openclaw/docs/install/updating.md

summary, read_when, title

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

openclaw update

To switch channels or target a specific version:

openclaw update --channel beta
openclaw update --channel dev
openclaw update --tag main
openclaw update --dry-run   # preview without applying

--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.

See 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.

# 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:

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.

Alternative: re-run the installer

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.

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:

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

Alternative: manual npm, pnpm, or bun

npm i -g openclaw@latest

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.

pnpm add -g openclaw@latest

bun add -g openclaw@latest

Advanced npm install topics

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.

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
```

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.

Auto-updater

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

{
  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 force a non-deferred, no-cooldown update restart after the package swap. That avoids leaving an old in-memory process around long enough to lazy-load chunks from a package tree that has already been replaced. Shell openclaw update remains the preferred path for supervised installs because it can stop and restart the service around the update.

After updating

Run doctor

openclaw doctor

Migrates config, audits DM policies, and checks gateway health. Details: Doctor

Restart the gateway

openclaw gateway restart

Verify

openclaw health

Rollback

Pin a version (npm)

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

`npm view openclaw version` shows the current published version.

Pin a commit (source)

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
• Ask in Discord: https://discord.gg/clawd

Related

• Install overview: all installation methods.
• Doctor: health checks after updates.
• Migrating: major version migration guides.