clawdbot/docs/install/updating.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
Updating Moltbot safely (global install or source), plus rollback strategy	Updating Moltbot Something breaks after an update

Updating

Moltbot is moving fast (pre “1.0”). Treat updates like shipping infra: update → run checks → restart (or use moltbot update, which restarts) → verify.

Recommended: re-run the website installer (upgrade in place)

The preferred update path is to re-run the installer from the website. It detects existing installs, upgrades in place, and runs moltbot doctor when needed.

curl -fsSL https://molt.bot/install.sh | bash

Notes:

• Add --no-onboard if you don’t want the onboarding wizard to run again.
• For source installs, use:

  curl -fsSL https://molt.bot/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-method git --no-onboard
  

  The installer will git pull --rebase only if the repo is clean.
• For global installs, the script uses npm install -g moltbot@latest under the hood.
• Legacy note: clawdbot remains available as a compatibility shim.

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: ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json
  • Credentials: ~/.clawdbot/credentials/
  • Workspace: ~/clawd

Update (global install)

Global install (pick one):

npm i -g moltbot@latest

pnpm add -g moltbot@latest

We do not recommend Bun for the Gateway runtime (WhatsApp/Telegram bugs).

To switch update channels (git + npm installs):

moltbot update --channel beta
moltbot update --channel dev
moltbot update --channel stable

Use --tag <dist-tag|version> for a one-off install tag/version.

See Development channels for channel semantics and release notes.

Note: on npm installs, the gateway logs an update hint on startup (checks the current channel tag). Disable via update.checkOnStart: false.

Then:

moltbot doctor
moltbot gateway restart
moltbot health

Notes:

• If your Gateway runs as a service, moltbot gateway restart is preferred over killing PIDs.
• If you’re pinned to a specific version, see “Rollback / pinning” below.

Update (moltbot update)

For source installs (git checkout), prefer:

moltbot update

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 moltbot doctor.
• Restarts the gateway by default (use --no-restart to skip).

If you installed via npm/pnpm (no git metadata), moltbot update will try to update via your package manager. If it can’t detect the install, use “Update (global install)” instead.

Update (Control UI / RPC)

The Control UI has Update & Restart (RPC: update.run). It:

1. Runs the same source-update flow as moltbot 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.

Update (from source)

From the repo checkout:

Preferred:

moltbot update

Manual (equivalent-ish):

git pull
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm ui:build # auto-installs UI deps on first run
moltbot doctor
moltbot health

Notes:

• pnpm build matters when you run the packaged moltbot binary (dist/entry.js) or use Node to run dist/.
• If you run from a repo checkout without a global install, use pnpm moltbot ... for CLI commands.
• If you run directly from TypeScript (pnpm moltbot ...), 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 moltbot doctor so the gateway service entrypoint is rewritten to the current install.

Always Run: moltbot doctor

Doctor is the “safe update” command. It’s intentionally boring: repair + migrate + warn.

Note: if you’re on a source install (git checkout), moltbot doctor will offer to run moltbot 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 Clawdbot services.
• On Linux, ensure systemd user lingering (so the Gateway survives logout).

Details: Doctor

Start / stop / restart the Gateway

CLI (works regardless of OS):

moltbot gateway status
moltbot gateway stop
moltbot gateway restart
moltbot gateway --port 18789
moltbot logs --follow

If you’re supervised:

• macOS launchd (app-bundled LaunchAgent): launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/com.clawdbot.gateway (use com.clawdbot.<profile> if set)
• Linux systemd user service: systemctl --user restart clawdbot-gateway[-<profile>].service
• Windows (WSL2): systemctl --user restart clawdbot-gateway[-<profile>].service
  • launchctl/systemctl only work if the service is installed; otherwise run moltbot gateway install.

Runbook + exact service labels: Gateway runbook

Rollback / pinning (when something breaks)

Pin (global install)

Install a known-good version (replace <version> with the last working one):

npm i -g moltbot@<version>

pnpm add -g moltbot@<version>

Tip: to see the current published version, run npm view moltbot version.

Then restart + re-run doctor:

moltbot doctor
moltbot gateway restart

Pin (source) by date

Pick a commit from a date (example: “state of main as of 2026-01-01”):

git fetch origin
git checkout "$(git rev-list -n 1 --before=\"2026-01-01\" origin/main)"

Then reinstall deps + restart:

pnpm install
pnpm build
moltbot gateway restart

If you want to go back to latest later:

git checkout main
git pull

If you’re stuck

• Run moltbot doctor again and read the output carefully (it often tells you the fix).
• Check: Troubleshooting
• Ask in Discord: https://channels.discord.gg/clawd