openclaw/docs/cli/update.md

---
summary: "CLI reference for `openclaw update` (safe-ish source update + gateway auto-restart)"
read_when:
  - You want to update a source checkout safely
  - You are debugging `openclaw update` output or options
  - You need to understand `--update` shorthand behavior
title: "Update"
---

# `openclaw update`

Safely update OpenClaw and switch between stable/beta/dev channels.

If you installed via **npm/pnpm/bun** (global install, no git metadata),
updates happen via the package-manager flow in [Updating](/install/updating).

## Usage

```bash
openclaw update
openclaw update status
openclaw update wizard
openclaw update --channel beta
openclaw update --channel dev
openclaw update --tag beta
openclaw update --tag main
openclaw update --dry-run
openclaw update --no-restart
openclaw update --yes
openclaw update --json
openclaw --update
```

## Options

- `--no-restart`: skip restarting the Gateway service after a successful update. Package-manager updates that do restart the Gateway verify the restarted service reports the expected updated version before the command succeeds.
- `--channel <stable|beta|dev>`: set the update channel (git + npm; persisted in config).
- `--tag <dist-tag|version|spec>`: override the package target for this update only. For package installs, `main` maps to `github:openclaw/openclaw#main`.
- `--dry-run`: preview planned update actions (channel/tag/target/restart flow) without writing config, installing, syncing plugins, or restarting.
- `--json`: print machine-readable `UpdateRunResult` JSON, including
  `postUpdate.plugins.warnings` when corrupt or unloadable managed plugins need
  repair after the core update succeeds, beta-channel plugin fallback details
  when a plugin has no beta release, and `postUpdate.plugins.integrityDrifts`
  when npm plugin artifact drift is detected during post-update plugin sync.
- `--timeout <seconds>`: per-step timeout (default is 1800s).
- `--yes`: skip confirmation prompts (for example downgrade confirmation).

`openclaw update` does not have a `--verbose` flag. Use `--dry-run` to preview
the planned channel/tag/install/restart actions, `--json` for machine-readable
results, and `openclaw update status --json` when you only need channel and
availability details. If you are debugging Gateway logs around an update,
console verbosity and file log level are separate: Gateway `--verbose` affects
terminal/WebSocket output, while file logs require `logging.level: "debug"` or
`"trace"` in config. See [Gateway logging](/gateway/logging).

<Note>
In Nix mode (`OPENCLAW_NIX_MODE=1`), mutating `openclaw update` runs are disabled. Update the Nix source or flake input for this install instead; for nix-openclaw, use the agent-first [Quick Start](https://github.com/openclaw/nix-openclaw#quick-start). `openclaw update status` and `openclaw update --dry-run` remain read-only.
</Note>

<Warning>
Downgrades require confirmation because older versions can break configuration.
</Warning>

## `update status`

Show the active update channel + git tag/branch/SHA (for source checkouts), plus update availability.

```bash
openclaw update status
openclaw update status --json
openclaw update status --timeout 10
```

Options:

- `--json`: print machine-readable status JSON.
- `--timeout <seconds>`: timeout for checks (default is 3s).

## `update wizard`

Interactive flow to pick an update channel and confirm whether to restart the Gateway
after updating (default is to restart). If you select `dev` without a git checkout, it
offers to create one.

Options:

- `--timeout <seconds>`: timeout for each update step (default `1800`)

## What it does

When you switch channels explicitly (`--channel ...`), OpenClaw also keeps the
install method aligned:

- `dev` → ensures a git checkout (default: `~/openclaw`, override with `OPENCLAW_GIT_DIR`),
  updates it, and installs the global CLI from that checkout.
- `stable` → installs from npm using `latest`.
- `beta` → prefers npm dist-tag `beta`, but falls back to `latest` when beta is
  missing or older than the current stable release.

