fix(update): honor update.channel for update.run

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 ### Fixes
 
 - Security: require operator.approvals for gateway /approve commands. (#1) Thanks @mitsuhiko, @yueyueL.
+- Updates: honor update.channel for update.run (Control UI) and channel-based npm tags for global installs.
 - Security: Matrix allowlists now require full MXIDs; ambiguous name resolution no longer grants access. Thanks @MegaManSec.
 - Security: enforce access-group gating for Slack slash commands when channel type lookup fails.
 - Security: require validated shared-secret auth before skipping device identity on gateway connect.

src/gateway/server-methods/update.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { GatewayRequestHandlers } from "./types.js";
+import { loadConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
 import { resolveOpenClawPackageRoot } from "../../infra/openclaw-root.js";
 import {
   formatDoctorNonInteractiveHint,
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   writeRestartSentinel,
 } from "../../infra/restart-sentinel.js";
 import { scheduleGatewaySigusr1Restart } from "../../infra/restart.js";
+import { normalizeUpdateChannel } from "../../infra/update-channels.js";
 import { runGatewayUpdate } from "../../infra/update-runner.js";
 import {
   ErrorCodes,
@@ -48,6 +50,8 @@ export const updateHandlers: GatewayRequestHandlers = {
 
     let result: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof runGatewayUpdate>>;
     try {
+      const config = loadConfig();
+      const configChannel = normalizeUpdateChannel(config.update?.channel);
       const root =
         (await resolveOpenClawPackageRoot({
           moduleUrl: import.meta.url,
@@ -58,6 +62,7 @@ export const updateHandlers: GatewayRequestHandlers = {
         timeoutMs,
         cwd: root,
         argv1: process.argv[1],
+        channel: configChannel ?? undefined,
       });
     } catch (err) {
       result = {

src/gateway/server.roles-allowlist-update.e2e.test.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ vi.mock("../infra/update-runner.js", () => ({
   })),
 }));
 
+import { writeConfigFile } from "../config/config.js";
+import { runGatewayUpdate } from "../infra/update-runner.js";
 import { sleep } from "../utils.js";
 import {
   connectOk,
@@ -193,6 +195,37 @@ describe("gateway update.run", () => {
       process.off("SIGUSR1", sigusr1);
     }
   });
+
+  test("uses configured update channel", async () => {
+    const sigusr1 = vi.fn();
+    process.on("SIGUSR1", sigusr1);
+
+    try {
+      await writeConfigFile({ update: { channel: "beta" } });
+      const updateMock = vi.mocked(runGatewayUpdate);
+      updateMock.mockClear();
+
+      const id = "req-update-channel";
+      ws.send(
+        JSON.stringify({
+          type: "req",
+          id,
+          method: "update.run",
+          params: {
+            restartDelayMs: 0,
+          },
+        }),
+      );
+      const res = await onceMessage<{ ok: boolean; payload?: unknown }>(
+        ws,
+        (o) => o.type === "res" && o.id === id,
+      );
+      expect(res.ok).toBe(true);
+      expect(updateMock.mock.calls[0]?.[0]?.channel).toBe("beta");
+    } finally {
+      process.off("SIGUSR1", sigusr1);
+    }
+  });
 });
 
 describe("gateway node command allowlist", () => {

src/infra/update-runner.test.ts

@@ -208,6 +208,54 @@ describe("runGatewayUpdate", () => {
     expect(calls.some((call) => call === "npm i -g openclaw@latest")).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("uses update channel for global npm installs when tag is omitted", async () => {
+    const nodeModules = path.join(tempDir, "node_modules");
+    const pkgRoot = path.join(nodeModules, "openclaw");
+    await fs.mkdir(pkgRoot, { recursive: true });
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(pkgRoot, "package.json"),
+      JSON.stringify({ name: "openclaw", version: "1.0.0" }),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const calls: string[] = [];
+    const runCommand = async (argv: string[]) => {
+      const key = argv.join(" ");
+      calls.push(key);
+      if (key === `git -C ${pkgRoot} rev-parse --show-toplevel`) {
+        return { stdout: "", stderr: "not a git repository", code: 128 };
+      }
+      if (key === "npm root -g") {
+        return { stdout: nodeModules, stderr: "", code: 0 };
+      }
+      if (key === "npm i -g openclaw@beta") {
+        await fs.writeFile(
+          path.join(pkgRoot, "package.json"),
+          JSON.stringify({ name: "openclaw", version: "2.0.0" }),
+          "utf-8",
+        );
+        return { stdout: "ok", stderr: "", code: 0 };
+      }
+      if (key === "pnpm root -g") {
+        return { stdout: "", stderr: "", code: 1 };
+      }
+      return { stdout: "", stderr: "", code: 0 };
+    };
+
+    const result = await runGatewayUpdate({
+      cwd: pkgRoot,
+      runCommand: async (argv, _options) => runCommand(argv),
+      timeoutMs: 5000,
+      channel: "beta",
+    });
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe("ok");
+    expect(result.mode).toBe("npm");
+    expect(result.before?.version).toBe("1.0.0");
+    expect(result.after?.version).toBe("2.0.0");
+    expect(calls.some((call) => call === "npm i -g openclaw@beta")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("cleans stale npm rename dirs before global update", async () => {
     const nodeModules = path.join(tempDir, "node_modules");
     const pkgRoot = path.join(nodeModules, "openclaw");

src/infra/update-runner.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,14 @@ import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { type CommandOptions, runCommandWithTimeout } from "../process/exec.js";
 import { trimLogTail } from "./restart-sentinel.js";
-import { DEV_BRANCH, isBetaTag, isStableTag, type UpdateChannel } from "./update-channels.js";
+import {
+  channelToNpmTag,
+  DEFAULT_PACKAGE_CHANNEL,
+  DEV_BRANCH,
+  isBetaTag,
+  isStableTag,
+  type UpdateChannel,
+} from "./update-channels.js";
 import { compareSemverStrings } from "./update-check.js";
 import {
   cleanupGlobalRenameDirs,
@@ -800,7 +807,9 @@ export async function runGatewayUpdate(opts: UpdateRunnerOptions = {}): Promise<
       globalRoot: path.dirname(pkgRoot),
       packageName,
     });
-    const spec = `${packageName}@${normalizeTag(opts.tag)}`;
+    const channel = opts.channel ?? DEFAULT_PACKAGE_CHANNEL;
+    const tag = normalizeTag(opts.tag ?? channelToNpmTag(channel));
+    const spec = `${packageName}@${tag}`;
     const updateStep = await runStep({
       runCommand,
       name: "global update",