Release policy

OpenClaw exposes four user-facing update channels:

• stable: the promoted regular release on npm latest
• extended-stable: the trailing completed month’s .33+ maintenance line on npm extended-stable
• beta: prerelease tags on npm beta
• dev: the moving head of main

Extended-stable ships the trailing month’s Gateway, official npm plugins, and Docker images without moving regular latest or main selectors.

Tideclaw alpha builds are a separate internal prerelease track (npm dist-tag alpha), covered under NPM workflow inputs and Release test boxes.

Version naming

• Monthly Gateway extended-stable release version: YYYY.M.PATCH, with PATCH >= 33, git tag vYYYY.M.PATCH
• Daily/regular final release version: YYYY.M.PATCH, with PATCH < 33, git tag vYYYY.M.PATCH
• Regular fallback correction release version: YYYY.M.PATCH-N, git tag vYYYY.M.PATCH-N
• Beta prerelease version: YYYY.M.PATCH-beta.N, git tag vYYYY.M.PATCH-beta.N
• Alpha prerelease version: YYYY.M.PATCH-alpha.N, git tag vYYYY.M.PATCH-alpha.N
• Never zero-pad month or patch
• PATCH is a sequential monthly release-train number, not a calendar day. Regular final and beta releases advance the current train; alpha-only tags never consume or advance the beta/regular patch number, so ignore legacy alpha-only tags with higher patch numbers when selecting a beta or regular train.
• Alpha/nightly builds use the next unreleased patch train and increment only alpha.N for repeated builds. Once that patch has a beta, new alpha builds move to the following patch.
• npm versions are immutable: never delete, republish, or reuse a published tag. Cut the next prerelease number or the next monthly patch instead.
• latest continues to follow the current regular/daily npm line; beta is the current beta install target
• extended-stable means the supported trailing-month Gateway distribution, beginning at patch 33; patch 34 and later are maintenance releases on that monthly line
• Regular final and regular correction releases publish to npm beta by default; release operators can target latest explicitly, or promote a vetted beta build later
• Gateway extended-stable publishes core, every npm-publishable official plugin, and its Docker images at one exact version; see the dedicated workflow below.
• Regular final releases publish the npm package first and finalize the GitHub release after npm and Docker verification. macOS, signed Windows Hub installers, and the signed standalone Android APK publish independently in parallel or afterward; app readiness never delays npm or GitHub publication. Verify each native release separately before announcing all platforms complete. Beta releases normally validate and publish the npm/package path first, with native app build/sign/notarize/promote reserved for regular final 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.PATCH 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 one
• Detailed release procedure, approvals, credentials, and recovery notes are maintainer-only

Monthly Gateway extended-stable publication

For completed month YYYY.M, create extended-stable/YYYY.M.33 and publish .33+ from that branch. Tag, branch, checkout, package version, preflight, and validation must identify one commit. Before .33, protected main must contain a later month’s final version below patch 33; later maintenance patches remain eligible.

Prepare and stabilize the candidate

Audit the unaudited mainline range, reconcile private security work, approve a bounded backport set, and land one coordinated PR. Do not push the canonical branch directly.

On the canonical branch, set YYYY.M.P, run pnpm release:prep, and require that version in every publishable official plugin. From the approved ledger, generate and commit a complete ## YYYY.M.P section with ### Highlights, ### Changes, and ### Fixes, citing original merged main PRs for equivalent backports. Preflight rejects a missing or empty section.

Carry the full current-main Docker release-channel unit: workflow, promoter, policy, shared classifier, tests, and workflow validation. GitHub loads tag workflows from the tagged commit; an incomplete copy can fail after building or move regular aliases. Run focused checks.

Freeze the full branch-tip SHA. Before tagging, run Full Release Validation against that SHA; it also prepares and qualifies the exact npm and Docker bytes:

RELEASE_SHA="$(git rev-parse HEAD)"

gh workflow run full-release-validation.yml \
  --ref extended-stable/YYYY.M.33 \
  -f ref=extended-stable/YYYY.M.33 \
  -f expected_sha="$RELEASE_SHA" \
  -f release_profile=stable

Run validation on the canonical branch; publish binds its workflow ref, head/target SHA, run ID, and attempt. Save the successful run ID and run_attempt. Use that ID for both npm preflight and full validation evidence when the manifest contains publicationArtifacts.npmPreflight. Historical manifests without it still need a standalone npm preflight for the same SHA.

Classify failures before editing:

• Product: land another approved backport PR.
• Frozen-target tooling: backport only the smallest compatibility repair that tests the old product unchanged.
• Provider, approval, runner, or service: keep the candidate unchanged and use the bounded retry path.

Any branch change invalidates both gates. Once they pass, require the tip still equals RELEASE_SHA, then push signed vYYYY.M.P. Later changes need the next patch; never move or delete the tag. Tagging fixes the immutable release identity; it does not publish Docker images.

Publish the npm packages

Publish every npm-publishable official plugin from the same SHA and save the successful run ID:

RELEASE_SHA="$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
gh workflow run plugin-npm-release.yml \
  --ref extended-stable/YYYY.M.33 \
  -f publish_scope=all-publishable \
  -f ref="$RELEASE_SHA" \
  -f npm_dist_tag=extended-stable

The workflow covers all all-publishable packages, including unchanged ones, and verifies every exact version and selector. Reruns reuse published versions.

Then publish the prepared core tarball with all three saved run identities:

gh workflow run openclaw-npm-release.yml \
  --ref extended-stable/YYYY.M.33 \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.P \
  -f preflight_only=false \
  -f npm_dist_tag=extended-stable \
  -f preflight_run_id=<npm-preflight-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_id=<full-validation-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_attempt=<full-validation-run-attempt> \
  -f plugin_npm_run_id=<plugin-npm-run-id>

If the immutable candidate has already passed its saved preflight and Full Release Validation but core publication needs a workflow-only recovery, dispatch the trusted current-main workflow instead. Keep the same tag and evidence identities; do not move the tag or republish plugins:

gh workflow run openclaw-npm-release.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.P \
  -f preflight_only=false \
  -f npm_dist_tag=extended-stable \
  -f release_candidate_branch=extended-stable/YYYY.M.33 \
  -f preflight_run_id=<npm-preflight-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_id=<full-validation-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_attempt=<full-validation-run-attempt> \
  -f plugin_npm_run_id=<plugin-npm-run-id>

This recovery path checks out and publishes the immutable tag and requires the canonical branch implied by that tag. It accepts Full Release Validation evidence from the canonical candidate branch directly, from current main directly when its workflow SHA is reachable from current main, or from the trusted main-pinned harness. Every accepted form must attest the immutable tag’s SHA. Use it only when the candidate source and recorded evidence are unchanged.

For non-production rehearsal only, add -f bypass_extended_stable_guard=true to preflight and publish. It bypasses the month guard only, never canonical-ref, SHA/tag/version equality, provenance, approval, or readback checks. Never use it for production.

Verify and recover

From a separate clean current-main checkout, not the frozen branch, run:

node --import tsx scripts/openclaw-npm-postpublish-verify.ts YYYY.M.P
npm view openclaw@YYYY.M.P version --userconfig "$(mktemp)"
npm view openclaw@extended-stable version --userconfig "$(mktemp)"

Require signatures and npm provenance for the canonical branch, plus publish, preflight, and tarball-digest binding to the release SHA. Both commands must return YYYY.M.P. Verify every prepared core package and all-publishable official plugin at its exact version and selector.

If only the root selector fails, use the generated npm dist-tag add openclaw@YYYY.M.P extended-stable repair command printed in the workflow summary. Repair existing plugin or other prepared-core selectors through approved credential-isolated tooling; the OIDC source cannot mutate them. Never republish an immutable version.

Require Docker Release to verify exact default, slim, browser, and architecture images in GHCR and Docker Hub, including attestations and platform versions. It must advance only extended-stable, extended-stable-slim, and extended-stable-browser by digest; regular aliases remain unchanged and automatic rollback is rejected.

After that core registry readback succeeds, start Docker publication only through OpenClaw Release Publish. Its Docker-only extended-stable path rechecks the saved npm preflight artifact, exact Full Release Validation evidence, exact npm version and extended-stable selector, and published tarball digest before it calls the reusable Docker Release workflow. A tag push never publishes Docker images by itself:

gh workflow run openclaw-release-publish.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.P \
  -f preflight_run_id=<npm-preflight-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_id=<full-validation-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_attempt=<full-validation-run-attempt> \
  -f npm_dist_tag=extended-stable \
  -f publish_openclaw_npm=false \
  -f publish_docker_only=true

For alias repair, run approval-gated Docker Channel Promotion from current main with the tag. It repeats digest, attestation, and platform checks, allows an explicit rollback, and never rebuilds images.

