installer does not call the old updater; it runs the global
package install directly and can recover a partially updated npm install.

```bash
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-method npm
```

To pin the recovery to a specific version or dist-tag, add `--version`:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-method npm --version <version-or-dist-tag>
```

## Alternative: manual npm, pnpm, or bun

```bash
npm i -g openclaw@latest
```

Prefer `openclaw update` for supervised installs because it can coordinate the
package swap with the running Gateway service. If you update manually on a
supervised install, stop the managed Gateway before the package manager starts.
Package managers replace files in place, and a running Gateway can otherwise try
to load core or plugin files while the package tree is temporarily half-swapped.
Restart the Gateway after the package manager finishes so the service picks up
the new install.

For a root-owned Linux system-global install, if `openclaw update` fails with
`EACCES` and you recover with system npm, keep the Gateway stopped through the
manual package replacement. Use the same `openclaw` profile flags or environment
you normally use for that Gateway. Replace `/usr/bin/npm` with the system npm
that owns the root-owned global prefix on your host:

```bash
openclaw gateway stop
sudo /usr/bin/npm i -g openclaw@latest
openclaw gateway install --force
openclaw gateway restart
```

Then verify the service:

```bash
openclaw --version
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18789/readyz
openclaw plugins list --json
openclaw gateway status --deep --json
openclaw doctor --lint --json
```

When `openclaw update` manages a global npm install, it installs the target into
a temporary npm prefix first, verifies the packaged `dist` inventory, then swaps
the clean package tree into the real global prefix. That avoids npm overlaying a
new package onto stale files from the old package. If the install command fails,
OpenClaw retries once with `--omit=optional`. That retry helps hosts where native
optional dependencies cannot compile, while keeping the original failure visible
if the fallback also fails.

OpenClaw-managed npm update and plugin-update commands also clear npm
`min-release-age` quarantine for the child npm process. npm may report that
policy as a derived `before` cutoff; both are useful for general supply-chain
quarantine policies, but an explicit OpenClaw update means "install the selected
OpenClaw release now."

```bash
pnpm add -g openclaw@latest
```

```bash
bun add -g openclaw@latest
```

### Advanced npm install topics

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Read-only package tree">
    OpenClaw treats packaged global installs as read-only at runtime, even when the global package directory is writable by the current user. Plugin package installs live in OpenClaw-owned npm/git roots under the user config directory, and Gateway startup does not mutate the OpenClaw package tree.

    Some Linux npm setups install global packages under root-owned directories such as `/usr/lib/node_modules/openclaw`. OpenClaw supports that layout because plugin install/update commands write outside that global package directory.

  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Hardened systemd units">
    Give OpenClaw write access to its config/state roots so explicit plugin installs, plugin updates, and doctor cleanup can persist their changes:

    ```ini
    ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/openclaw /home/openclaw/.openclaw /tmp
    ```

  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Disk-space preflight">
    Before package updates and explicit plugin installs, OpenClaw tries a best-effort disk-space check for the target volume. Low space produces a warning with the checked path, but does not block the update because filesystem quotas, snapshots, and network volumes can change after the check. The actual package-manager install and post-install verification remain authoritative.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Auto-updater

The auto-updater is off by default. Enable it in `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json`:

```json5
{
  update: {
    channel: "stable",
    auto: {
      enabled: true,
      stableDelayHours: 6,
      stableJitterHours: 12,
      betaCheckIntervalHours: 1,
    },
  },
}
```

| Channel  | Behavior                                                                                                      |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `stable` | Waits `stableDelayHours`, then applies with deterministic jitter across `stableJitterHours` (spread rollout). |
| `beta`   | Checks every `betaCheckIntervalHours` (default: hourly) and applies immediately.                              |
| `dev`    | No automatic apply. Use `openclaw update` manually.                                                           |

The gateway also logs an update hint on startup (disable with `update.checkOnStart: false`).
For downgrade or incident recovery, set `OPENCLAW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1` in the gateway environment to block automatic applies even when `update.auto.enabled` is configured. Startup update hints can still run unless `update.checkOnStart` is also disabled.

Package-manager updates requested through the live Gateway control-plane handler
do not replace the package tree inside the running Gateway process. On managed
service installs, the Gateway starts a detached handoff, exits, and lets the
normal `openclaw update --yes --json` CLI path stop the service, replace the
package, refresh service metadata, restart, verify the Gateway version and
reachability, and recover an installed-but-unloaded macOS LaunchAgent when
possible. If the Gateway cannot make that handoff safely, `update.run` reports a
safe shell command instead of running the package manager in-process.

## After updating

<Steps>

### Run doctor

```bash
openclaw doctor
```

Migrates config, audits DM policies, and checks gateway health. Details: [Doctor](/gateway/doctor)

### Restart the gateway

```bash
openclaw gateway restart
```

### Verify

```bash
openclaw health
```

</Steps>

## Rollback

### Pin a version (npm)

```bash
npm i -g openclaw@<version>
openclaw doctor
openclaw gateway restart
```

<Tip>
`npm view openclaw version` shows the current published version.
</Tip>

### Pin a commit (source)

```bash
git fetch origin
git checkout "$(git rev-list -n 1 --before=\"2026-01-01\" origin/main)"
pnpm install && pnpm build
openclaw gateway restart
```

To return to latest: `git checkout main && git pull`.

## If you are stuck

- Run `openclaw doctor` again and read the output carefully.
- For `openclaw update --channel dev` on source checkouts, the updater auto-bootstraps `pnpm` when needed. If you see a pnpm/corepack bootstrap error, install `pnpm` manually (or re-enable `corepack`) and rerun the update.
- Check: [Troubleshooting](/gateway/troubleshooting)
- Ask in Discord: [https://discord.gg/clawd](https://discord.gg/clawd)

## Related

- [Install overview](/install): all installation methods.
- [Doctor](/gateway/doctor): health checks after updates.
- [Migrating](/install/migrating): major version migration guides.