The Gateway core auto-updater (when enabled via config) launches the CLI update path
outside the live Gateway request handler. Control-plane `update.run` package-manager
updates also use a managed-service handoff instead of replacing the package tree
inside the live Gateway process. The Gateway starts a detached helper, exits,
and the helper runs the normal `openclaw update --yes --json` CLI path from
outside the Gateway process tree. If that handoff is unavailable, `update.run`
returns a structured response with the safe shell command to run manually.

For package-manager installs, `openclaw update` resolves the target package
version before invoking the package manager. npm global installs use a staged
install: OpenClaw installs the new package into a temporary npm prefix, verifies
the packaged `dist` inventory there, then swaps that clean package tree into the
real global prefix. If verification fails, post-update doctor, plugin sync, and
restart work do not run from the suspect tree. Even when the installed version
already matches the target, the command refreshes the global package install,
then runs plugin sync, a core-command completion refresh, and restart work. This
keeps packaged sidecars and channel-owned plugin records aligned with the
installed OpenClaw build while leaving full plugin-command completion rebuilds to
explicit `openclaw completion --write-state` runs.

When a local managed Gateway service is installed and restart is enabled,
package-manager updates stop the running service before replacing the package
tree, then refresh the service metadata from the updated install, restart the
service, and verify the restarted Gateway reports the expected version before
reporting `Gateway: restarted and verified.`. On macOS, the post-update check
also verifies the LaunchAgent is loaded/running for the active profile and the
configured loopback port is healthy. If the plist is installed but launchd is
not supervising it, OpenClaw re-bootstraps the LaunchAgent automatically, then
reruns the health/version/channel readiness checks. A fresh bootstrap loads the
RunAtLoad job directly, so update recovery does not immediately `kickstart -k`
the newly spawned Gateway. If the Gateway still does not become healthy, the
command exits non-zero and prints the restart log path plus explicit restart,
reinstall, and package rollback instructions. If restart cannot run, the command
prints `Gateway: restart skipped (...)` or `Gateway: restart failed: ...` with a
manual `openclaw gateway restart` hint. With `--no-restart`,
package replacement still runs but the managed service is not stopped or
restarted, so the running Gateway may keep old code until you restart it
manually.

### Control-plane response shape

When `update.run` is invoked through the Gateway control plane on a
package-manager install, the handler reports the handoff initiation separately
from the CLI update that continues after the Gateway exits:

- `ok: true`, `result.status: "skipped"`,
  `result.reason: "managed-service-handoff-started"`, and
  `handoff.status: "started"` mean the Gateway created the managed-service
  handoff and scheduled its own restart so the detached helper can run
  `openclaw update --yes --json` outside the live service process.
- `ok: false`, `result.reason: "managed-service-handoff-unavailable"`, and
  `handoff.status: "unavailable"` mean OpenClaw could not find a supervising
  service boundary for a safe handoff. The response includes
  `handoff.command`, the shell command to run from outside the Gateway.
- `ok: false`, `result.reason: "managed-service-handoff-failed"` means the
  Gateway tried to create the handoff but could not spawn the detached helper.

The `sentinel` payload is still written before the Gateway exits, and the CLI
handoff updates the same restart sentinel after the managed-service restart
health checks complete. During the handoff, the sentinel can carry
`stats.reason: "restart-health-pending"` with no success continuation; the
restarted Gateway keeps polling it and only fires the continuation after the CLI
has verified service health and rewritten the sentinel with the final `ok`
result. `openclaw status` and `openclaw status --all` show an `Update restart`
row while that sentinel is pending or failed, and `update.status` returns the
latest cached sentinel.

## Git checkout flow

### Channel selection

- `stable`: checkout the latest non-beta tag, then build and doctor.
- `beta`: prefer the latest `-beta` tag, but fall back to the latest stable tag when beta is missing or older.
- `dev`: checkout `main`, then fetch and rebase.