Slack, Discord, and Codex are the initial documented support surfaces, not a release allowlist: every npm-publishable official plugin ships. The regular checklist alone owns beta/latest, GitHub Releases, ClawHub, native apps, mobile, website, and private dist-tags; do not run those steps for this Gateway path.

Regular release operator checklist

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

For beta, stable, and full profiles, Linux (ubuntu) cross-OS lanes gate npm publication. Windows and macOS cross-OS lanes run in parallel as advisory coverage; their failures remain visible under advisory in release-ci-summary and in the evidence manifest without blocking Release Decision or pnpm release:candidate. Selected lanes still finish for terminal evidence. npm qualification, Docker, Package Acceptance, normal CI, and the profile’s performance and soak gates remain required. macOS app signing/notarization/appcast and Windows Hub asset promotion run in parallel with or after npm publication and never delay it; verify platform readiness separately.

1. Start from current main: pull latest, confirm the target commit is pushed, and confirm main CI is green enough to branch from.

2. Create release/YYYY.M.PATCH from that commit. Backports are optional; apply only the operator-selected set. Bump every required version location, run pnpm release:prep, finish release fixes and required forward-ports, and review src/plugins/compat/registry.ts plus src/commands/doctor/shared/deprecation-compat.ts.

3. Freeze the product-complete pre-changelog commit and target context as the Code SHA/ref, and record the trusted Tooling SHA/ref. Run the deterministic source preflight, then use node scripts/full-release-validation-at-sha.mjs --sha <code-sha> --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH --workflow-sha <tooling-sha>. Reuse those exact identities for later release validation; never refresh the tooling from moving main. Beta-publish uses release_profile=beta without soak; postpublish-confidence owns broad live, QA-live, mobile, and Parallels work.

4. Classify failures before editing as product, harness/tooling/provenance, infrastructure/credential, or wrapper. Only confirmed product failure creates a new Code SHA. Use one diagnosis, one fix when needed, and one narrow retry, then reassess.

5. Only after the Code SHA is green, generate the top CHANGELOG.md section from merged PRs and direct commits since the last reachable shipped tag. Keep entries user-facing and deduplicated. When a divergent shipped tag or later forward-port re-associates already-released PRs, pass it explicitly as --shipped-ref.

6. Commit only CHANGELOG.md. This commit is the Release SHA. The complete diff from Code SHA to Release SHA must be exactly CHANGELOG.md; any other changed path returns the release to step 2.

7. Run SHA-pinned Full Release Validation for the Release SHA with evidence reuse enabled. The parent must record changelog-only-release-v1, point at the green Code SHA, and dispatch no product child lanes. Its package and Docker preparation still run against the final Release SHA. This reuses product evidence; it does not reuse earlier package or image bytes. Regular final artifacts include SDK reports for both npm beta and latest, sharing the target snapshot; review the report and 8-character acknowledgement for the channel you will publish.

8. Save that successful Full Release Validation run as both the validation run and preflight_run_id. Its read-only npm workflow builds and packs the root/core packages once, checks source in parallel, and qualifies the exact bytes with the final changelog. Docker images build in parallel and are preserved for later promotion. Review the Plugin SDK API diff summary. If it reports changes, inspect the readable diff (also uploaded as plugin-sdk-api-release-diff-<run-id>-<run-attempt>) and record the 8-character acknowledgement digest printed by the report; omit the acknowledgement when it reports no Plugin SDK API changes. Standalone OpenClaw NPM Release with preflight_only=true remains available for focused preflight and recovery.

   Prepared packing reuses the exact preflight build while retaining package smoke checks, inventory generation, docs and changelog preparation, and source restoration. Ordinary source packing still performs a clean package build.

   If the packaged changelog exceeds 500 KiB, packaging keeps every editorial note and replaces only the complete contribution record with a link to the full record in the exact release tag’s CHANGELOG.md. The full source changelog and contributor credits remain unchanged after postpack restoration. Editorial notes must still satisfy the release-note minimum, and packaging fails if the compact result still exceeds the cap.

9. Create the protected lightweight tooling tag at the recorded Tooling SHA using the publish automation commands. Run the candidate helper against the untagged Release SHA with the successful Release-SHA validation parent and that tooling tag:

   pnpm release:candidate -- \
     --tag vYYYY.M.PATCH-beta.N \
     --target-sha <release-sha> \
     --full-release-run <release-sha-validation-run-id> \
     --publish-workflow-ref release-publish/<tooling-sha12>-<epoch> \
     --plugin-sdk-api-acknowledgement <reviewed-8-character-digest> \
     --skip-dispatch
   

   Include --plugin-sdk-api-acknowledgement only when the preflight reported Plugin SDK API changes. Stable candidates need no Windows tag. Optionally pass --windows-node-tag vX.Y.Z to record the approved installer digest map and include both Windows inputs in the printed publish command. Beta and alpha candidates defer Parallels install/update proof to the postpublish pnpm release:beta-smoke roster by default; pass --run-parallels only when the operator explicitly wants that proof before publish. Stable and full candidates run Parallels by default. The helper verifies release-note provenance, npm preflight bytes, and plugin publish plans, then prints the publish command. When admitted Full Release Validation evidence carries coveragePolicy=npm-beta-v1, it records Telegram package proof as deferred-postpublish; other evidence retains the existing Telegram check. After it completes green, create and push the final signed tag at that same Release SHA, then run the printed publish command.

   pnpm release:candidate validates the current frozen branch tip by default (or the explicit --target-sha), and rejects a tag that already exists. It records evidence before the final signed tag is pushed.

   The helper uses the qualified npm artifact bound by Full Release Validation. Supply --npm-preflight-run only to recover a separately prepared historical release. It never silently rebuilds a missing qualified artifact. Docker publication consumes the prepared OCI artifacts after checking the finalized tag and exact producer tuple; only registry writes and selector promotion hold the publication lock.

   OpenClaw Release Publish dispatches the selected or all-publishable plugin packages to npm and the same set to ClawHub in parallel, then promotes the prepared OpenClaw npm preflight artifact with the matching dist-tag once plugin npm publish succeeds. It keeps the GitHub release as a draft while it verifies registry readback, calls Docker Release with the immutable tag and Release SHA for beta and stable releases, and only then finalizes the GitHub release. npm-only alpha releases finalize after the required npm checks without scheduling Docker. The release checkout remains the product/data root, while planning and final verification execute from the exact trusted workflow-source checkout so an older release commit cannot silently use obsolete release tooling. Once publication binds the frozen Tooling SHA to an exact protected lightweight release-publish/<12sha>-<provenance-run> tag, that live tag-to-SHA mapping remains authoritative when main advances; the suffix records tag-creation provenance, not the current parent run id. Core and plugin npm publishers re-read that exact tag and revalidate the exact parent run tuple immediately before each npm publish or dist-tag mutation, failing closed on a missing, moved, annotated, or wrong-SHA tag, parent mismatch, or disallowed parent state. Other privileged writers require their dependent enforcement changes before the protected-tag publication route is globally complete. Before any publish child starts, it renders and caches the exact GitHub release body. When the complete matching CHANGELOG.md section fits GitHub’s 125,000-character limit and the renderer’s matching 125,000-byte safety ceiling, the page contains that exact ## YYYY.M.PATCH section including its heading. When the source section does not fit, the page keeps the exact grouped editorial notes and replaces the oversized contribution record with a stable link to the full record in the tag-pinned CHANGELOG.md; partial records and truncated bullets are never published. The workflow chooses that full or compact body before adding ### Release verification; if the proof tail would exceed the limit, it keeps the canonical body and relies on the immutable attached evidence instead. Stable releases published to npm latest become the GitHub latest release, while stable maintenance releases kept on npm beta are created with GitHub latest=false. The workflow also uploads the preflight dependency evidence, the full-validation manifest, and postpublish registry verification evidence to the GitHub release for post-release incident response. It prints child run IDs immediately, auto-approves release environment gates the workflow token is allowed to approve, summarizes failed child jobs with log tails, creates the draft GitHub release page up front, runs native Android qualification independently for a matching tagged Android pin (otherwise recording an explicit skip and shared mobile cutter remedy) and dispatches its publisher after the npm publisher succeeds without making GitHub finalization wait, waits for ClawHub staging only when wait_for_clawhub=true (the default false leaves that child detached), then runs the trusted-main beta verifier and uploads postpublish evidence for the GitHub release, npm package, selected plugin npm packages, staged ClawHub child workflow run IDs, and optional NPM Telegram run ID. The ClawHub bootstrap verifier requires the exact trusted-main workflow path and SHA, producer and terminal run attempts, release SHA, requested package set, immutable package artifact tuple, and terminal registry readback artifact; a successful legacy release-ref run is not accepted.

   Core npm dispatch and environment approval start as soon as plugin npm succeeds. Once the exact npm-release approval succeeds, the parent proceeds without waiting for core runner allocation. ClawHub inventory authorization and optional bootstrap completion can overlap the running core publish. A failed ClawHub authorization still fails the parent and leaves the GitHub release as a draft; the parent collects any already-started core result and records its evidence.

