fix: warn before npm prefix redirection (#73890) (thanks @Sayeem3051)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Commands: keep channel-prefixed owner allowlist entries scoped to matching providers so webchat command contexts cannot inherit external channel owners. Thanks @zsxsoft.
 - Auth/device pairing: bound bootstrap handoff token issuance, redemption, and approved pairing baselines to the documented per-role scope allowlist, so bootstrap approvals cannot persistently grant `operator.admin`, `operator.pairing`, or `node.exec` scopes. Thanks @eleqtrizit.
 - Providers/GitHub Copilot: support the GUI/RPC wizard device-code auth flow so onboarding from non-TTY clients (gateway RPC bridge, GUI wizards) completes instead of returning empty profiles. Dangerous-state handling now distinguishes `access_denied` and `expired_token` from transport errors. (#73290) Thanks @indierawk2k2.
+- Installer/Linux: warn before switching an unwritable npm global prefix to `~/.npm-global`, then tell users to run future global updates with `npm i -g openclaw@latest` without `sudo` so npm keeps using the redirected user prefix. Fixes #44365; carries forward #50479. Thanks @Sayeem3051.
 
 ## 2026.4.27
 

scripts/install.sh

@@ -1633,9 +1633,12 @@ fix_npm_permissions() {
         return 0
     fi
 
+    ui_warn "npm global prefix is not writable: ${npm_prefix}"
+    ui_warn "The installer will switch npm's user prefix to ${HOME}/.npm-global; npm normally writes that setting to ~/.npmrc."
     ui_info "Configuring npm for user-local installs"
     mkdir -p "$HOME/.npm-global"
     npm config set prefix "$HOME/.npm-global"
+    ui_warn "Avoid sudo npm i -g for future OpenClaw updates; use npm i -g openclaw@latest so npm keeps using this user prefix instead of a different global prefix."
 
     # shellcheck disable=SC2016
     local path_line='export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"'

test/scripts/install-sh.test.ts

@@ -108,6 +108,59 @@ describe("install.sh", () => {
     expect(output).toContain(`path=${nvmNode}`);
     expect(output).toContain("version=v22.22.1");
   });
+
+  it("warns before redirecting an unwritable npm prefix", () => {
+    const tmp = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-install-npm-prefix-"));
+    const home = join(tmp, "home");
+    const events = join(tmp, "events.log");
+    mkdirSync(home, { recursive: true });
+
+    let result: ReturnType<typeof runInstallShell> | undefined;
+    try {
+      result = runInstallShell(`
+        set -euo pipefail
+        source "${SCRIPT_PATH}"
+        OS=linux
+        HOME=${JSON.stringify(home)}
+        prefix=${JSON.stringify(join(tmp, "root-owned-prefix"))}
+        events=${JSON.stringify(events)}
+        npm() {
+          if [[ "$1" == "config" && "$2" == "get" && "$3" == "prefix" ]]; then
+            printf '%s\\n' "$prefix"
+            return 0
+          fi
+          if [[ "$1" == "config" && "$2" == "set" && "$3" == "prefix" ]]; then
+            printf 'npm-set:%s\\n' "$4" >> "$events"
+            return 0
+          fi
+          return 1
+        }
+        ui_info() { printf 'info:%s\\n' "$*" >> "$events"; }
+        ui_warn() { printf 'warn:%s\\n' "$*" >> "$events"; }
+        ui_success() { printf 'success:%s\\n' "$*" >> "$events"; }
+        fix_npm_permissions
+        cat "$events"
+      `);
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(tmp, { force: true, recursive: true });
+    }
+
+    expect(result?.status).toBe(0);
+    const lines = (result?.stdout ?? "").trim().split("\n");
+    const warningIndex = lines.findIndex((line) =>
+      line.includes("The installer will switch npm's user prefix"),
+    );
+    const npmSetIndex = lines.findIndex((line) => line.startsWith("npm-set:"));
+    const noSudoWarningIndex = lines.findIndex((line) => line.includes("Avoid sudo npm i -g"));
+    expect(warningIndex).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(npmSetIndex).toBeGreaterThan(warningIndex);
+    expect(noSudoWarningIndex).toBeGreaterThan(npmSetIndex);
+    expect(result?.stdout).toContain("npm global prefix is not writable");
+    expect(result?.stdout).toContain("npm normally writes that setting to ~/.npmrc");
+    expect(result?.stdout).toContain("npm i -g openclaw@latest");
+    expect(result?.stdout).toContain("using this user prefix");
+    expect(result?.stdout).not.toContain("has been saved");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("install.sh macOS Homebrew Node behavior", () => {