From a740d563d75d4f1f184f23b4aba98e22f315f51e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:07:50 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] chore: allow install smoke previous override

---
 docs/reference/RELEASING.md            |  1 +
 scripts/docker/install-sh-smoke/run.sh | 16 +++++++++++++---
 scripts/test-install-sh-docker.sh      |  2 ++
 3 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/reference/RELEASING.md b/docs/reference/RELEASING.md
index f5cec402b..71049890f 100644
--- a/docs/reference/RELEASING.md
+++ b/docs/reference/RELEASING.md
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ Use `pnpm` (Node 22+) from the repo root. Keep the working tree clean before tag
 - [ ] `pnpm run build` (last sanity check after tests)
 - [ ] `pnpm release:check` (verifies npm pack contents)
 - [ ] `pnpm test:install:smoke` (Docker install smoke test; required before release)
+  - If the immediate previous npm release is known broken, set `CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_PREVIOUS=<last-good-version>` or `CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_SKIP_PREVIOUS=1` for the preinstall step.
 - [ ] (Optional) Installer E2E (Docker, runs `curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash`, onboards, then runs real tool calls):
   - `pnpm test:install:e2e:openai` (requires `OPENAI_API_KEY`)
   - `pnpm test:install:e2e:anthropic` (requires `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`)
diff --git a/scripts/docker/install-sh-smoke/run.sh b/scripts/docker/install-sh-smoke/run.sh
index c523fc3d4..370ddae4b 100755
--- a/scripts/docker/install-sh-smoke/run.sh
+++ b/scripts/docker/install-sh-smoke/run.sh
@@ -2,10 +2,15 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 INSTALL_URL="${CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_URL:-https://clawd.bot/install.sh}"
+SMOKE_PREVIOUS_VERSION="${CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_PREVIOUS:-}"
+SKIP_PREVIOUS="${CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_SKIP_PREVIOUS:-0}"
 
 echo "==> Resolve npm versions"
 LATEST_VERSION="$(npm view clawdbot version)"
-PREVIOUS_VERSION="$(node - <<'NODE'
+if [[ -n "$SMOKE_PREVIOUS_VERSION" ]]; then
+  PREVIOUS_VERSION="$SMOKE_PREVIOUS_VERSION"
+else
+  PREVIOUS_VERSION="$(node - <<'NODE'
 const { execSync } = require("node:child_process");
 
 const versions = JSON.parse(execSync("npm view clawdbot versions --json", { encoding: "utf8" }));
@@ -16,11 +21,16 @@ const previous = versions.length >= 2 ? versions[versions.length - 2] : versions
 process.stdout.write(previous);
 NODE
 )"
+fi
 
 echo "latest=$LATEST_VERSION previous=$PREVIOUS_VERSION"
 
-echo "==> Preinstall previous (forces installer upgrade path)"
-npm install -g "clawdbot@${PREVIOUS_VERSION}"
+if [[ "$SKIP_PREVIOUS" == "1" ]]; then
+  echo "==> Skip preinstall previous (CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_SKIP_PREVIOUS=1)"
+else
+  echo "==> Preinstall previous (forces installer upgrade path)"
+  npm install -g "clawdbot@${PREVIOUS_VERSION}"
+fi
 
 echo "==> Run official installer one-liner"
 curl -fsSL "$INSTALL_URL" | bash
diff --git a/scripts/test-install-sh-docker.sh b/scripts/test-install-sh-docker.sh
index efcfa5811..adf2989cd 100755
--- a/scripts/test-install-sh-docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-install-sh-docker.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ docker build \
 echo "==> Run installer smoke test (root): $INSTALL_URL"
 docker run --rm -t \
   -e CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_URL="$INSTALL_URL" \
+  -e CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_PREVIOUS="${CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_PREVIOUS:-}" \
+  -e CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_SKIP_PREVIOUS="${CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_SMOKE_SKIP_PREVIOUS:-0}" \
   -e CLAWDBOT_NO_ONBOARD=1 \
   -e DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
   "$SMOKE_IMAGE"