   Normal ClawHub publication uses a v2 child identity and a parent-owned immutable authorization receipt. The child seals the exact packed package inventory; the parent validates the live child attempt, approved package set, candidate SHA, and tooling identity before uploading the receipt. The child submits staged packages without waiting for public visibility. After the parent succeeds, Plugin ClawHub Postpublish verifies the exact parent and child attempts, immutable receipt and tarballs, and canonical registry bytes. That detached verification must succeed before announcing plugin publication complete. An explicit no-publication dispatch record distinguishes Docker-only or empty plugin scope from missing evidence. Failed-parent recovery still requires a separately valid parent receipt bound to the recovery child; an old child-bound receipt cannot authorize a new run.

   New npm preflight manifests record the producer’s original qualified workflow ref, SHA, run ID, and attempt. Consumers compare that immutable tuple with the admitted producer; legacy manifests retain legacy-unrecorded provenance instead of inventing a full ref. ClawHub artifact readback proves package bytes and current registry metadata only: publicationAuthentication: not-verified does not attest how the historical publish authenticated.

   Then run the post-publish package acceptance against the published [e-mail]-beta.N or openclaw@beta package. If a pushed or published prerelease needs a fix, cut the next matching prerelease number; never delete or rewrite the old one.

10. On a failed publish attempt, keep the Release SHA unchanged unless the failure proves a product or changelog defect. Resume successful immutable children and artifacts; never rebuild or republish a package version that already succeeded. An app failure is an independent recovery task: retain its summary and evidence, and recover that platform without rerunning npm or keeping the GitHub release drafted.

11. For stable, publish through OpenClaw Release Publish after Full Release Validation and candidate evidence pass, reusing the successful preflight artifact via preflight_run_id. Plugin npm publication gates core npm; ClawHub runs in parallel. The GitHub release finalizes after npm and Docker evidence passes. Run macOS through the validation, preflight, and publish workflows in openclaw/releases; its .zip, .dmg, .dSYM.zip, and signed appcast.xml retain their own verification requirements. Windows Hub and Android also attach their verified assets independently. Supply both optional Windows inputs to schedule promotion after GitHub publication, or use the manual recovery command later. App approval, build, signing, promotion, or failure never delays npm or the GitHub release.

12. 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, and verify the generated GitHub release page. Announce the published surfaces accurately, then complete Stable main closeout, recording pending apps explicitly. App workflows can finish afterward; verify their assets and the macOS appcast before announcing those platforms complete.

Stable main closeout

Stable publication is not complete until main carries the actual shipped release state.

1. Start from fresh latest main. Audit release/YYYY.M.PATCH against it and forward-port real fixes absent from main. Do not blindly merge release-only compatibility, test, or validation adapters into newer main.
2. For the normal path, set main to the shipped stable version. A late closeout may use main after it has advanced to a later stable OpenClaw CalVer; do not downgrade an already-started release train solely to close the prior release. The validator still requires the exact shipped changelog section and records the actual main version and SHA. It requires the matching appcast entry once the macOS release has published; until then it records appcast: pending. Run pnpm release:prep after any root version change.
3. Make CHANGELOG.md’s ## YYYY.M.PATCH section on main exactly match the tagged release branch. Include the stable appcast.xml update when the mac release published one.
4. Do not add YYYY.M.PATCH+1, a beta version, or an empty future changelog section to main until the operator explicitly starts that release train.
5. Run pnpm release:generated:check, pnpm deps:npm-lock:check, and OPENCLAW_TESTBOX=1 pnpm check:changed. Push, then verify origin/main contains the shipped version and changelog before calling the stable release done.
6. Keep the repository variables RELEASE_ROLLBACK_DRILL_ID and RELEASE_ROLLBACK_DRILL_DATE current after each private rollback drill.

OpenClaw Stable Main Closeout starts from the main push that carries the shipped version and changelog after stable publication; apps may still be pending. Include the appcast once macOS publishes. It reads immutable postpublish evidence to bind the shipped tag to its Full Release Validation and Publish runs, then verifies the stable main state, release, mandatory stable soak, and blocking performance evidence. It attaches an immutable closeout manifest and checksum to the GitHub release. The manifest records appPlatforms with macos, windows, and android each pending or attached; aggregate apps is attached only when every canonical platform asset contract is complete. At the first closeout, appcast is pending unless the full macOS zip/DMG/dSYM asset set is attached; a complete macOS set requires appcast verification and records verified. Replay preserves the initial app snapshot: later canonical app attachments are allowed, while changed or deleted recorded assets and unrelated additions remain errors. When macOS attaches after closeout, replay also checks its entry in the current main appcast; it preserves an appcast already verified at the original closeout. The automatic push trigger skips legacy releases that predate immutable postpublish evidence and never treats that skip as a completed closeout.

A complete closeout requires the closeout manifest asset and its matching checksum. A partial manifest replays its recorded main SHA and rollback drill to regenerate identical bytes, then attaches the missing checksum; an invalid pair, or a checksum without a manifest, stays blocking. A push-triggered run without rollback drill repository variables skips without completing closeout; a missing or more-than-90-day-old drill record still blocks manual evidence-backed closeout. Private recovery commands remain in the maintainer-only runbook. Use manual dispatch only to repair or replay an evidence-backed stable closeout.

If the Release Publish parent failed only after immutable npm/plugin evidence was attached, repair and verify the required npm, Docker, and GitHub publication surfaces. A maintainer may then manually dispatch closeout with allow_failed_publish_recovery=true; that mode accepts only a completed failed parent and preserves the publication evidence checks. Pending apps do not block recovery; the closeout records their state, and a published macOS release still requires a valid appcast. Automatic push closeout never enables this recovery mode.

A legacy fallback correction tag may reuse base-package evidence only when the correction tag resolves to the same source commit as the base stable tag. Its Android release reuses the base tag’s verified APK and adds provenance for the correction tag. A correction with different source must publish and verify its own package evidence and use a higher Android versionCode.

For correction artifact preparation, validate the immutable SHA with --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH-N before tagging, or the exact vYYYY.M.PATCH-N context after tagging. The existing target_context_ref workflow input carries the same context. This preserves the intended correction tag in both npm and Docker artifacts; a base-version package is accepted only when vYYYY.M.PATCH resolves to that same SHA. The package bytes keep their original version, and publishers still require artifacts sealed for the exact final tag. A base-context Full Release Validation run does not authorize reusing its base-tag publication artifacts for a correction.

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 pnpm release:prep after the root version bump and before tagging. It runs every deterministic release generator that commonly drifts after a version or config change: plugin versions, plugin inventory, base config schema, bundled channel config metadata, config docs baseline, plugin SDK exports, and Control UI locale bundles. It also blocks until native app translations and platform-generated locale resources match the source inventory; if they lag, wait for or dispatch Native App Locale Refresh before freezing the Code SHA. pnpm release:check re-runs those guards plus transient npm package-lock validation in check mode (including the strict locale gates plus the plugin SDK surface budget) and reports every failure in one pass before running package release checks. The npm preflight separately compares the exact release SHA with the prior published dist-tag and reports any Plugin SDK API changes.

• Plugin version sync updates the publishable @openclaw/ai runtime package, official plugin package versions, and existing openclaw.compat.pluginApi floors to the OpenClaw release version by default. Treat that field as the plugin SDK/runtime API floor, not just a copy of the package version: for plugin-only releases that intentionally remain compatible with older OpenClaw hosts, keep the floor at the oldest supported host API and document that choice in the plugin release proof.

• Run the manual Full Release Validation workflow before release approval to select the pre-release test boxes from one entrypoint. It accepts a branch, tag, or full commit SHA and dispatches manual CI, plugin prerelease, and OpenClaw Release Checks for the selected profile. Canonical beta all without soak uses the bounded npm-beta-v1 policy described in Full release validation; install, package, Linux cross-OS, QA parity, runtime-pair/restart, and tool-coverage gates remain; Windows/macOS cross-OS outcomes are advisory. Stable and full runs always include exhaustive live/E2E and Docker release-path soak; run_release_soak=true requests an explicit beta soak. Package Acceptance provides package Telegram E2E when selected, avoiding a second concurrent live poller for an unpublished candidate.

  Provide release_package_spec after publishing a beta to reuse the shipped npm package across release checks, Package Acceptance, and package Telegram E2E without rebuilding the release tarball. Provide npm_telegram_package_spec only when Telegram should use a different published package from the rest of release validation. Provide package_acceptance_package_spec when Package Acceptance should use a different published package from the release package spec. Provide evidence_package_spec when the release evidence report should prove that validation matches a published npm package without forcing Telegram E2E.

