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Updating

WednesdayAI is moving fast before 1.0. Treat updates like shipping infrastructure: update, run checks, restart, then verify. The openclaw command remains a compatibility alias for the wednesdayai binary. The preferred update path is to re-run the installer from the website. It detects existing installs, upgrades in place, and runs wednesdayai doctor when needed.
Notes:
  • Add --no-onboard if you don’t want the onboarding wizard to run again.
  • For source installs, use:
    The installer will git pull --rebase only if the repo is clean.
  • For global installs, the script installs the wednesdayai npm package from the stable latest dist-tag under the hood. openclaw remains a binary alias, not a separate package rail.
  • Legacy note: clawdbot remains available as a compatibility shim.

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Before you update

  • Know how you installed: global (npm/pnpm) vs from source (git clone).
  • Know how your Gateway is running: foreground terminal vs supervised service (launchd/systemd).
  • Snapshot your tailoring:
    • Config: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
    • Credentials: ~/.openclaw/credentials/
    • Workspace: ~/.openclaw/workspace

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Update (global install)

Global install (pick one):
We do not recommend Bun for the Gateway runtime (WhatsApp/Telegram bugs). The supported core npm package is wednesdayai. The openclaw command remains available as a compatibility alias after install. Release channels map to npm dist-tags for stable package installs: stable uses latest, and beta uses beta. The dev channel switches to a source checkout so it can rebase and reinstall from main. To switch update channels (git + npm installs):
Use --tag <dist-tag|version> for a one-off install tag/version. See Release channels for channel semantics, promotion checks, and support expectations. Note: on npm installs, the gateway logs an update hint on startup (checks the current channel tag). Disable via update.checkOnStart: false.

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Core auto-updater (optional)

Auto-updater is off by default and is a core Gateway feature (not a plugin).
Behavior:
  • stable: when a new version is seen, WednesdayAI waits stableDelayHours and then applies a deterministic per-install jitter in stableJitterHours (spread rollout).
  • beta: checks on betaCheckIntervalHours cadence (default: hourly) and applies when an update is available.
  • dev: no automatic apply; use manual wednesdayai update.
Use wednesdayai update --dry-run to preview update actions before enabling automation. Then:
Notes:
  • If your Gateway runs as a service, wednesdayai gateway restart is preferred over killing PIDs.
  • If you’re pinned to a specific version, see “Rollback / pinning” below.

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Update (wednesdayai update)

For source installs (git checkout), prefer:
It runs a safe-ish update flow:
  • Requires a clean worktree.
  • Switches to the selected channel (tag or branch).
  • Fetches + rebases against the configured upstream (dev channel).
  • Installs deps, builds, builds the Control UI, and runs wednesdayai doctor.
  • Restarts the gateway by default (use --no-restart to skip).
If you installed via npm/pnpm (no git metadata), wednesdayai update will try to update via your package manager. If it can’t detect the install, use “Update (global install)” instead.

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Update (Control UI / RPC)

The Control UI has Update & Restart (RPC: update.run). It:
  1. Runs the same source-update flow as wednesdayai update (git checkout only).
  2. Writes a restart sentinel with a structured report (stdout/stderr tail).
  3. Restarts the gateway and pings the last active session with the report.
If the rebase fails, the gateway aborts and restarts without applying the update.

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Update (from source)

From the repo checkout: Preferred:
Manual (equivalent-ish):
Notes:
  • pnpm build matters when you run the packaged wednesdayai binary or use Node to run dist/.
  • If you run from a repo checkout without a global install, use pnpm openclaw ... or pnpm wednesdayai ... for CLI commands.
  • If you run directly from TypeScript (pnpm openclaw ... or pnpm wednesdayai ...), a rebuild is usually unnecessary, but config migrations still apply → run doctor.
  • Switching between global and git installs is easy: install the other flavor, then run wednesdayai doctor so the gateway service entrypoint is rewritten to the current install.

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Always run: wednesdayai doctor

Doctor is the “safe update” command. It’s intentionally boring: repair + migrate + warn. Note: if you’re on a source install (git checkout), wednesdayai doctor will offer to run wednesdayai update first. Typical things it does:
  • Migrate deprecated config keys / legacy config file locations.
  • Audit DM policies and warn on risky “open” settings.
  • Check Gateway health and can offer to restart.
  • Detect and migrate older gateway services (launchd/systemd; legacy schtasks) to current WednesdayAI services.
  • On Linux, ensure systemd user lingering (so the Gateway survives logout).
Details: Doctor

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Start / stop / restart the Gateway

CLI (works regardless of OS):
If you’re supervised:
  • macOS launchd (app-bundled LaunchAgent): launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.gateway (use ai.openclaw.<profile>; legacy com.openclaw.* still works)
  • Linux systemd user service: systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway[-<profile>].service
  • Windows (WSL2): systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway[-<profile>].service
    • launchctl/systemctl only work if the service is installed; otherwise run wednesdayai gateway install.
Runbook + exact service labels: Gateway runbook

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Rollback / pinning (when something breaks)

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Pin (global install)

Install a known-good version (replace <version> with the last working one):
Tip: to see the current published version, run npm view wednesdayai version. Then restart + re-run doctor:

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Pin (source) by date

Pick a commit from a date (example: “state of main as of 2026-01-01”):
Then reinstall deps + restart:
If you want to go back to latest later:
End users never publish packages. A WednesdayAI install only consumes published releases (stable, beta, or dev channels); npm publishing is a maintainer-side, OIDC-trusted workflow. See RELEASING.

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If you’re stuck