openclaw/docs/reference/RELEASING.md

summary, title, read_when

summary	title	read_when
Release lanes, operator checklist, validation boxes, version naming, and cadence	Release policy	Looking for public release channel definitions Running release validation or package acceptance Looking for version naming and cadence

OpenClaw has three public release lanes:

• stable: tagged releases that publish to npm beta by default, or to npm latest when explicitly requested
• beta: prerelease tags that publish to npm beta
• dev: the moving head of main

Version naming

• Stable release version: YYYY.M.D
  • Git tag: vYYYY.M.D
• Stable correction release version: YYYY.M.D-N
  • Git tag: vYYYY.M.D-N
• Beta prerelease version: YYYY.M.D-beta.N
  • Git tag: vYYYY.M.D-beta.N
• Do not zero-pad month or day
• latest means the current promoted stable npm release
• beta means the current beta install target
• Stable and stable correction releases publish to npm beta by default; release operators can target latest explicitly, or promote a vetted beta build later
• Every stable OpenClaw release ships the npm package and macOS app together; beta releases normally validate and publish the npm/package path first, with mac app build/sign/notarize reserved for stable unless explicitly requested

Release cadence

• Releases move beta-first
• Stable follows only after the latest beta is validated
• Maintainers normally cut releases from a release/YYYY.M.D branch created from current main, so release validation and fixes do not block new development on main
• If a beta tag has been pushed or published and needs a fix, maintainers cut the next -beta.N tag instead of deleting or recreating the old beta tag
• Detailed release procedure, approvals, credentials, and recovery notes are maintainer-only

Release operator checklist

This checklist is the public shape of the release flow. Private credentials, signing, notarization, dist-tag recovery, and emergency rollback details stay in the maintainer-only release runbook.

1. Start from current main: pull latest, confirm the target commit is pushed, and confirm current main CI is green enough to branch from it.
2. Rewrite the top CHANGELOG.md section from real commit history with /changelog, keep entries user-facing, commit it, push it, and rebase/pull once more before branching.
3. Review release compatibility records in src/plugins/compat/registry.ts and src/commands/doctor/shared/deprecation-compat.ts. Remove expired compatibility only when the upgrade path stays covered, or record why it is intentionally carried.
4. Create release/YYYY.M.D from current main; do not do normal release work directly on main.
5. Bump every required version location for the intended tag, then run the local deterministic preflight: pnpm check:test-types, pnpm check:architecture, pnpm build && pnpm ui:build, and pnpm release:check.
6. Run OpenClaw NPM Release with preflight_only=true. Before a tag exists, a full 40-character release-branch SHA is allowed for validation-only preflight. Save the successful preflight_run_id.
7. Kick off all pre-release tests with Full Release Validation for the release branch, tag, or full commit SHA. This is the one manual entrypoint for the four big release test boxes: Vitest, Docker, QA Lab, and Package.
8. If validation fails, fix on the release branch and rerun the smallest failed file, lane, workflow job, package profile, provider, or model allowlist that proves the fix. Rerun the full umbrella only when the changed surface makes prior evidence stale.
9. For beta, tag vYYYY.M.D-beta.N, publish with npm dist-tag beta, then run post-publish package acceptance against the published openclaw@YYYY.M.D-beta.N or openclaw@beta package. If a pushed or published beta needs a fix, cut the next -beta.N; do not delete or rewrite the old beta.
10. For stable, continue only after the vetted beta or release candidate has the required validation evidence. Stable npm publish reuses the successful preflight artifact via preflight_run_id; stable macOS release readiness also requires the packaged .zip, .dmg, .dSYM.zip, and updated appcast.xml on main.
11. After publish, run the npm post-publish verifier, optional standalone published-npm Telegram E2E when you need post-publish channel proof, dist-tag promotion when needed, GitHub release/prerelease notes from the complete matching CHANGELOG.md section, and the release announcement steps.