  TOOLING_SHA="<recorded-full-main-ancestor-sha>"
  node scripts/full-release-validation-at-sha.mjs \
    --sha <code-sha> \
    --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH \
    --workflow-sha "$TOOLING_SHA"
  

• 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 a public HTTPS tarball with a required SHA-256 and strict public URL policy; source=trusted-url for a named trusted-source policy using required trusted_source_id and 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. When the selected Docker lanes include published-upgrade-survivor, the package artifact is the candidate and published_upgrade_survivor_baseline selects the published baseline. update-restart-auth uses the candidate package as both the installed CLI and the package-under-test so it exercises the candidate update command’s managed restart path.

  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 published_upgrade_survivor_baseline=openclaw@2026.4.26 -f telegram_mode=mock-openai
  

  Common profiles:

  • smoke: install/channel/agent, gateway network, and config reload lanes
  • package: artifact-native package/update/restart/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 deterministic normal CI coverage for the release candidate. Manual CI dispatches bypass changed scoping and force the Linux Node shards, bundled-plugin shards, plugin and channel contract shards, Node 22 compatibility, check-*, check-additional-*, built-artifact smoke checks, docs checks, Python skills, Windows, macOS, and Control UI i18n lanes. Standalone manual CI defaults to full coverage and runs Android only with include_android=true. Full Release Validation includes Android except under npm-beta-v1, which selects release_scope=npm-beta and defers native app CI while retaining macOS and Windows Node checks.

  gh workflow run ci.yml --ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH -f include_android=true
  

• Run pnpm qa:otel:smoke when validating release telemetry. It exercises QA-lab through a local OTLP/HTTP receiver and verifies trace, metric, and log export plus bounded trace attributes and content/identifier redaction without requiring Opik, Langfuse, or another external collector.

• Run pnpm qa:otel:collector-smoke when validating collector compatibility. It routes the same QA-lab OTLP export through a real OpenTelemetry Collector Docker container before the local receiver assertions.

• Run pnpm qa:prometheus:smoke when validating protected Prometheus scraping. It exercises QA-lab, rejects unauthenticated scrapes, and verifies release-critical metric families stay free of prompt content, raw identifiers, auth tokens, and local paths.

• Run pnpm qa:observability:smoke for the source-checkout OpenTelemetry and Prometheus smoke lanes back to back.

• Run pnpm release:check before every tagged release.

• OpenClaw NPM Preflight packs the publishable tarball once, then generates dependency release evidence while qualifying those exact bytes. The npm advisory vulnerability gate is release-blocking. The transitive manifest risk, dependency ownership/install surface, and dependency change reports are release evidence only. The dependency change report compares the release candidate with the previous reachable release tag. The preflight uploads dependency evidence as openclaw-release-dependency-evidence-<tag> and also embeds it under dependency-evidence/ inside the prepared npm preflight artifact. The real publish path reuses that preflight artifact, then attaches the same evidence to the GitHub release as openclaw-<version>-dependency-evidence.zip.

• Run OpenClaw Release Publish for the mutating publish sequence after the tag exists. Dispatch regular beta and stable publishes from the protected release-publish/<tooling-sha12>-<epoch> tag at the frozen Tooling SHA; the release tag still selects the exact target commit and may point into release/YYYY.M.PATCH. Tideclaw alpha publishes remain on their matching alpha branch. Pass the successful OpenClaw npm preflight_run_id, successful full_release_validation_run_id, and exact full_release_validation_run_attempt, and keep the default plugin publish scope all-publishable unless you are deliberately running a focused repair. The workflow dispatches plugin npm and ClawHub together, then starts core npm once plugin npm succeeds. Core npm does not wait for ClawHub authorization or bootstrap; the exact ClawHub receipt remains a required parent step. When the tagged Android pin matches the stable release train, Android qualification runs independently and dispatch follows successful core npm publication; a mismatched pin records an explicit skip. Optional Windows promotion starts after GitHub finalization as a detached child. Android approval, build, and publication are monitored separately and do not hold core publication; the child can attach its verified assets after the GitHub release becomes public. Publish reruns are resumable: an already-published core npm version skips the core dispatch after the workflow proves the registry tarball matches the tag’s preflight artifact, and Windows/Android promotion is skipped when the release already carries the verified asset contract, so a retry only redoes the failed stages. Focused plugin-only repairs require plugin_publish_scope=selected and a nonempty plugin list. Plugin-only all-publishable runs require complete immutable preflight and Full Release Validation evidence; partial evidence is rejected.

• Stable OpenClaw Release Publish accepts optional windows_node_tag and windows_node_installer_digests inputs together. Omit both to skip Windows dispatch. When supplied, the parent finalizes the GitHub release on npm and Docker evidence, then dispatches Windows Node Release independently with the approved digest map unchanged. The child validates the exact published, non-prerelease source release, downloads the signed x64/ARM64 installers, matches the pinned digests, verifies the expected OpenClaw Foundation Authenticode signer on Windows, and attaches the installers plus SHA-256 manifest to the published OpenClaw release. It re-downloads the promoted assets to verify membership and hashes. Windows failures are reported in the child summary and evidence without failing the parent or reverting the public release to draft.

  To attach Windows assets later or recover promotion, use the manual recovery command with exact target/source tags and the approved expected_installer_digests map. Recovery rejects unexpected OpenClawCompanion-* asset names before replacing the expected contract with the pinned source bytes. Website download links should target exact OpenClaw release asset URLs for the current stable release, or releases/latest/download/... only after verifying GitHub’s latest redirect points at that same release; do not link only to the companion repo release page.

• Release checks run in a separate manual workflow: OpenClaw Release Checks. The all, qa-parity, and direct qa groups select QA Lab parity, runtime-pair/restart proof, and runtime tool coverage. The Matrix catalog and Telegram QA-live lanes run for stable/full all-group validation, soak-enabled all-group validation, or an explicit qa/qa-live rerun group. Bounded beta-publish all without soak defers those live lanes to postpublish-confidence. The live lanes use the qa-live-shared environment; Telegram also uses Convex CI credential leases.

• 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. Linux cross-OS lanes gate publication. Windows and macOS lanes run alongside them as advisory coverage, with actual pass/fail conclusions retained in the manifest and summary; their failures do not block npm publication.

• 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. The SHA dispatch stays read-only; later publication requires a real release tag at the same validated SHA. 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.

• Before tagging a release candidate locally, run RELEASE_TAG=vYYYY.M.PATCH-beta.N pnpm release:fast-pretag-check. The helper runs the fast release guardrails, plugin npm/ClawHub release checks, build, UI build, and release:openclaw:npm:check in the order that catches common approval-blocking mistakes before the GitHub publish workflow starts.

• Plugin openclaw.release.requireLatestDependencies declarations remain release metadata, but npm latest drift is advisory. Checks warn with the plugin, dependency, pinned version, and current latest version; a failed latest lookup also warns and does not establish that the pin is unusable. Full Release Validation’s Codex lanes validate the @openclaw/codex harness pin. Keep that frozen, tested pin when upstream publishes a newer version. Missing or malformed required runtime dependency metadata, package/install failures, and failed required validation lanes still block release.

• Run RELEASE_TAG=vYYYY.M.PATCH node --import tsx scripts/openclaw-npm-release-check.ts (or the matching prerelease/correction tag) before approval.

• After npm publish, run node --import tsx scripts/openclaw-npm-postpublish-verify.ts YYYY.M.PATCH (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=[e-mail]-beta.N OPENCLAW_NPM_TELEGRAM_CREDENTIAL_ROLE=maintainer pnpm test:docker:npm-telegram-live with OPENCLAW_QA_CONVEX_SITE_URL and OPENCLAW_QA_CONVEX_SECRET_MAINTAINER set. This verifies installed-package onboarding, Telegram setup, and real Telegram E2E against the published npm package using the shared Test Server userbot pool. CI uses the ci role and OPENCLAW_QA_CONVEX_SECRET_CI instead.

• To run the full post-publish beta smoke from a maintainer machine, use pnpm release:beta-smoke -- --beta betaN. The helper runs Parallels npm update/fresh-target validation, dispatches NPM Telegram Beta E2E, polls the exact workflow run, downloads the artifact, and prints the Telegram report.

• 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 uses preflight-then-promote:

  • Real npm publish must pass a successful npm preflight_run_id.
  • Regular beta and stable publish orchestration and preflight use trusted main against the exact target tag. Tideclaw alpha publish and preflight use the matching alpha branch.
  • Stable npm releases default to beta; stable npm publish can target latest explicitly via workflow input.
  • Token-based npm dist-tag mutation lives in openclaw/releases/.github/workflows/openclaw-npm-dist-tags.yml because npm dist-tag add still needs NPM_TOKEN while the source repo keeps OIDC-only publish.
  • Public macOS Release is validation-only; when a tag lives only on a release branch but the workflow is dispatched from main, set public_release_branch=release/YYYY.M.PATCH.
  • Real macOS publish must pass successful macOS preflight_run_id and validate_run_id in openclaw/releases. These app gates run independently and never hold npm or GitHub release finalization.
  • Real publish paths promote prepared artifacts instead of rebuilding them again.