### Update steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Verify clean worktree">
    Requires no uncommitted changes.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Switch channel">
    Switches to the selected channel (tag or branch).
  </Step>
  <Step title="Fetch upstream">
    Dev only.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Preflight build (dev only)">
    Runs the TypeScript build in a temp worktree. If the tip fails, walks back up to 10 commits to find the newest buildable commit. Set `OPENCLAW_UPDATE_PREFLIGHT_LINT=1` to also run lint during this preflight; lint runs in constrained serial mode because user update hosts are often smaller than CI runners.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Rebase">
    Rebases onto the selected commit (dev only).
  </Step>
  <Step title="Install dependencies">
    Uses the repo package manager. For pnpm checkouts, the updater bootstraps `pnpm` on demand (via `corepack` first, then a temporary `npm install pnpm@11` fallback) instead of running `npm run build` inside a pnpm workspace.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Build Control UI">
    Builds the gateway and the Control UI.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Run doctor">
    `openclaw doctor` runs as the final safe-update check.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Sync plugins">
    Syncs plugins to the active channel. Dev uses bundled plugins; stable and beta use npm. Updates tracked plugin installs.
  </Step>
</Steps>

On the beta update channel, tracked npm and ClawHub plugin installs that follow
the default/latest line try a plugin `@beta` release first. If the plugin has no
beta release, OpenClaw falls back to the recorded default/latest spec and reports
that as a warning. For npm plugins, OpenClaw also falls back when the beta
package exists but fails install validation. These plugin fallback warnings do
not make the core update fail. Exact versions and explicit tags are not
rewritten.

<Warning>
If an exact pinned npm plugin update resolves to an artifact whose integrity differs from the stored install record, `openclaw update` aborts that plugin artifact update instead of installing it. Reinstall or update the plugin explicitly only after verifying that you trust the new artifact.
</Warning>

<Note>
Post-update plugin sync failures that are scoped to a managed plugin and that the sync path can route around (e.g. an unreachable npm registry for a non-essential plugin) are reported as warnings after the core update succeeds. The JSON result keeps the top-level update `status: "ok"` and reports `postUpdate.plugins.status: "warning"` with `openclaw doctor --fix` and `openclaw plugins inspect <id> --runtime --json` guidance. Unexpected updater or sync exceptions still fail the update result. Fix the plugin install or update error, then rerun `openclaw doctor --fix` or `openclaw update`.

After the per-plugin sync step, `openclaw update` runs a mandatory **post-core convergence** pass before the gateway is restarted: it repairs missing configured plugin payloads, validates each _active_ tracked install record on disk, and statically verifies its `package.json` is parseable (and any explicitly-declared `main` exists). Failures from this pass — and an invalid OpenClaw config snapshot — return `postUpdate.plugins.status: "error"` and flip the top-level update `status` to `"error"`, so `openclaw update` exits non-zero and the gateway is _not_ restarted with an unverified plugin set. The error includes structured `postUpdate.plugins.warnings[].guidance` lines pointing at `openclaw doctor --fix` and `openclaw plugins inspect <id> --runtime --json` for follow-up. Disabled plugin entries and records that are not trusted-source-linked official sync targets are skipped here, mirroring the `skipDisabledPlugins` policy used by the missing-payload check, so a stale disabled plugin record cannot block an otherwise valid update.

When the updated Gateway starts, plugin loading is verify-only: startup does not
run package managers or mutate dependency trees. Package-manager `update.run`
restarts are handed to the CLI managed-service path, so the package swap happens
outside the old Gateway process and the service health checks decide whether the
update can be reported as complete.

If pnpm bootstrap still fails, the updater stops early with a package-manager-specific error instead of trying `npm run build` inside the checkout.
</Note>

## `--update` shorthand

`openclaw --update` rewrites to `openclaw update` (useful for shells and launcher scripts).

## Related

- `openclaw doctor` (offers to run update first on git checkouts)
- [Development channels](/install/development-channels)
- [Updating](/install/updating)
- [CLI reference](/cli)