Lesson 22 — OpenClaw Auto-Updater Skill: Set It Once, All Skills Update Automatically Every Day (2026)
Goal: Install the Auto-Updater Skill and configure a scheduled task so OpenClaw automatically checks and updates all installed Skills daily, pushing update summaries to Telegram.
Why Do You Need Auto-Updater?
Skills on ClawHub update very frequently — authors release bug fixes, new features, and security patches every week. If you've installed 10+ Skills, manually checking each for updates is time-consuming and creates a security risk: outdated Skill versions may contain known vulnerabilities.
The Auto-Updater Skill (61k downloads) solves this: install once, maintained forever. It runs the full update workflow in the background and pushes results to your Telegram.
Step 1: Install the Skill
In WebChat or Telegram, send:
/install @maximeprades/auto-updater
Verify installation:
pnpm openclaw skills list
# auto-updater should appear in the listAfter installation, Auto-Updater immediately runs a check, scans the current and latest versions of all installed Skills, and outputs a version status report.
Step 2: View Default Execution Time and Frequency
Auto-Updater runs once daily by default at 3:00 AM (server local time). View the current configuration:
pnpm openclaw config get auto-updaterSample output:
{
"schedule": "0 3 * * *",
"auto_apply": true,
"notify_telegram": false,
"notify_on_no_updates": false,
"backup_before_update": true
}Manually trigger a one-off update check (no need to wait until 3 AM):
pnpm openclaw run "Check and update all Skills to the latest version"Step 3: View the Cron Job Configuration
Auto-Updater uses system cron for scheduling. View the currently registered cron job:
crontab -l | grep auto-updaterSample output:
0 3 * * * /usr/local/bin/pnpm openclaw skill run auto-updater --check-update
You can also view OpenClaw's task scheduler configuration file directly:
cat ~/.openclaw/schedules.jsonStep 4: Customize Execution Time
Change the cron expression to your preferred time:
# Change to run every day at 6:00 AM
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.schedule "0 6 * * *"
# Change to every Monday at 2:00 AM (low-frequency update strategy)
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.schedule "0 2 * * 1"
# Change to run twice daily at midnight and noon
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.schedule "0 0,12 * * *"The cron format uses a standard 5-field cron expression: minutes hours days months weekdays. If you're not familiar with cron syntax, just tell AI:
Change auto-updater's execution time to 11 PM every night
Step 5: Configure Telegram Notifications
First ensure Telegram Bot is configured from Lesson 02, then enable notifications:
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.notify_telegram trueConfigure notification verbosity:
# Notify only when there are updates (recommended — reduces noise)
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.notify_on_no_updates false
# Notify every time (including "no updates" status reports)
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.notify_on_no_updates trueSample Telegram notification:
[OpenClaw Auto-Updater] 2026-03-30 03:00
3 Skills updated:
• @steipete/summarize: v1.2.3 → v1.3.0 ✅
New: EPUB format support
• @steipete/obsidian: v2.1.0 → v2.1.2 ✅
Fix: Chinese path encoding issue
• @maximeprades/auto-updater: v1.0.5 → v1.1.0 ✅
New: Rollback support
No update needed: 7 Skills already at latest version
Step 6: Advanced Configuration Options
Auto-backup before updating (enabled by default — recommended to keep):
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.backup_before_update true
# Backup location: ~/.openclaw/skill-backups/Exclude specific Skills from auto-updates (good for locking in a stable version):
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.exclude '["@steipete/browser", "@someauthor/beta-skill"]'Check only, don't auto-apply (manual confirmation mode):
pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.auto_apply false
# From now on each run only reports available updates; won't auto-install until you manually confirmThe ideal fully-unattended configuration is: auto_apply: true + backup_before_update: true + notify_telegram: true.
Step 7: Roll Back a Skill to an Older Version
If an update causes a Skill to behave unexpectedly, roll back quickly:
Method 1: Via command
# View a Skill's version history
pnpm openclaw skill versions @steipete/summarize
# Roll back to a specific version
pnpm openclaw skill install @steipete/summarize@1.2.3Method 2: Restore from automatic backup
# View available backups
ls ~/.openclaw/skill-backups/
# Restore a backup from a specific date
pnpm openclaw skill restore @steipete/summarize --from-backup 2026-03-29Method 3: Natural language instruction
Roll @steipete/obsidian back to yesterday's version
After rolling back, add the Skill to auto-updater.exclude until the official fix is released, then remove it from the exclusion list to resume auto-updates.
FAQ
Do OpenClaw Skills need to be updated manually?
After installing the Auto-Updater Skill, no manual updates are needed. Auto-Updater automatically checks all installed Skills' versions on your configured schedule, downloads and installs new versions when found, and pushes update summaries via Telegram. Without Auto-Updater, you can bulk update manually with pnpm openclaw skill update --all, or send "update all Skills" in Telegram to trigger an update.
When does Auto-Updater automatically run?
By default, once daily at 3:00 AM server local time. You can customize the execution time by modifying the cron expression — any cron schedule works, including weekly or twice daily. Change command: pnpm openclaw config set auto-updater.schedule "0 6 * * *" (change to 6 AM every day). Recommended: pick a time when you're not actively using OpenClaw to avoid updates interfering with normal use.
Can AI still be used normally during a Skill update?
Normal use continues, but the Skill being updated may be briefly unavailable during the update (typically 5–30 seconds). Auto-Updater updates Skills one at a time rather than all at once, so the overall impact is minimal. If you call a Skill that's currently updating, OpenClaw will complete the current request first or automatically retry. We recommend setting Auto-Updater to run during off-peak hours to minimize impact.
A Skill broke after updating — how do I roll back?
Three rollback methods. The quickest is the command line: pnpm openclaw skill install @author/skill-name@old-version-number — view version history with pnpm openclaw skill versions @author/skill-name. If backup_before_update was enabled (on by default), restore from a local backup: backup files are in ~/.openclaw/skill-backups/ named by date. After rolling back, exclude the Skill in auto-updater.exclude until the official fix is released, then re-add it to auto-updates.