• For stable correction releases like YYYY.M.PATCH-N, the post-publish verifier also checks the same temp-prefix upgrade path from YYYY.M.PATCH to YYYY.M.PATCH-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 published plugin entrypoints and package metadata are present in the installed registry layout. A release that ships missing plugin runtime 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 plugin-prerelease-extension-shard matrix outputs from .github/workflows/plugin-prerelease.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 macOS publish workflow commits it automatically, or opens an appcast PR when direct push is blocked); 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.

• Signed macOS packaging retains dist/macos-notarization-recovery/ before waiting for Apple. It contains the exact signed app archive, symbols, submission IDs, available DMG, and source-bound SHA-256 inventory. Keep the complete checkpoint if notarization fails; do not rebuild or replace its files. Successful packaging marks it complete for artifact retention; the next ordinary package invocation verifies and retires that completed checkpoint automatically.

• Resume with scripts/package-mac-dist.sh --resume-notarization from the same source commit and version, with the original signing/notary credentials available. Recovery verifies the checkpoint, restores the signed app, and waits on existing Apple submissions. It creates a DMG only if that packaging step had not completed. Apple rejection, changed bytes, wrong source/version, or invalid signatures remain failures.

Release test boxes

Full Release Validation is how operators kick off the full product matrix from one entrypoint. Use the helper so every child workflow runs from a temporary branch fixed at one trusted main workflow SHA while the requested commit remains the candidate under test:

TOOLING_SHA="<recorded-full-main-ancestor-sha>"
pnpm ci:full-release \
  --sha <code-sha> \
  --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH \
  --workflow-sha "$TOOLING_SHA"

The helper verifies that the recorded Tooling SHA remains reachable from current origin/main, pushes release-ci/<workflow-sha>-... at that exact commit, accepts only the release branch’s final package version or a matching beta prerelease, infers beta for that beta path and stable for final versions, and dispatches Full Release Validation with the Validation SHA as expected_sha. Target resolution rejects a mismatch before child dispatch. Every child workflow headSha must match the Tooling SHA. Pass -f reuse_evidence=false to force a fresh run or -f release_profile=full for the broad advisory sweep. Never replace the recorded Tooling SHA with a fresh main lookup. The helper rejects pinned tooling that lacks the current release-isolation contract or the expected_sha dispatch input and never silently selects newer tooling. The workflow itself never writes repository refs. Tideclaw alpha validation remains on its matching alpha branch and exact alpha tag rather than a regular release/* context.

That current-main lineage check authorizes the initial validation tooling selection only. It is not permission to choose newer tooling after the candidate SHA/ref and Tooling SHA/ref are frozen. Once publication binds the Tooling SHA to the protected lightweight release-publish/* tag, the exact live tag-to-SHA mapping and exact parent run tuple authorize the npm mutations enforced by this foundation even if main has advanced. Other privileged writers remain blocked until their dependent enforcement changes land.

After the Code SHA is green, commit only CHANGELOG.md and run the same helper with the Release SHA:

TOOLING_SHA="<same-recorded-tooling-sha>"
pnpm ci:full-release \
  --sha <release-sha> \
  --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH \
  --workflow-sha "$TOOLING_SHA"

The second parent reuses product evidence only when GitHub proves the Release SHA descends from the Code SHA and the complete changed path set is exactly CHANGELOG.md. It records changelog-only-release-v1 and dispatches no product children. Npm preflight and package/install acceptance still run on the Release SHA because its tarball bytes changed.

For a fresh Code SHA, the workflow resolves the target, dispatches manual CI, then dispatches OpenClaw Release Checks. Beta-publish maps to release_profile=beta and run_release_soak=false. An all run for an actual beta package on its matching canonical release branch or beta tag records coveragePolicy=npm-beta-v1: Linux/macOS/Windows Node, Control UI, plugin, package, Linux cross-OS, and QA parity/runtime/restart/tool gates remain; Windows/macOS cross-OS outcomes are advisory; native apps, performance, and published-package Telegram confidence are deferred. Beta all without soak also defers broad live/E2E, QA-live, and Package Acceptance Telegram. Postpublish-confidence uses the exact published package with soak or explicit focused groups. Stable-publish maps to release_profile=stable. The final verifier summary includes slowest-job tables for each selected child run.

Deferred coverage is recorded as not run, never passed. It does not shorten the terminal-evidence requirement for selected children. main, alpha, and non-beta targets do not qualify for npm-beta-v1; stable, full, soak-enabled, and focused runs retain their existing coverage. Native artifact publication still requires its build, signing, notarization, and promotion gates.

Each dispatcher records the exact child run ID and attempt, then exits. Release Decision reports a decisive blocker without waiting for unrelated diagnostic tails; with fail_fast=false, Diagnostic Drain keeps the selected children running to terminal. Diagnose blocked_diagnostics_running immediately, but do not retry until the drain is terminal. Recover orchestration_error against the same exact children and never redispatch tests merely to repair collection. An immutable run-bound execution plan preserves the original attempt, titles, coverage, gates, and child tuples across collector retries. The final verifier consumes that plan and the exact attempt-bound Decision and Drain artifacts instead of polling or reclassifying child results.

When selected, the product-performance child is artifact-only in this release path. The umbrella dispatches it with publish_reports=false, and validation is rejected unless its artifact-only guard proves that the Clawgrit report publisher stayed skipped. npm-beta-v1 defers this child to confidence work. An early standalone beta performance run is optional signal, not another mandatory prepublish wait; record available results and any observed regression.

See Full release validation for the complete stage matrix, exact workflow job names, stable versus full profile differences, artifacts, and focused rerun handles.

Child workflows are dispatched from the SHA-pinned trusted ref that runs Full Release Validation. Every child run must use the exact parent workflow SHA. Do not use raw --ref main -f ref=<sha> dispatches for release proof; use pnpm ci:full-release --sha <target-sha> --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH --workflow-sha <tooling-sha>.

Use release_profile to select live/provider breadth:

• beta: fastest release-critical OpenAI/core live and Docker path
• stable: beta plus stable provider/backend coverage for release approval
• full: stable plus broad advisory provider/media coverage

Stable and full validation always run the exhaustive live/E2E, Docker release-path, and bounded published upgrade-survivor sweep before promotion. Use run_release_soak=true to request that same sweep for a beta. The sweep resolves the latest stable baseline once and runs the reported-issue upgrade fixtures against it. Broader historical migration coverage remains available through the separate manual Update Migration workflow.

OpenClaw Release Checks uses the trusted workflow ref to resolve the target ref once as release-package-under-test and reuses that artifact in cross-OS, Package Acceptance, and release-path Docker checks when soak runs. This keeps all package-facing boxes on the same bytes and avoids repeated package builds. After a beta is already on npm, set release_package_spec=[e-mail]-beta.N so release checks download the shipped package once, extract its build source SHA from dist/build-info.json, and reuse that artifact for cross-OS, Package Acceptance, release-path Docker, and package Telegram lanes.

The cross-OS OpenAI install smoke uses OPENCLAW_CROSS_OS_OPENAI_MODEL when the repo/org variable is set, otherwise openai/gpt-5.6-luna, because this lane is proving package install, onboarding, gateway startup, and one live agent turn rather than benchmarking the most capable model. The broader live provider matrix remains the place for model-specific coverage.

Use these variants depending on release stage:

TOOLING_SHA="<recorded-full-main-ancestor-sha>"

# Validate the product-complete Code SHA.
pnpm ci:full-release \
  --sha <code-sha> \
  --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH \
  --workflow-sha "$TOOLING_SHA"

# Validate the changelog-only Release SHA by reusing Code SHA product evidence.
pnpm ci:full-release \
  --sha <release-sha> \
  --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH \
  --workflow-sha "$TOOLING_SHA"

# Run postpublish confidence against the exact published beta.
pnpm ci:full-release \
  --sha <release-sha> \
  --target-ref release/YYYY.M.PATCH \
  --workflow-sha "$TOOLING_SHA" \
  -f release_package_spec=[e-mail]-beta.N \
  -f evidence_package_spec=[e-mail]-beta.N \
  -f run_release_soak=true \
  -f npm_telegram_provider_mode=mock-openai

Do not use the full umbrella as the first rerun after a focused fix. Classify the failure as product, harness/tooling/provenance, infrastructure/credential, or wrapper. Only confirmed product failure changes the Code SHA. Use one diagnosis, one fix when needed, and one narrow retry, then reassess. A narrow green run is evidence, not publish authorization by itself; there is no standalone parent finalizer.

rerun_group=all may reuse a prior green umbrella run when the release profile, coverage policy, effective soak setting, and validation inputs match and either the target SHA is identical or the new target is a descendant whose complete changed path set is exactly CHANGELOG.md. Exact-target reuse records exact-target-full-validation-v1; the post-validation Release SHA records changelog-only-release-v1. The latter reuses only product validation. Npm preflight, package bytes, release-note provenance, and install/update acceptance must still run against the Release SHA. Any version, source, generated, dependency, package, or workflow-owned target change requires a new Code SHA and fresh full validation. Concurrency is keyed by Validation SHA, Tooling SHA, and rerun group and does not cancel prior runs. Parent cancellation leaves adopted children running until the operator cancels the exact child. Pass reuse_evidence=false only when a fresh full run is intentionally required.

