Auto-Updater Pro

Enhanced auto-updater with detailed logging, missed run recovery, and Gateway restart protection.

Version: 1.1.0 (Updated 2026-02-22)

What's New:

• ✅ Detailed logging at each step (prevents state loss on restart)
• ✅ Missed run recovery (auto-runs if Gateway was offline)
• ✅ 30-second delay after updates (prevents interruption)
• ✅ Email report support (less intrusive than chat messages)
• ✅ Better error handling and retry logic

Note: This is an enhanced version of the original auto-updater skill with production-ready features.

What It Does

This skill sets up a daily cron job that:

1. Updates Clawdbot itself (via clawdbot doctor or package manager)
2. Updates all installed skills (via clawdhub update --all)
3. Messages you with a summary of what was updated
4. New: Logs every step to prevent state loss on Gateway restart
5. New: Auto-recovers if the scheduled time was missed

Setup

Quick Start

Ask Clawdbot to set up the auto-updater:

Set up daily auto-updates for yourself and all your skills.

Or manually add the cron job:

clawdbot cron add \
  --name "Daily Auto-Update" \
  --cron "0 4 * * *" \
  --tz "America/Los_Angeles" \
  --session isolated \
  --wake now \
  --deliver \
  --message "Run daily auto-updates: check for Clawdbot updates and update all skills. Report what was updated."

Recommended Configuration (v1.1.0+)

For production use, add these settings to your cron job:

{
  "schedule": {
    "expr": "0 4 * * *",
    "kind": "cron",
    "tz": "Asia/Shanghai"
  },
  "missedRunPolicy": "run-immediately",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "...",
    "timeoutSeconds": 600
  }
}

Key Settings:

• missedRunPolicy: "run-immediately" - Auto-runs if Gateway was offline at scheduled time
• timeoutSeconds: 600 - Allow 10 minutes for updates to complete
• tz: "Asia/Shanghai" - Set to your timezone

Configuration Options

How Updates Work

Clawdbot Updates

For npm/pnpm/bun installs:

npm update -g clawdbot@latest
# or: pnpm update -g clawdbot@latest
# or: bun update -g clawdbot@latest

For source installs (git checkout):

clawdbot update

Always run clawdbot doctor after updating to apply migrations.

Skill Updates

clawdhub update --all

This checks all installed skills against the registry and updates any with new versions available.

Update Summary Format

After updates complete, you'll receive a message like:

🔄 Daily Auto-Update Complete

**Clawdbot**: Updated to v2026.1.10 (was v2026.1.9)

**Skills Updated (3)**:
- prd: 2.0.3 → 2.0.4
- browser: 1.2.0 → 1.2.1  
- nano-banana-pro: 3.1.0 → 3.1.2

**Skills Already Current (5)**:
gemini, sag, things-mac, himalaya, peekaboo

No issues encountered.

Detailed Logging (v1.1.0+)

To prevent state loss during Gateway restarts, the update process logs every step:

Log File Location

~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/openclaw-update-YYYY-MM-DD.md

Log Format

# OpenClaw 更新日志 YYYY-MM-DD

## 更新前
- 开始时间：HH:mm:ss
- 当前版本：x.x.x
- 最新版本：x.x.x

## 更新中
- 更新开始：HH:mm:ss
- 更新命令：...
- 更新完成：HH:mm:ss
- 验证版本：x.x.x

## 更新后
- 状态：已是最新 / 已更新 / 更新失败
- 报告发送：成功 / 失败
- 完成时间：HH:mm:ss

## 更新内容
（从 CHANGELOG 或 npm 获取）

Six-Phase Update Process

Phase 1: Preparation

• Record start time
• Check current version
• Write to log file immediately

Phase 2: Check for Updates

• Check latest version (npm view)
• Append to log file
• Compare versions

Phase 3: Execute Update

• Record update start
• Run openclaw update run or npm install -g openclaw@latest
• Immediately log completion
• Verify new version

Phase 4: Persist State

• Append full results to log
• Wait 3 seconds for disk sync

Phase 5: Send Report

• Send email/chat report
• Log delivery status

Phase 6: Delay Restart (Critical!)

• Wait 30 seconds before any Gateway restart
• Ensures npm processes complete
• Prevents state loss

Manual Commands

Check for updates without applying:

clawdhub update --all --dry-run

View current skill versions:

clawdhub list

Check Clawdbot version:

clawdbot --version

Troubleshooting

Updates Not Running

1. Verify cron is enabled: check cron.enabled in config
2. Confirm Gateway is running continuously
3. Check cron job exists: clawdbot cron list
4. Check if missed run policy is set: missedRunPolicy: "run-immediately"

Update Failures

If an update fails, the summary will include the error. Common fixes:

• Permission errors: Ensure the Gateway user can write to skill directories
• Network errors: Check internet connectivity
• Package conflicts: Run clawdbot doctor to diagnose
• Gateway restart interruption: Check log file for partial completion

Gateway Restart During Update

If Gateway restarts during update (common with npm installs):

1. Check log file: ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/openclaw-update-*.md
2. Verify version: openclaw --version
3. Manually send report if needed (log file has all info)

Disabling Auto-Updates

Remove the cron job:

clawdbot cron remove "Daily Auto-Update"

Or disable temporarily in config:

{
  "cron": {
    "enabled": false
  }
}

Best Practices

1. Schedule During Low Activity

Choose a time when you're unlikely to be using the system:

"expr": "0 4 * * *"  // 4:00 AM

2. Enable Missed Run Recovery

Prevents missing updates if Gateway is offline:

"missedRunPolicy": "run-immediately"

3. Use Email for Reports

Less intrusive than chat messages:

• Configure email-163-com or similar skill
• Send plain text reports
• Include log file path

4. Log Everything

Always write to log file before sending reports:

• Prevents state loss
• Enables debugging
• Provides audit trail

5. Wait After Updates

Add 30-second delay before any Gateway restart:

sleep 30

Resources

• Clawdbot Updating Guide
• ClawdHub CLI
• Cron Jobs
• Change Log

Version History

v1.1.0 (2026-02-22)

Improvements:

• ✅ Added detailed logging at each step
• ✅ Added missed run recovery policy
• ✅ Added 30-second delay after updates
• ✅ Added email report support
• ✅ Improved error handling

Bug Fixes:

• 🐛 Fixed state loss on Gateway restart
• 🐛 Fixed missed scheduled runs
• 🐛 Fixed report delivery failures

v1.0.0 (2026-01-13)

• ✅ Initial release
• ✅ Basic daily update check
• ✅ Simple report format

Published: 2026-02-22
Maintainer: OpenClaw Team
License: MIT