OpenClaw Updater

Safely update OpenClaw with pre-flight checks and rollback support. Use when updating OpenClaw, checking for updates, or recovering from a failed update. Handles workspace git commits, config backups, version rollback, and post-update verification.

Safely update OpenClaw with automatic pre-flight safety checks and rollback capability.

Pre-Update Checklist

Before running openclaw update, always run the pre-update script:

bash scripts/pre-update.sh

Optional: specify a backup script to run during pre-flight:

BACKUP_SCRIPT=~/repo/scripts/backup-openclaw.sh bash scripts/pre-update.sh

The script will:

1. Find all workspace* directories under ~/.openclaw/
2. Git commit any uncommitted changes (init git if missing)
3. Back up openclaw.json to /tmp/openclaw.json.bak
4. Run the backup script if provided
5. Save the current version to /tmp/openclaw-prev-version.txt

Telegram Notification Setup

The update script sends success/failure notifications via Telegram Bot API (bypasses OpenClaw gateway, so it works even if the update breaks the gateway).

Create ~/.openclaw/.telegram-notify.env:

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<your-bot-token>
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=<your-chat-id>

chmod 600 ~/.openclaw/.telegram-notify.env

The bot token is the same one used by your OpenClaw Telegram channel. Chat ID can be found via openclaw directory.

Update (with notification)

Run the full update with automatic pre-flight + notification:

bash scripts/update.sh

This will: pre-flight → update → wait for gateway → notify via Telegram.

Update (manual)

After pre-flight passes:

openclaw update

Post-Update Verification

After updating, verify:

openclaw status
openclaw gateway status

Check that:

• Version shows the new release
• Gateway is running
• All agents are responsive

Rollback

If the update breaks something:

bash scripts/rollback.sh

The script will:

1. Read the saved previous version from /tmp/openclaw-prev-version.txt
2. Install that version via npm install -g openclaw@<version>
3. Optionally restore openclaw.json from backup
4. Restart the gateway

Manual Rollback

If the rollback script isn't available:

# Install specific version
npm install -g openclaw@<version>

# Restore config
cp /tmp/openclaw.json.bak ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

# Restart
openclaw gateway restart

Restore from Full Backup

If config and workspaces are both corrupted:

# Find latest backup
ls -t ~/repo/backups/openclaw-*.tar.gz | head -1

# Restore (overwrites ~/.openclaw/)
tar xzf ~/repo/backups/openclaw-<timestamp>.tar.gz -C ~/