For bounded recovery, pass rerun_group to the umbrella. Supported controller groups are ci, plugin-prerelease, install-smoke, cross-os, live-e2e, package, qa-parity, qa-live, npm-telegram, and performance; use all only for deliberate full validation. The removed release-checks aggregate handle is invalid because it silently selected every release-check lane and its package/Docker setup. qa remains available only as a direct OpenClaw Release Checks manual aggregate, not as an umbrella/controller retry API. Focused npm-telegram reruns require release_package_spec or npm_telegram_package_spec; all-group runs use Package Acceptance Telegram E2E except beta without soak, where it is deferred. Focused cross-OS reruns can add cross_os_suite_filter=windows/packaged-upgrade or another OS/suite filter. Live and QA-live filters are valid only with their owning group. Cross-OS filters also work with rerun_group=all: add -f cross_os_suite_filter=ubuntu,macos to exclude Windows. npm-stable-v1 and npm-beta-v1 qualification is preserved when all three Linux suites remain selected; omitted advisory lanes are not run, never passed. Mismatches fail before scheduling and never become an unfiltered broad run. QA release-check failures block normal release validation, including OpenClaw dynamic tool drift in the core runtime-pair lane. Tideclaw alpha runs may still treat non-package-safety release-check lanes as advisory. With release_profile=beta, the Run repo/live E2E validation live-provider suites are advisory (warnings, not blockers); stable and full profiles keep them blocking. When live_suite_filter explicitly requests a gated QA live lane such as Discord, WhatsApp, or Slack, the matching OPENCLAW_RELEASE_QA_*_LIVE_CI_ENABLED repo variable must be enabled; otherwise input capture fails instead of silently skipping the lane.

Vitest

The Vitest box is the manual CI child workflow. Manual CI bypasses changed scoping and selects the normal test graph for the release candidate: Linux Node shards, bundled-plugin shards, plugin and channel contract shards, Node 22 compatibility, check-*, check-additional-*, built-artifact smoke checks, docs checks, Python skills, Windows, macOS, and Control UI i18n. Under npm-beta-v1, the umbrella passes release_scope=npm-beta and include_android=false: native Swift/OpenClawKit, iOS, Android, and native i18n CI lanes are deferred; macOS and Windows Node checks remain. Other Full Release Validation runs use full CI with Android. Standalone manual CI defaults to full coverage and requires include_android=true for Android.

Use this box to answer “did the source tree pass the selected CI suite?” It is separate from 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
• recorded coverage policy and effective CI release_scope, including deferred native coverage
• 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. Use the first command for non-Android direct CI. Add include_android=true when direct release-candidate CI must cover Android:

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

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
• root Dockerfile smoke image preparation/reuse by target SHA, with QR, root/gateway, and installer/Bun smoke jobs running as separate install-smoke shards
• repository E2E lanes
• release-path Docker chunks: core, package-update-openai, package-update-onboarding, package-update-migrations, package-update-self-upgrade, plugins-runtime-plugins, plugins-runtime-services, plugins-runtime-install-a through plugins-runtime-install-h, and openwebui
• OpenWebUI coverage on a dedicated large-disk runner when requested
• split bundled plugin install/uninstall lanes bundled-plugin-install-uninstall-0 through bundled-plugin-install-uninstall-23
• 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 lane comparing the OpenAI candidate lane against the anthropic/claude-opus-4-8 baseline using the agentic parity pack
• Matrix live-adapter catalog lane using the qa-live-shared environment
• live Telegram QA lane using Convex CI credential leases
• pnpm qa:otel:smoke, pnpm qa:otel:collector-smoke, pnpm qa:prometheus:smoke, or pnpm qa:observability: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. Matrix runs use the same catalog-derived sharded selection in scheduled, manual, and release workflows.

Package

The Package box is the installable-product gate. It is backed by Package Acceptance and the resolver scripts/resolve-openclaw-package-candidate.mts. 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 a public HTTPS .tgz with required package_sha256; URL credentials, non-default HTTPS ports, private/internal/special-use hostnames or resolved addresses, and unsafe redirects are rejected
• source=trusted-url: download an HTTPS .tgz with required package_sha256 and trusted_source_id from a named policy in .github/package-trusted-sources.json; use this for maintainer-owned enterprise mirrors or private package repositories instead of adding an input-level private-network bypass to source=url
• source=artifact: reuse a .tgz uploaded by another GitHub Actions run

OpenClaw Release Checks runs Package Acceptance with source=artifact, the prepared release package artifact, suite_profile=custom, and docker_lanes=release-typed-onboarding doctor-switch update-channel-switch skill-install update-corrupt-plugin upgrade-survivor published-upgrade-survivor root-managed-vps-upgrade update-restart-auth plugins-offline plugin-update plugin-binding-command-escape. This retains typed onboarding, migration, update, root-managed VPS upgrade, configured-auth update restart, live ClawHub skill install, stale plugin dependency cleanup, offline plugin fixtures, plugin update, and plugin command-binding escape hardening against the same resolved tarball. Telegram uses telegram_mode=none for beta all without soak; explicit package and soak-enabled runs select mock-openai by default. Blocking release checks use the default latest published package baseline. Soak resolves the latest stable baseline once and adds the reported-issues scenarios; broad historical migration remains a separate manual workflow. Use Package Acceptance with source=npm for an already shipped candidate, source=ref for a SHA-backed local npm tarball before publish, source=trusted-url for a maintainer-owned enterprise/private mirror, or source=artifact for a prepared tarball uploaded by another GitHub Actions run.

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.

The canonical checklist for update and plugin validation is Testing updates and plugins. Use it when deciding which local, Docker, Package Acceptance, or release-check lane proves a plugin install/update, doctor cleanup, or published-package migration change. Exhaustive published update migration from every stable 2026.4.23+ package is a separate manual Update Migration workflow, not part of Full Release CI.

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. The published 2026.4.26 package may warn for local build metadata stamp files that were already shipped. Later packages 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 \
  -f published_upgrade_survivor_baseline=openclaw@2026.4.26

Common package profiles:

• smoke: quick package install/channel/agent, gateway network, and config reload lanes
• package: install/update/restart/plugin package contracts plus live ClawHub skill install proof; 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.

Regular release publish automation

For beta, latest, plugin, GitHub Release, and platform publication, OpenClaw Release Publish is the normal mutating entrypoint. The monthly .33+ Gateway extended-stable path does not use this orchestrator. The regular workflow orchestrates the trusted-publisher workflows in the order the release needs. Linux cross-OS validation remains blocking; Windows/macOS cross-OS conclusions are advisory and cannot block the saved validation evidence. macOS app signing, notarization, appcast updates, and Windows Hub asset promotion can run in parallel with or after npm publication and never delay npm. Their artifact contracts still govern platform readiness and GitHub release closeout. Full Release Validation and qualified package artifacts must already be green; no app artifact is a prerequisite:

1. Check out the release tag and resolve its commit SHA.
2. Verify the tag is reachable from main or release/* (or a Tideclaw alpha branch for alpha prereleases).
3. Run pnpm plugins:sync:check.
4. Dispatch Plugin NPM Release with publish_scope=all-publishable and ref=<release-sha>.
5. Dispatch Plugin ClawHub Release with the same scope and SHA.
6. After plugin npm succeeds, dispatch OpenClaw NPM Release with the release tag, npm dist-tag, and saved preflight_run_id after verifying the saved full_release_validation_run_id and exact run attempt. ClawHub proceeds in parallel.
7. Verify the published npm package and selector readback, then call reusable Docker Release with the immutable tag and SHA. Finalize the draft GitHub release after npm and Docker evidence succeeds; Docker remains part of the Gateway distribution.
8. For stable, optionally dispatch Windows Node Release after finalization with both windows_node_tag and candidate-approved windows_node_installer_digests. It attaches signed installers and checksums to the public release as a detached child. Omit both inputs to skip Windows dispatch. When the tagged apps/android/version.json matches the release train, qualify and dispatch Android Release independently for its exact-tag signed APK, checksum, and provenance; run macOS validation/preflight/publish through openclaw/releases in parallel or afterward. No app workflow delays npm or GitHub release finalization. Track app failures through their summaries and evidence, then recover only the failed platform.