Release preflight

• Run pnpm check:test-types before release preflight so test TypeScript stays covered outside the faster local pnpm check gate
• Run pnpm check:architecture before release preflight so the broader import cycle and architecture boundary checks are green outside the faster local gate
• Run pnpm build && pnpm ui:build before pnpm release:check so the expected dist/* release artifacts and Control UI bundle exist for the pack validation step
• Run the manual Full Release Validation workflow before release approval to kick off all pre-release test boxes from one entrypoint. It accepts a branch, tag, or full commit SHA, dispatches manual CI, and dispatches OpenClaw Release Checks for install smoke, package acceptance, Docker release-path suites, live/E2E, OpenWebUI, QA Lab parity, Matrix, and Telegram lanes. Provide npm_telegram_package_spec only after a package has been published and the post-publish Telegram E2E should run too. Example: gh workflow run full-release-validation.yml --ref main -f ref=release/YYYY.M.D
• Run the manual Package Acceptance workflow when you want side-channel proof for a package candidate while release work continues. Use source=npm for openclaw@beta, openclaw@latest, or an exact release version; source=ref to pack a trusted package_ref branch/tag/SHA with the current workflow_ref harness; source=url for an HTTPS tarball with a required SHA-256; or source=artifact for a tarball uploaded by another GitHub Actions run. The workflow resolves the candidate to package-under-test, reuses the Docker E2E release scheduler against that tarball, and can run Telegram QA against the same tarball with telegram_mode=mock-openai or telegram_mode=live-frontier. Example: gh workflow run package-acceptance.yml --ref main -f workflow_ref=main -f source=npm -f package_spec=openclaw@beta -f suite_profile=product -f telegram_mode=mock-openai Common profiles:
  • smoke: install/channel/agent, gateway network, and config reload lanes
  • package: artifact-native package/update/plugin lanes without OpenWebUI or live ClawHub
  • product: package profile plus MCP channels, cron/subagent cleanup, OpenAI web search, and OpenWebUI
  • full: Docker release-path chunks with OpenWebUI
  • custom: exact docker_lanes selection for a focused rerun
• Run the manual CI workflow directly when you only need full normal CI coverage for the release candidate. Manual CI dispatches bypass changed scoping and force the Linux Node shards, bundled-plugin shards, channel contracts, Node 22 compatibility, check, check-additional, build smoke, docs checks, Python skills, Windows, macOS, Android, and Control UI i18n lanes. Example: gh workflow run ci.yml --ref release/YYYY.M.D
• Run pnpm qa:otel:smoke when validating release telemetry. It exercises QA-lab through a local OTLP/HTTP receiver and verifies the exported trace span names, bounded attributes, and content/identifier redaction without requiring Opik, Langfuse, or another external collector.
• Run pnpm release:check before every tagged release
• Release checks now run in a separate manual workflow: OpenClaw Release Checks
• OpenClaw Release Checks also runs the QA Lab mock parity gate plus the fast live Matrix profile and Telegram QA lane before release approval. The live lanes use the qa-live-shared environment; Telegram also uses Convex CI credential leases. Run the manual QA-Lab - All Lanes workflow with matrix_profile=all and matrix_shards=true when you want full Matrix transport, media, and E2EE inventory in parallel.
• Cross-OS install and upgrade runtime validation is part of public OpenClaw Release Checks and Full Release Validation, which call the reusable workflow .github/workflows/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks-reusable.yml directly
• This split is intentional: keep the real npm release path short, deterministic, and artifact-focused, while slower live checks stay in their own lane so they do not stall or block publish
• Secret-bearing release checks should be dispatched through Full Release Validation or from the main/release workflow ref so workflow logic and secrets stay controlled
• OpenClaw Release Checks accepts a branch, tag, or full commit SHA as long as the resolved commit is reachable from an OpenClaw branch or release tag
• OpenClaw NPM Release validation-only preflight also accepts the current full 40-character workflow-branch commit SHA without requiring a pushed tag
• That SHA path is validation-only and cannot be promoted into a real publish
• In SHA mode the workflow synthesizes v<package.json version> only for the package metadata check; real publish still requires a real release tag
• Both workflows keep the real publish and promotion path on GitHub-hosted runners, while the non-mutating validation path can use the larger Blacksmith Linux runners
• That workflow runs OPENCLAW_LIVE_TEST=1 OPENCLAW_LIVE_CACHE_TEST=1 pnpm test:live:cache using both OPENAI_API_KEY and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY workflow secrets
• npm release preflight no longer waits on the separate release checks lane
• Run RELEASE_TAG=vYYYY.M.D node --import tsx scripts/openclaw-npm-release-check.ts (or the matching beta/correction tag) before approval
• After npm publish, run node --import tsx scripts/openclaw-npm-postpublish-verify.ts YYYY.M.D (or the matching beta/correction version) to verify the published registry install path in a fresh temp prefix
• After a beta publish, run OPENCLAW_NPM_TELEGRAM_PACKAGE_SPEC=openclaw@YYYY.M.D-beta.N OPENCLAW_NPM_TELEGRAM_CREDENTIAL_SOURCE=convex OPENCLAW_NPM_TELEGRAM_CREDENTIAL_ROLE=ci pnpm test:docker:npm-telegram-live to verify installed-package onboarding, Telegram setup, and real Telegram E2E against the published npm package using the shared leased Telegram credential pool. Local maintainer one-offs may omit the Convex vars and pass the three OPENCLAW_QA_TELEGRAM_* env credentials directly.
• Maintainers can run the same post-publish check from GitHub Actions via the manual NPM Telegram Beta E2E workflow. It is intentionally manual-only and does not run on every merge.
• Maintainer release automation now uses preflight-then-promote:
  • real npm publish must pass a successful npm preflight_run_id
  • the real npm publish must be dispatched from the same main or release/YYYY.M.D branch as the successful preflight run
  • stable npm releases default to beta
  • stable npm publish can target latest explicitly via workflow input
  • token-based npm dist-tag mutation now lives in openclaw/releases-private/.github/workflows/openclaw-npm-dist-tags.yml for security, because npm dist-tag add still needs NPM_TOKEN while the public repo keeps OIDC-only publish
  • public macOS Release is validation-only
  • real private mac publish must pass successful private mac preflight_run_id and validate_run_id
  • the real publish paths promote prepared artifacts instead of rebuilding them again
• For stable correction releases like YYYY.M.D-N, the post-publish verifier also checks the same temp-prefix upgrade path from YYYY.M.D to YYYY.M.D-N so release corrections cannot silently leave older global installs on the base stable payload
• npm release preflight fails closed unless the tarball includes both dist/control-ui/index.html and a non-empty dist/control-ui/assets/ payload so we do not ship an empty browser dashboard again
• Post-publish verification also checks that the published registry install contains non-empty bundled plugin runtime deps under the root dist/* layout. A release that ships with missing or empty bundled plugin dependency payloads fails the postpublish verifier and cannot be promoted to latest.
• pnpm test:install:smoke also enforces the npm pack unpackedSize budget on the candidate update tarball, so installer e2e catches accidental pack bloat before the release publish path
• If the release work touched CI planning, extension timing manifests, or extension test matrices, regenerate and review the planner-owned checks-node-extensions workflow matrix outputs from .github/workflows/ci.yml before approval so release notes do not describe a stale CI layout
• Stable macOS release readiness also includes the updater surfaces:
  • the GitHub release must end up with the packaged .zip, .dmg, and .dSYM.zip
  • appcast.xml on main must point at the new stable zip after publish
  • the packaged app must keep a non-debug bundle id, a non-empty Sparkle feed URL, and a CFBundleVersion at or above the canonical Sparkle build floor for that release version

