dont-be-scary#

Safe OpenClaw update with snapshot + auto-rollback. Survives the gateway restart that would otherwise kill the agent mid-operation.

When to invoke#

Trigger when the user requests an OpenClaw update or upgrade. Examples: "update openclaw", "upgrade openclaw", "actualízate", "openclaw update".

Do NOT call openclaw update directly — the gateway restart kills the calling agent before it can verify success or roll back.

How to use#

Launch the script detached so it survives the gateway restart:

bash

nohup "<path-to-skill>/scripts/safe-update.sh" </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1 & disown

Then tell the user: "Update launched in background. You'll get Telegram updates at each step." Do not wait for the script to finish — the gateway restart will likely terminate the current agent session. The user is the source of truth via Telegram.

The script's path inside an installed skill workspace is typically: <workspace>/skills/dont-be-scary/scripts/safe-update.sh

What the script does#

1. Reads bot token + chat_id from the user's ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (Telegram default account, delivery target).
2. Snapshots /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw and /Applications/OpenClaw.app to /tmp/openclaw-rollback/<timestamp>/ (~500MB).
3. Sends Telegram: "🔄 Updating from ".
4. Runs openclaw update --json (which restarts the gateway by itself).
5. Health check loop (180s) hitting http://localhost:18789/.
6. Success → Telegram "✅ → ", prunes old snapshots (keeps last 2).
7. Failure → restores snapshot, restarts gateway via launchctl, Telegram "⚠️ rollback OK".
8. Critical (rollback also failed) → Telegram urgent message pointing to references/rescue-prompt.md.

Configuration via env vars (all optional)#

Defaults match a standard brew install --cask openclaw setup. Override only if non-standard:

• OPENCLAW_TG_CHAT_ID — Telegram chat to notify (default: auto-detect from delivery.targets[])
• OPENCLAW_TG_BOT — bot account name in config (default: default)
• OPENCLAW_CONFIG — path to openclaw.json (default: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json)
• OPENCLAW_NPM_DIR — npm install path (default: /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw)
• OPENCLAW_APP_DIR — .app bundle (default: /Applications/OpenClaw.app)
• OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT — health check port (default: 18789)
• OPENCLAW_PLIST — LaunchAgent (default: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.gateway.plist)
• OPENCLAW_BIN — openclaw binary (default: /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw)
• OPENCLAW_SNAP_ROOT — snapshot root (default: /tmp/openclaw-rollback)

Requirements#

• macOS with brew cask install of OpenClaw
• ~500MB free in /tmp
• Telegram configured in openclaw.json ( channels.telegram.accounts.default.botToken + a delivery target with channel: telegram and to: <chat_id>)
• python3 and curl available (both shipped with macOS)

If the worst happens#

If the script reports 🚨 CRITICAL, the gateway is down and the agent inside OpenClaw can't help itself. Open Claude Code on the same Mac and use the prompt in references/rescue-prompt.md to recover manually.

Logs#

• Per-run log: /tmp/openclaw-update-<timestamp>.log
• Update output: /tmp/openclaw-update-<timestamp>.update.json
• Snapshots retained: 2 most recent in /tmp/openclaw-rollback/