The Android train is pinned independently. If its tagged version differs from the stable tag’s base version, the parent skips both native qualification and APK publication and records the pin, expected train, and remedy in its summary and release proof. Before the next tag, prepare the shared mobile release with node --import tsx scripts/mobile-release-version.ts --prepare --version YYYY.M.PATCH --write. When preparing the core and mobile release together, use pnpm release:prepare --version YYYY.M.PATCH --android --write; its Android selection uses the same shared mobile preparation and reads pending notes from apps/ios/CHANGELOG.md. The generated Android notes must fit Google Play’s 500 Unicode character limit, including the final newline. iOS App Store finalization remains a separate step. A matching pin still requires successful native qualification; a failed run is never recorded as a pin mismatch skip.

Android approval binds the release tag and target SHA to the approving parent’s run ID, exact attempt, full ref, and workflow SHA. npm-stable publication adds the native CI run, exact attempt, and tooling ref in a v3 receipt; full validation retains the historical v2 receipt. The child verifies the attested receipt and the live parent identity, including the protected tooling tag or main ancestry. Normal Android admission accepts an active or successfully completed parent and the exact stable target release, whether draft or public. Failed or cancelled parents remain rejected; explicit recovery can separately admit a completed failed parent. Before provenance publication and each asset upload, Android rechecks the live release tag target and stable classification, protected tooling identity, native CI qualification when present, and exact parent attempt/state. The parent also rechecks native qualification immediately before dispatch. These are fresh boundary checks, not an atomic GitHub validation-and-write transaction. A dispatched run link is pending publication evidence, not an APK download claim. Monitor and approve the linked Android run separately; if dispatch cannot be confirmed, inspect existing runs before retrying. For explicit Android recovery, pass release_publish_run_attempt, release_publish_full_ref, and release_publish_workflow_sha from that same parent alongside its run ID and ref; a rerun requires its own matching receipt. Older immutable release tags retain their original Android workflow contract. Tags without the v3 consumer, including v2026.8.2 and its same-source corrections, require release_profile=full and their matching frozen release tooling; npm-only qualification is rejected before core publication for those targets.

For real core npm, plugin npm, or ClawHub publication, run the parent from a protected lightweight release-publish/<sha12>-<epoch> tag at the frozen Tooling SHA. Parent and child provenance must carry that same full ref. Create and push the tooling tag before running the publish command:

TOOLING_SHA="<recorded-full-tooling-sha>"
PUBLISH_REF="release-publish/$(printf '%s' "$TOOLING_SHA" | cut -c1-12)-$(date +%s)"
git tag "$PUBLISH_REF" "$TOOLING_SHA"
git push origin "refs/tags/$PUBLISH_REF"

Pass --ref "$PUBLISH_REF" to gh workflow run; real child publication from main is rejected before work starts. Docker-only recovery may use main; the matching Tideclaw alpha branch route is unchanged.

Beta publish example (using the tooling tag above):

gh workflow run openclaw-release-publish.yml \
  --ref "$PUBLISH_REF" \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.PATCH-beta.N \
  -f preflight_run_id=<successful-openclaw-npm-preflight-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_id=<successful-full-release-validation-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_attempt=<successful-full-release-validation-run-attempt> \
  -f plugin_sdk_api_acknowledgement=<reviewed-8-character-digest> \
  -f npm_dist_tag=beta

Include plugin_sdk_api_acknowledgement only when the npm preflight’s Plugin SDK API report contains changes.

If a beta or regular stable package is already published but its container images are missing, do not rerun npm or plugin publication. Reuse the immutable release tag plus its successful npm preflight and Full Release Validation evidence through the Docker-only recovery path. The workflow rechecks the exact npm version, the selected npm dist-tag, and the published tarball digest before building containers:

gh workflow run openclaw-release-publish.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.PATCH-beta.N \
  -f preflight_run_id=<successful-openclaw-npm-preflight-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_id=<successful-full-release-validation-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_attempt=<successful-full-release-validation-run-attempt> \
  -f npm_dist_tag=beta \
  -f publish_openclaw_npm=false \
  -f publish_docker_only=true

For regular stable recovery, use the same command with tag=vYYYY.M.PATCH and npm_dist_tag=latest. Only regular stable tags (patches 1–32, including correction suffixes) are accepted for latest; extended-stable recovery retains its own selector. Recovery builds the canonical versioned images without republishing npm packages or plugins, dispatching native releases, or finalizing the GitHub release. Existing approval and provenance checks still apply.

Stable publish to the default beta dist-tag:

gh workflow run openclaw-release-publish.yml \
  --ref "$PUBLISH_REF" \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.PATCH \
  -f preflight_run_id=<successful-openclaw-npm-preflight-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_id=<successful-full-release-validation-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_attempt=<successful-full-release-validation-run-attempt> \
  -f plugin_sdk_api_acknowledgement=<reviewed-8-character-digest> \
  -f npm_dist_tag=beta

Both Windows inputs are optional. To schedule detached promotion after GitHub publication, add windows_node_tag and windows_node_installer_digests together; the candidate helper records the digest map when given --windows-node-tag.

To attach Windows assets later or retry a failed promotion, use the exact OpenClaw tag, exact published Windows source tag, and approved installer digests:

gh workflow run windows-node-release.yml \
  --repo openclaw/openclaw \
  --ref main \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.PATCH \
  -f windows_node_tag=vX.Y.Z \
  -f expected_installer_digests='{"OpenClawCompanion-Setup-x64.exe":"sha256:<approved-x64-sha256>","OpenClawCompanion-Setup-arm64.exe":"sha256:<approved-arm64-sha256>"}'

Never substitute latest for either tag. Monitor the Windows run and its verification evidence separately; an unsuccessful promotion leaves the npm package and GitHub release published. macOS recovery uses openclaw/releases/.github/workflows/openclaw-macos-validate.yml and openclaw-macos-publish.yml, preserving the successful macOS preflight and validation run IDs when promoting prepared assets.

Stable promotion directly to latest is explicit:

gh workflow run openclaw-release-publish.yml \
  --ref "$PUBLISH_REF" \
  -f tag=vYYYY.M.PATCH \
  -f preflight_run_id=<successful-openclaw-npm-preflight-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_id=<successful-full-release-validation-run-id> \
  -f full_release_validation_run_attempt=<successful-full-release-validation-run-attempt> \
  -f plugin_sdk_api_acknowledgement=<reviewed-8-character-digest> \
  -f npm_dist_tag=latest

For a selected plugin repair, use OpenClaw Release Publish with publish_openclaw_npm=false, plugin_publish_scope=selected, and plugins=@openclaw/name. The parent rejects selected scope when publish_openclaw_npm=true so the core package cannot ship without every publishable official plugin, including @openclaw/diffs-language-pack. Plugin NPM Release also supports direct focused repair dispatch.

Plugin npm artifact preflight checks out only the trusted scripts and workflows it needs. Preflight and publication fetch the selected source manifest on demand at the exact release SHA. Each verifier still independently checks that manifest against the artifact’s recorded source hash, together with the tarball hashes and producer identity.

ClawHub OIDC publication requires the executing release parent to authorize the exact child run, attempt, and package inventories. A direct Plugin ClawHub Release dry run can prepare packages without publication authority, but a standalone publish cannot replace the parent. Bot-dispatched children stay on the automated route and are terminal once their exact parent attempt completes without success.

A direct human Plugin ClawHub Release dispatch with release_publish_run_id always takes ClawHub’s explicit-recovery route. The approve_plugins_clawhub_release environment job uploads the version 2 openclaw-clawhub-recovery-approval-<run-id>-<run-attempt> receipt, which names the original child attempt (authorizedChildRunId/authorizedChildRunAttempt) whose parent receipt openclaw-clawhub-parent-authorization-v2-<parent-run-id>-<parent-run-attempt>-<child-run-id>-<child-run-attempt> the completed parent already uploaded; a completed parent cannot mint a new one. ClawHub resolves that parent receipt through the authorized child and requires the recovery child to run the same workflow ref and SHA, candidate SHA, tooling, parent attempt, and exact package inventory, so dispatch recovery from the parent’s tooling ref with the parent’s inputs. Pass recovered_clawhub_run_id and recovered_clawhub_run_attempt to name the original child explicitly; when omitted, the approval job discovers it from the parent run’s single matching receipt and fails with the candidate list when zero or several exist. Version 1 recovery receipts are rejected. Do not retry publication with copied receipts or treat staging as completed publication.

gh workflow run plugin-clawhub-release.yml \
  --ref <parent-tooling-ref> \
  -f publish_scope=all-publishable \
  -f ref=<full-40-character-release-sha> \
  -f release_tag=vYYYY.M.PATCH \
  -f release_publish_run_id=<parent-run-id> \
  -f release_publish_run_attempt=<parent-run-attempt> \
  -f release_publish_branch=<parent-tooling-ref> \
  -f release_publish_full_ref=<parent-tooling-full-ref> \
  -f release_publish_workflow_sha=<parent-tooling-sha> \
  -f recovered_clawhub_run_id=<original-child-run-id> \
  -f recovered_clawhub_run_attempt=<original-child-run-attempt>

Before dispatching a ClawHub publisher, the parent refuses dispatch if a run for the same tooling ref is waiting, pending, queued, or in progress. Follow the reported run URL: wait for active publication, or reject a stale run’s pending deployment through GitHub’s pending-deployments API with state=rejected before retrying. The parent does not automatically reject or cancel detached children.