Release test boxes

Full Release Validation is how operators kick off all pre-release tests from one entrypoint. Run it from the trusted main workflow ref and pass the release branch, tag, or full commit SHA as ref:

gh workflow run full-release-validation.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f ref=release/YYYY.M.D \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f provider=openai \
  -f mode=both

The workflow resolves the target ref, dispatches manual CI with target_ref=<release-ref>, dispatches OpenClaw Release Checks, and optionally dispatches standalone post-publish Telegram E2E when npm_telegram_package_spec is set. OpenClaw Release Checks then fans out install smoke, cross-OS release checks, live/E2E Docker release-path coverage, Package Acceptance with Telegram package QA, QA Lab parity, live Matrix, and live Telegram. A full run is only acceptable when the Full Release Validation summary shows normal_ci and release_checks as successful, and any optional npm_telegram child is either successful or intentionally skipped.

Use these variants depending on release stage:

# Validate an unpublished release candidate branch.
gh workflow run full-release-validation.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f ref=release/YYYY.M.D \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f provider=openai \
  -f mode=both

# Validate an exact pushed commit.
gh workflow run full-release-validation.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f ref=<40-char-sha> \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f provider=openai \
  -f mode=both

# After publishing a beta, add published-package Telegram E2E.
gh workflow run full-release-validation.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f ref=release/YYYY.M.D \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f provider=openai \
  -f mode=both \
  -f npm_telegram_package_spec=openclaw@YYYY.M.D-beta.N \
  -f npm_telegram_provider_mode=mock-openai

Do not use the full umbrella as the first rerun after a focused fix. If one box fails, use the failed child workflow, job, Docker lane, package profile, model provider, or QA lane for the next proof. Run the full umbrella again only when the fix changed shared release orchestration or made earlier all-box evidence stale.

