6 custom skills (assign-task, dispatch-webhook, daily-briefing, task-capture, qmd-brain, tts-voice) with technical documentation. Compatible with Claude Code, OpenClaw, Codex CLI, and OpenCode.
1.3 KiB
1.3 KiB
Development Channels Documentation
Overview
OpenClaw maintains three update channels for releases:
- Stable (npm
latestdist-tag): Production-ready builds - Beta (npm
betadist-tag): Builds undergoing testing - Dev (npm
devdist-tag): Current main branch snapshots
The system uses dist-tags as the source of truth for npm installs, meaning vetted builds are promoted without version changes.
Channel Switching
Users can switch channels via:
openclaw update --channel [stable|beta|dev]
When explicitly switching, the installation method aligns automatically:
- Dev mode checks out the git repository (defaults to
~/openclaw) - Stable/beta pull from npm using appropriate dist-tags
Plugin Synchronization
Switching channels triggers plugin source updates—dev prefers bundled plugins from the git checkout, while stable and beta restore npm-installed packages.
Release Guidelines
- Tag releases for git checkouts using format
vYYYY.M.DorvYYYY.M.D-<patch> - Maintain immutable tags (never move or reuse)
- Preserve npm dist-tags as the authoritative source for version mapping
Platform Considerations
Beta and dev releases may lack macOS app builds, which is acceptable provided the git tag and npm dist-tag are published and documented in release notes.