For pre-tag ClawHub bootstrap validation, dispatch Plugin ClawHub New from trusted main and pass the full target release SHA through ref. Tagged bootstrap is dispatched by the approved parent from its protected tooling tag; Tideclaw alpha uses separately approved main tooling. Never dispatch bootstrap from the product release tag or a release branch:

gh workflow run plugin-clawhub-new.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f plugins=@openclaw/name \
  -f ref=<full-40-character-release-sha> \
  -f pretag_validation=true \
  -f dry_run=true

Pre-tag validation requires dry_run=true, rejects release-tag and parent-run inputs, and accepts only an exact target reachable from main or release/*. It does not load ClawHub credentials, publish package bytes, or change trusted publisher configuration. The workflow still resolves the live registry plan, checks out and packs the target only in a secretless job, materializes the locked ClawHub toolchain, and validates the immutable artifact and package slug/identity before the release tag exists. Approve the clawhub-plugin-bootstrap environment only after the secretless pack jobs finish; this protected validation job has no credentials or mutation commands.

An approved dry run or real bootstrap after tagging must include the exact release tag plus the parent OpenClaw Release Publish run id, attempt, and ref. The parent attests the bootstrap workflow ref and exact SHA, using its protected tooling tag for regular publication or separately approved main tooling for Tideclaw alpha; the child run and every protected environment approval must match that approved child SHA. The release tag is rechecked before every publish attempt and trusted-publisher mutation.

The pack job uploads one immutable artifact whose name, Actions artifact ID/digest, producer run/attempt, target SHA, and per-package tarball SHA-256/size are carried into the validation and protected jobs. The protected job checks out the parent-approved trusted tooling, validates the artifact tuple through the GitHub API, downloads by exact artifact ID, rehashes every tarball, and validates local TAR paths and package identity with the pinned CLI’s USTAR canonicalization rules. Every candidate then passes the pinned CLI publish dry-run, which returns before registry lookup or auth. The credential-job prefilter caps compressed ClawPacks at 120 MiB, total file payload at 50 MiB, expanded TAR data at 64 MiB, and TAR entry count at 10,000. Existing-package trusted-publisher repair remains configure-only, but it still packs the target and requires the requested tag plus exact registry byte and metadata equality before changing trusted-publisher configuration. Post-publish verification downloads the ClawHub artifact and requires the same SHA-256 and size. A rerun-failed recovery may reuse an earlier attempt’s package artifact only when the exact producer job completed successfully. Final evidence also binds the locked ClawHub version, lock SHA-256, and npm integrity. A mismatch requires a new package version.

NPM workflow inputs

OpenClaw NPM Release accepts these operator-controlled inputs:

• tag: required release tag such as v2026.4.2, v2026.4.2-1, v2026.4.2-beta.1, or v2026.4.2-alpha.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: existing successful preflight run id, required on the real publish path so the workflow reuses the prepared tarball instead of rebuilding it
• full_release_validation_run_id: successful Full Release Validation run id for this tag/SHA, required for real publish. Beta publishes may proceed on preflight alone with a warning, but stable/latest promotion still requires it.
• full_release_validation_run_attempt: exact positive run attempt paired with full_release_validation_run_id; required whenever the run id is provided so reruns cannot change the authorization evidence during publish.
• release_publish_run_id: approved OpenClaw Release Publish run id; required when this workflow is dispatched by that parent (bot-actor real-publish calls)
• plugin_npm_run_id: successful exact-head Plugin NPM Release run id; required for a real extended-stable core publish
• npm_dist_tag: npm target tag for the publish path; accepts alpha, beta, latest, or extended-stable and defaults to beta. Final patch 33 and later must use extended-stable; by default, extended-stable rejects earlier patches, and it always rejects non-final tags.
• bypass_extended_stable_guard: testing-only boolean, default false; with npm_dist_tag=extended-stable, bypasses monthly extended-stable eligibility while preserving release identity, artifact, approval, and readback checks.

Plugin NPM Release accepts npm_dist_tag=default for existing release behavior or npm_dist_tag=extended-stable for the guarded monthly path. The extended-stable option requires publish_scope=all-publishable, an empty plugins input, a final patch at or above 33, and the canonical extended-stable/YYYY.M.33 branch at its exact tip. It never moves plugin latest or beta. New package versions receive extended-stable atomically through OIDC trusted publication (npm publish --tag extended-stable); this source workflow does not use token-authenticated npm dist-tag add. Retries skip exact versions already present in npm, then fail closed unless complete readback confirms that every exact package and extended-stable tag converged.

OpenClaw Release Publish accepts these operator-controlled inputs:

• tag: required release tag; must already exist
• preflight_run_id: successful OpenClaw NPM Release preflight run id; required when publish_openclaw_npm=true or plugin_publish_scope=all-publishable
• full_release_validation_run_id: successful Full Release Validation run id; required when publish_openclaw_npm=true or plugin_publish_scope=all-publishable
• full_release_validation_run_attempt: exact positive attempt paired with full_release_validation_run_id; required whenever the run id is provided
• windows_node_tag: optional exact non-prerelease openclaw/openclaw-windows-node release tag for detached Windows promotion after stable GitHub publication; omit both Windows inputs to skip dispatch
• windows_node_installer_digests: candidate-approved compact JSON map of the current Windows installer names to pinned sha256: digests; required only when windows_node_tag is supplied
• npm_telegram_run_id: optional successful NPM Telegram Beta E2E run id to include in final release evidence
• npm_dist_tag: npm target tag for the OpenClaw package, one of alpha, beta, latest, or extended-stable
• publish_docker_only: beta, regular stable (latest), or extended-stable recovery/closeout path. It requires publish_openclaw_npm=false, complete preflight and Full Release Validation evidence, then verifies the exact npm package, selected dist-tag, and tarball digest before invoking Docker publication.
• plugin_publish_scope: defaults to all-publishable; use selected only for focused plugin-only repair work with publish_openclaw_npm=false
• plugins: comma-separated @openclaw/* package names when plugin_publish_scope=selected
• publish_openclaw_npm: defaults to true; set false only when using the workflow as a plugin-only repair orchestrator
• release_profile: release coverage profile used for release evidence summaries; defaults to from-validation, which reads it from the validation manifest, or override with beta, stable, or full
• wait_for_clawhub: defaults to false; set true when parent workflow completion must include ClawHub completion. Core npm starts after plugin npm succeeds under either setting.

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.
• run_release_soak: opt into exhaustive live/E2E, Docker release-path, and reported-issue upgrade-survivor soak for beta release checks. It is forced on by release_profile=stable and release_profile=full.

Rules:

• Regular final and correction versions below patch 33 may publish to either beta or latest. Final versions at patch 33 or above must publish to extended-stable, and correction-suffix versions at that boundary are rejected.
• Beta prerelease tags may publish only to beta; alpha prerelease tags may publish only to alpha
• 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

Regular beta/latest stable release sequence

This legacy sequence is for the regular orchestrated release that also owns plugins, GitHub Release, Windows, and other platform work. It is not the monthly .33+ Gateway extended-stable path documented at the top of this page.

When cutting a regular orchestrated stable 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. If you intentionally only need the deterministic normal test graph, run the manual CI workflow on the release ref instead.
4. Optionally select the exact non-prerelease openclaw/openclaw-windows-node release tag whose signed x64 and ARM64 installers should attach after publication. Save it as windows_node_tag, with the validated windows_node_installer_digests map. The release-candidate helper records both when given --windows-node-tag; omit the option if Windows is not ready.
5. Save the successful preflight_run_id, full_release_validation_run_id, and exact full_release_validation_run_attempt.
6. Run OpenClaw Release Publish from the protected release-publish/<sha12>-<epoch> tooling tag with the same tag, the same npm_dist_tag, the optional Windows input pair, the saved preflight_run_id, full_release_validation_run_id, and full_release_validation_run_attempt. It starts plugin npm and ClawHub in parallel, then promotes the prepared OpenClaw npm package once plugin npm succeeds. GitHub finalization waits for npm and Docker evidence; apps attach independently afterward.
7. If the release landed on beta, use the openclaw/releases/.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 release 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 release ledger repo because it still requires NPM_TOKEN, while the source 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
• .github/workflows/docker-release.yml
• scripts/resolve-openclaw-package-candidate.mts
• 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