✓ Verified 💻 Development ✓ Enhanced Data

Safe Update

Update OpenClaw from source code.

Rating
4 (266 reviews)
Downloads
30,491 downloads
Version
1.0.0

Overview

Update OpenClaw from source code.

✨Key Features

1

Analyze Current State (Must Run First)

2

Ask User for Confirmation

3

Execute Update

Complete Documentation

View Source →

name: safe-update description: Update OpenClaw from source code. Supports custom project path and branch. Includes pulling latest branch, rebasing, building and installing, restarting service. Triggered when user asks to update OpenClaw, sync source, rebase branch, or rebuild.

Safe Update

Update OpenClaw from source to the latest version while preserving local changes.

⚠️ Important Warnings

  • This script performs git rebase and git push --force - may lose local changes if not properly committed
  • Uses npm i -g . for global installation - may require sudo
  • Uses systemctl --user restart - will restart the OpenClaw service
  • Backup your config before running! (see below)

Requirements

Required binaries (must be installed):
  • git
  • npm / node
  • systemctl (for restarting gateway)

Configuration

Environment Variables (optional)

``bash

Set custom project path

export OPENCLAW_PROJECT_DIR="/path/to/openclaw"

Set custom branch (default: main)

export OPENCLAW_BRANCH="your-feature-branch"

Enable dry-run mode (no actual changes)

export DRY_RUN="true" `

Or Pass as Arguments

`bash ./update.sh --dir /path/to/openclaw --branch your-branch `

Workflow

Step 1: Analyze Current State (Must Run First)

Before executing any update, check:
  • Whether the current branch has uncommitted changes
  • Whether the current branch has local modifications
  • Whether upstream has new commits
  • Recommend the most appropriate update strategy based on the situation
Recommended Strategy: | Scenario | Recommended Method | Rationale | |----------|-------------------|----------| | Uncommitted local changes | Commit/stash first, then merge | Safe, no lost changes | | Only clean local commits | merge or rebase | merge is safer, rebase keeps history clean | | Preparing a PR | rebase recommended | Keeps history tidy | | Routine dev update | merge recommended | Simple, less error-prone |

Step 2: Ask User for Confirmation

After presenting the recommended options, you must wait for user confirmation before executing.

Step 3: Execute Update

`bash

1. Enter project directory

cd "${OPENCLAW_PROJECT_DIR:-$HOME/projects/openclaw}"

2. Backup config files (good practice before update!)

echo "=== Backing up config files ===" mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/backups BACKUP_SUFFIX=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)

Backup main config

cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/backups/openclaw.json.bak.$BACKUP_SUFFIX echo "✅ Backed up: openclaw.json"

Backup auth profiles (if exists)

if [ -f ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/auth-profiles.json ]; then cp ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/auth-profiles.json \ ~/.openclaw/backups/auth-profiles.json.bak.$BACKUP_SUFFIX echo "✅ Backed up: auth-profiles.json" fi echo "💡 Backups saved to: ~/.openclaw/backups/" echo ""

3. Add upstream repository (if not added)

git remote add upstream https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git 2>/dev/null || true

4. Fetch upstream changes

git fetch upstream

5. Update target branch (use merge or rebase based on user's choice)

git checkout $BRANCH

merge: git merge upstream/$BRANCH

rebase: git rebase upstream/$BRANCH

6. View changelog

echo "=== Full Changelog ===" CURRENT_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "v$(node -e 'console.log(require("./package.json").version)')") echo "Current version: $CURRENT_TAG" echo ""

7. Build and install

npm run build npm i -g .

8. Reinstall systemd service (to update version number)

echo "=== Reinstalling Gateway service ===" openclaw daemon install --force

9. Check version

NEW_VERSION=$(openclaw --version) echo "✅ Update complete! New version: $NEW_VERSION" echo ""

10. Ask user whether to restart

echo "=== Gateway needs restart to apply updates ===" echo "Confirm restart? (y/N)" `

Quick Script

Run scripts/update.sh to automatically complete all steps above.

Command Line Options

`bash ./update.sh [OPTIONS] Options: --dir PATH OpenClaw project directory (default: $HOME/projects/openclaw) --branch NAME Git branch to update (default: main) --mode MODE Update mode: merge or rebase (if not specified, will analyze and recommend) --dry-run Show what would be done without executing --help Show this help message `

Examples

`bash

Update with defaults (will analyze and recommend)

./update.sh

Update specific branch

./update.sh --branch feat/my-branch

Force merge mode

./update.sh --mode merge

Force rebase mode

./update.sh --mode rebase

Dry run (preview only)

./update.sh --dry-run

Custom project path

./update.sh --dir /opt/openclaw --branch main `

Notes

  • Rebase may cause conflicts - if conflicts occur, resolve manually and continue
  • Force push - after rebase, if pushing to fork, use git push --force
  • Service reinstall - will update version in systemd unit file
  • User confirms restart - Gateway will not restart until you confirm
  • Backup first - always backup before updating!

Troubleshooting

Git Conflicts During Rebase

`bash

Resolve conflicts manually, then:

git add . git rebase --continue

Continue with build steps

`

Build Fails

`bash

Clean and retry:

rm -rf node_modules dist npm install npm run build `

Gateway Won't Start

`bash

Check status:

systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway

View logs:

journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway -n 50 ``

Installation

Terminal bash 

openclaw install safe-update
Copied!

Tags

#coding_agents-and-ides #code

Quick Info

Category Development
Model Claude 3.5
Complexity One-Click
Author hacksing
Last Updated 3/10/2026
🚀
Optimized for
Claude 3.5
🧠

Ready to Install?

Get started with this skill in seconds

openclaw install safe-update

Resources

📂
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