Update OpenClaw Safely

Use the built-in updater. It detects whether OpenClaw was installed through npm, pnpm, Bun, or a Git checkout, then performs the matching update flow.

Check before changing anything

Record the current state and preview the update:

openclaw --version
openclaw update status --json
openclaw update --dry-run

The dry run should identify the install type, target version, release channel, and whether the managed Gateway will restart. Resolve an unsupported Node version or a damaged install before proceeding.

Apply the update

openclaw update

For a normal managed installation, the updater refreshes OpenClaw, runs health checks, and restarts the Gateway. Your state, configuration, credentials, and workspace remain under ~/.openclaw; an update changes the installed code, not those files.

Use --no-restart only when you intend to restart the service yourself:

openclaw update --no-restart
openclaw gateway restart

Choose a release channel deliberately

Preview a channel change before applying it:

openclaw update --channel stable --dry-run
openclaw update --channel beta --dry-run
openclaw update --channel dev --dry-run

Stable is the conservative default. Beta can contain newer package releases. Dev uses a moving source checkout and is more suitable for contributors than unattended production hosts.

Verify the result

openclaw --version
openclaw status --all
openclaw gateway status --deep
openclaw doctor
openclaw channels status --probe

Expected result

The CLI reports the intended version, the Gateway runtime is running, its connectivity probe succeeds, and configured channels remain visible.

If the update fails

Run openclaw update repair, then check openclaw doctor --fix. If a package update stopped partway through, the official installer can recover the global package install:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-method npm

Do not delete ~/.openclaw as an update repair step. That directory contains the state you are trying to preserve.