Updating GoClaw

GoClaw supports self-updates across various deployment contexts.

Self-Update Command

The simplest way to update:

goclaw update

This will:

1. Check GitHub Releases for a newer version
2. Download the appropriate binary for your platform
3. Verify the checksum
4. Replace the running binary
5. Restart GoClaw (if running as a daemon)

Options

Examples:

# Check for updates
goclaw update --check

# Update to latest beta
goclaw update --channel beta

# Update without restarting (for manual control)
goclaw update --no-restart

Note: The --channel flag applies only to that specific update command. It does not persist. To stay on beta, specify --channel beta each time you update.

Deployment Context Behavior

goclaw update adapts to how GoClaw was started:

Foreground Mode (goclaw gateway)

• Binary is replaced in-place
• Process restarts automatically via exec()
• No downtime (seamless replacement)

TUI Mode (goclaw tui)

• Binary is replaced
• TUI restarts with the new version

Daemon Mode (goclaw start)

• Binary is replaced
• Daemon process is restarted
• PID file is updated

Docker

• Binary replacement inside the container is not persistent
• The update will work for the running container, but will be lost on restart
• Recommended: Pull a new image instead:

docker pull ghcr.io/roelfdiedericks/goclaw:latest
docker-compose up -d

System-Managed Installations (.deb)

If GoClaw was installed via a .deb package, the binary will be in /usr/bin/goclaw.

In this case, goclaw update will not self-update. Instead, it will display a warning to use your package manager.

Update .deb Package

One-liner (auto-detects latest version):

VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/roelfdiedericks/goclaw/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d'"' -f4 | tr -d 'v') && \
curl -LO "https://github.com/roelfdiedericks/goclaw/releases/download/v${VERSION}/goclaw_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.deb" && \
sudo dpkg -i goclaw_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.deb

Manual download:

1. Go to github.com/roelfdiedericks/goclaw/releases/latest
2. Download the .deb file for your architecture
3. Install with: sudo dpkg -i goclaw_*.deb

This prevents conflicts between system packages and self-managed updates.

Agent-Initiated Updates

Your agent can update GoClaw using the built-in goclaw_update tool:

Agent: "Update yourself to the latest version"
→ Calls goclaw_update tool
→ Shows changelog
→ Asks for confirmation
→ Performs update

The goclaw_update tool runs outside the agent sandbox, allowing it to perform privileged operations (binary replacement) that normal tools cannot.

Update Channels

GoClaw supports multiple release channels:

Stable is the default. Beta releases may have breaking changes or experimental features.

Checking Current Version

goclaw version

Output shows the version number and channel (e.g., goclaw 0.2.0 or goclaw 0.2.1-beta.1).

Rollback

If an update causes issues, you can reinstall a specific version:

curl -fsSL https://goclaw.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --version 0.1.0

Or download directly from GitHub Releases and replace the binary manually.

See Also

• Installation — Initial setup
• Deployment — Production deployment