Vitest

The Vitest box is the manual CI child workflow. Manual CI intentionally bypasses changed scoping and forces the normal test graph for the release candidate: Linux Node shards, bundled-plugin shards, channel contracts, Node 22 compatibility, check, check-additional, build smoke, docs checks, Python skills, Windows, macOS, Android, and Control UI i18n.

Use this box to answer "did the source tree pass the full normal test suite?" It is not the same as release-path product validation. Evidence to keep:

• Full Release Validation summary showing the dispatched CI run URL
• CI run green on the exact target SHA
• failed or slow shard names from the CI jobs when investigating regressions
• Vitest timing artifacts such as .artifacts/vitest-shard-timings.json when a run needs performance analysis

Run manual CI directly only when the release needs deterministic normal CI but not the Docker, QA Lab, live, cross-OS, or package boxes:

gh workflow run ci.yml --ref main -f target_ref=release/YYYY.M.D

Docker

The Docker box lives in OpenClaw Release Checks through openclaw-live-and-e2e-checks-reusable.yml, plus the release-mode install-smoke workflow. It validates the release candidate through packaged Docker environments instead of only source-level tests.

Release Docker coverage includes:

• full install smoke with the slow Bun global install smoke enabled
• repository E2E lanes
• release-path Docker chunks: core, package-update, and plugins-integrations
• OpenWebUI coverage inside the plugins-integrations chunk when requested
• split bundled-channel dependency lanes inside plugins-integrations instead of the serial all-in-one bundled-channel lane
• live/E2E provider suites and Docker live model coverage when release checks include live suites

Use Docker artifacts before rerunning. The release-path scheduler uploads .artifacts/docker-tests/ with lane logs, summary.json, failures.json, phase timings, scheduler plan JSON, and rerun commands. For focused recovery, use docker_lanes=<lane[,lane]> on the reusable live/E2E workflow instead of rerunning all release chunks. Generated rerun commands include prior package_artifact_run_id and prepared Docker image inputs when available, so a failed lane can reuse the same tarball and GHCR images.

QA Lab

The QA Lab box is also part of OpenClaw Release Checks. It is the agentic behavior and channel-level release gate, separate from Vitest and Docker package mechanics.

Release QA Lab coverage includes:

• mock parity gate comparing the OpenAI candidate lane against the Opus 4.6 baseline using the agentic parity pack
• fast live Matrix QA profile using the qa-live-shared environment
• live Telegram QA lane using Convex CI credential leases
• pnpm qa:otel:smoke when release telemetry needs explicit local proof

Use this box to answer "does the release behave correctly in QA scenarios and live channel flows?" Keep the artifact URLs for parity, Matrix, and Telegram lanes when approving the release. Full Matrix coverage remains available as a manual sharded QA-Lab run rather than the default release-critical lane.

Package

The Package box is the installable-product gate. It is backed by Package Acceptance and the resolver scripts/resolve-openclaw-package-candidate.mjs. The resolver normalizes a candidate into the package-under-test tarball consumed by Docker E2E, validates the package inventory, records the package version and SHA-256, and keeps the workflow harness ref separate from the package source ref.

Supported candidate sources:

• source=npm: openclaw@beta, openclaw@latest, or an exact OpenClaw release version
• source=ref: pack a trusted package_ref branch, tag, or full commit SHA with the selected workflow_ref harness
• source=url: download an HTTPS .tgz with required package_sha256
• source=artifact: reuse a .tgz uploaded by another GitHub Actions run

OpenClaw Release Checks runs Package Acceptance with source=ref, package_ref=<release-ref>, suite_profile=package, and telegram_mode=mock-openai. That profile covers install, update, plugin package contracts through offline plugin fixtures, and Telegram package QA against the same resolved tarball. It is the GitHub-native replacement for most of the package/update coverage that previously required Parallels. Cross-OS release checks still matter for OS-specific onboarding, installer, and platform behavior, but package/update product validation should prefer Package Acceptance.

