OpenClaw: Command Not Found

If installation completed but your terminal cannot find openclaw, the executable is usually outside the shell’s PATH or the terminal has not loaded the updated environment.

Quick fix

Close the terminal, open a new one, and run:

openclaw --version

If it still fails, inspect Node and the global package prefix:

node --version
npm prefix -g
echo "$PATH"

On PowerShell, inspect the environment PATH instead of using the Unix echo command.

Confirm installation

Check whether your package manager reports OpenClaw as globally installed. If it does, compare its global binary directory with PATH. Add the correct directory through your shell profile or Windows user environment settings, then open a fresh terminal.

Check the environment boundary

A native Windows install and a WSL2 install are separate. Likewise, a root install and a normal-user shell do not share the same global prefix. Run the check in the environment where OpenClaw was installed.

Reinstall only after PATH checks

If the package is absent, rerun the official installer. Reinstalling repeatedly will not fix a shell that ignores the correct global binary directory.

Expected result

openclaw --version prints a version. Then run openclaw doctor and openclaw gateway status to verify the rest of the stack.