clawdbot/docs/cli/update.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
CLI reference for `moltbot update` (safe-ish source update + gateway auto-restart)	You want to update a source checkout safely You need to understand `--update` shorthand behavior

moltbot update

Safely update Moltbot and switch between stable/beta/dev channels.

If you installed via npm/pnpm (global install, no git metadata), updates happen via the package manager flow in Updating.

Usage

moltbot update
moltbot update status
moltbot update wizard
moltbot update --channel beta
moltbot update --channel dev
moltbot update --tag beta
moltbot update --no-restart
moltbot update --json
moltbot --update

Options

• --no-restart: skip restarting the Gateway service after a successful update.
• --channel <stable|beta|dev>: set the update channel (git + npm; persisted in config).
• --tag <dist-tag|version>: override the npm dist-tag or version for this update only.
• --json: print machine-readable UpdateRunResult JSON.
• --timeout <seconds>: per-step timeout (default is 1200s).

Note: downgrades require confirmation because older versions can break configuration.

update status

Show the active update channel + git tag/branch/SHA (for source checkouts), plus update availability.

moltbot update status
moltbot update status --json
moltbot update status --timeout 10

Options:

• --json: print machine-readable status JSON.
• --timeout <seconds>: timeout for checks (default is 3s).

update wizard

Interactive flow to pick an update channel and confirm whether to restart the Gateway after updating (default is to restart). If you select dev without a git checkout, it offers to create one.

What it does

When you switch channels explicitly (--channel ...), Moltbot also keeps the install method aligned:

• dev → ensures a git checkout (default: ~/moltbot, override with CLAWDBOT_GIT_DIR), updates it, and installs the global CLI from that checkout.
• stable/beta → installs from npm using the matching dist-tag.

Git checkout flow

Channels:

• stable: checkout the latest non-beta tag, then build + doctor.
• beta: checkout the latest -beta tag, then build + doctor.
• dev: checkout main, then fetch + rebase.

High-level:

1. Requires a clean worktree (no uncommitted changes).
2. Switches to the selected channel (tag or branch).
3. Fetches upstream (dev only).
4. Dev only: preflight lint + TypeScript build in a temp worktree; if the tip fails, walks back up to 10 commits to find the newest clean build.
5. Rebases onto the selected commit (dev only).
6. Installs deps (pnpm preferred; npm fallback).
7. Builds + builds the Control UI.
8. Runs moltbot doctor as the final “safe update” check.
9. Syncs plugins to the active channel (dev uses bundled extensions; stable/beta uses npm) and updates npm-installed plugins.

--update shorthand

moltbot --update rewrites to moltbot update (useful for shells and launcher scripts).

See also

• moltbot doctor (offers to run update first on git checkouts)
• Development channels
• Updating
• CLI reference