Legacy package-acceptance leniency is intentionally time boxed. Packages through 2026.4.25 may use the compatibility path for metadata gaps already published to npm: private QA inventory entries missing from the tarball, missing gateway install --wrapper, missing patch files in the tarball-derived git fixture, missing persisted update.channel, legacy plugin install-record locations, missing marketplace install-record persistence, and config metadata migration during plugins update. Packages after 2026.4.25 must satisfy the modern package contracts; those same gaps fail release validation.

Use broader Package Acceptance profiles when the release question is about an actual installable package:

gh workflow run package-acceptance.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f workflow_ref=main \
  -f source=npm \
  -f package_spec=openclaw@beta \
  -f suite_profile=product

Common package profiles:

• smoke: quick package install/channel/agent, gateway network, and config reload lanes
• package: install/update/plugin package contracts without live ClawHub; this is the release-check default
• product: package plus MCP channels, cron/subagent cleanup, OpenAI web search, and OpenWebUI
• full: Docker release-path chunks with OpenWebUI
• custom: exact docker_lanes list for focused reruns

For package-candidate Telegram proof, enable telegram_mode=mock-openai or telegram_mode=live-frontier on Package Acceptance. The workflow passes the resolved package-under-test tarball into the Telegram lane; the standalone Telegram workflow still accepts a published npm spec for post-publish checks.

NPM workflow inputs

OpenClaw NPM Release accepts these operator-controlled inputs:

• tag: required release tag such as v2026.4.2, v2026.4.2-1, or v2026.4.2-beta.1; when preflight_only=true, it may also be the current full 40-character workflow-branch commit SHA for validation-only preflight
• preflight_only: true for validation/build/package only, false for the real publish path
• preflight_run_id: required on the real publish path so the workflow reuses the prepared tarball from the successful preflight run
• npm_dist_tag: npm target tag for the publish path; defaults to beta

OpenClaw Release Checks accepts these operator-controlled inputs:

• ref: branch, tag, or full commit SHA to validate. Secret-bearing checks require the resolved commit to be reachable from an OpenClaw branch or release tag.

Rules:

• Stable and correction tags may publish to either beta or latest
• Beta prerelease tags may publish only to beta
• For OpenClaw NPM Release, full commit SHA input is allowed only when preflight_only=true
• OpenClaw Release Checks and Full Release Validation are always validation-only
• The real publish path must use the same npm_dist_tag used during preflight; the workflow verifies that metadata before publish continues

Stable npm release sequence

When cutting a stable npm release:

1. Run OpenClaw NPM Release with preflight_only=true
   • Before a tag exists, you may use the current full workflow-branch commit SHA for a validation-only dry run of the preflight workflow
2. Choose npm_dist_tag=beta for the normal beta-first flow, or latest only when you intentionally want a direct stable publish
3. Run Full Release Validation on the release branch, release tag, or full commit SHA when you want normal CI plus live prompt cache, Docker, QA Lab, Matrix, and Telegram coverage from one manual workflow
4. If you intentionally only need the deterministic normal test graph, run the manual CI workflow on the release ref instead
5. Save the successful preflight_run_id
6. Run OpenClaw NPM Release again with preflight_only=false, the same tag, the same npm_dist_tag, and the saved preflight_run_id
7. If the release landed on beta, use the private openclaw/releases-private/.github/workflows/openclaw-npm-dist-tags.yml workflow to promote that stable version from beta to latest
8. If the release intentionally published directly to latest and beta should follow the same stable build immediately, use that same private workflow to point both dist-tags at the stable version, or let its scheduled self-healing sync move beta later

The dist-tag mutation lives in the private repo for security because it still requires NPM_TOKEN, while the public repo keeps OIDC-only publish.

That keeps the direct publish path and the beta-first promotion path both documented and operator-visible.

If a maintainer must fall back to local npm authentication, run any 1Password CLI (op) commands only inside a dedicated tmux session. Do not call op directly from the main agent shell; keeping it inside tmux makes prompts, alerts, and OTP handling observable and prevents repeated host alerts.

Public references

• .github/workflows/full-release-validation.yml
• .github/workflows/package-acceptance.yml
• .github/workflows/openclaw-npm-release.yml
• .github/workflows/openclaw-release-checks.yml
• .github/workflows/openclaw-cross-os-release-checks-reusable.yml
• scripts/resolve-openclaw-package-candidate.mjs
• scripts/openclaw-npm-release-check.ts
• scripts/package-mac-dist.sh
• scripts/make_appcast.sh

Maintainers use the private release docs in openclaw/maintainers/release/README.md for the actual runbook.

Related

• Release channels