Allow pnpm source updates to build OpenClaw (#81294)

Merged via squash.

Prepared head SHA: 4815d5a8c9
Co-authored-by: fuller-stack-dev <263060202+fuller-stack-dev@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: altaywtf <9790196+altaywtf@users.noreply.github.com>
Reviewed-by: @altaywtf

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Agents: rewrite generic provider internal errors with support request IDs into user-friendly transient error copy. (#49401) Thanks @y471823206.
 - WhatsApp: finish handling pending debounced inbound messages before closing the socket. (#81246) Thanks @mcaxtr.
 - CLI/commitments: write `--json` output to stdout instead of diagnostic logs so automation can parse commitment list and dismiss results. (#81215) Thanks @giodl73-repo.
+- Update: allow pnpm GitHub-source OpenClaw updates to approve the OpenClaw package build, so source installs complete their prepare/prepack lifecycle. (#81294) Thanks @fuller-stack-dev.
 
 ### Changes
 

src/infra/update-global.test.ts

@@ -570,6 +570,22 @@ describe("update global helpers", () => {
       "-g",
       "openclaw@latest",
     ]);
+    expect(globalInstallArgs("pnpm", "github:openclaw/openclaw#release/2026.5.12")).toEqual([
+      "pnpm",
+      "add",
+      "-g",
+      "--allow-build=openclaw",
+      "github:openclaw/openclaw#release/2026.5.12",
+    ]);
+    expect(
+      globalInstallArgs("pnpm", "openclaw@git+https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git"),
+    ).toEqual([
+      "pnpm",
+      "add",
+      "-g",
+      "--allow-build=openclaw",
+      "openclaw@git+https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git",
+    ]);
     expect(globalInstallArgs("bun", "openclaw@latest")).toEqual([
       "bun",
       "add",
@@ -599,6 +615,22 @@ describe("update global helpers", () => {
       "/opt/pnpm-global",
       "openclaw@latest",
     ]);
+    expect(
+      globalInstallArgs(
+        "pnpm",
+        "github:openclaw/openclaw#release/2026.5.12",
+        null,
+        "/opt/pnpm-global",
+      ),
+    ).toEqual([
+      "pnpm",
+      "add",
+      "-g",
+      "--global-dir",
+      "/opt/pnpm-global",
+      "--allow-build=openclaw",
+      "github:openclaw/openclaw#release/2026.5.12",
+    ]);
   });
 
   it("builds npm staged install argv with an explicit prefix", () => {

src/infra/update-global.ts

@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ const NPM_GLOBAL_INSTALL_OMIT_OPTIONAL_FLAGS = [
   "--omit=optional",
   ...NPM_GLOBAL_INSTALL_QUIET_FLAGS,
 ] as const;
+const PNPM_OPENCLAW_BUILD_ALLOWLIST_FLAG = `--allow-build=${PRIMARY_PACKAGE_NAME}`;
 const FIRST_PACKAGED_DIST_INVENTORY_VERSION = { major: 2026, minor: 4, patch: 15 };
 const OMITTED_PRIVATE_QA_BUNDLED_PLUGIN_ROOTS = new Set([
   "dist/extensions/qa-channel",
@@ -87,6 +88,21 @@ export function isExplicitPackageInstallSpec(value: string): boolean {
   );
 }
 
+function stripPrimaryPackageAlias(spec: string): string {
+  const normalized = normalizePackageTarget(spec);
+  const prefix = `${PRIMARY_PACKAGE_NAME}@`;
+  return normalized.startsWith(prefix) ? normalized.slice(prefix.length).trim() : normalized;
+}
+
+function isPnpmOpenClawSourceInstallSpec(spec: string): boolean {
+  const target = stripPrimaryPackageAlias(spec);
+  return (
+    /^github:/i.test(target) ||
+    /^git\+(?:ssh|https|http|file):/i.test(target) ||
+    /^git:/i.test(target)
+  );
+}
+
 export function resolveExpectedInstalledVersionFromSpec(
   packageName: string,
   spec: string,
@@ -715,6 +731,7 @@ export function globalInstallArgs(
       "add",
       "-g",
       ...(installPrefix ? ["--global-dir", installPrefix] : []),
+      ...(isPnpmOpenClawSourceInstallSpec(spec) ? [PNPM_OPENCLAW_BUILD_ALLOWLIST_FLAG] : []),
       spec,
     ];
   }