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openclaw update

Safely update OpenClaw and switch between stable/beta/dev channels. If you installed via npm/pnpm (global install, no git metadata), updates happen via the package manager flow in Updating.

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Usage

openclaw update
openclaw update status
openclaw update wizard
openclaw update --channel beta
openclaw update --channel dev
openclaw update --tag beta
openclaw update --dry-run
openclaw update --no-restart
openclaw update --json
openclaw --update

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Options

  • --no-restart: skip restarting the Gateway service after a successful update.
  • --channel <stable|beta|dev>: set the update channel (git + npm; persisted in config).
  • --tag <dist-tag|version>: override the npm dist-tag or version for this update only.
  • --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.
  • --timeout <seconds>: per-step timeout (default is 1200s).
Note: downgrades require confirmation because older versions can break configuration.

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update status

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

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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.

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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/beta → installs from npm using the matching dist-tag.
The Gateway core auto-updater (when enabled via config) reuses this same update path.

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Git checkout flow

Channels:
  • stable: checkout the latest non-beta tag, then build + doctor.
  • beta: checkout the latest -beta tag, then build + doctor.
  • dev: checkout main, then fetch + rebase.
High-level:
  1. Requires a clean worktree (no uncommitted changes).
  2. Switches to the selected channel (tag or branch).
  3. Fetches upstream (dev only).
  4. Dev only: preflight lint + TypeScript build in a temp worktree; if the tip fails, walks back up to 10 commits to find the newest clean build.
  5. Rebases onto the selected commit (dev only).
  6. Installs deps (pnpm preferred; npm fallback).
  7. Builds + builds the Control UI.
  8. Runs openclaw doctor as the final “safe update” check.
  9. Syncs plugins to the active channel (dev uses bundled extensions; stable/beta uses npm) and updates npm-installed plugins.

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--update shorthand

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

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See also