openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Plugin update fails with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND on first openclaw update after new release [2 comments, 3 participants]

Summary

Running openclaw update after a new release fails to update plugins on the first attempt with:

Failed to update dingtalk: Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find module
'/home/tom/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.1/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/install.runtime-BEOb-kNW.js'
imported from '/home/tom/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.1/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/install-Ca5qyNuE.js'

Running openclaw update a second time succeeds.

Root Cause

The update flow in src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts runs plugin updates in the same process after replacing the core dist files:

1. runGatewayUpdate() replaces dist files on disk (new content-hashed filenames)
2. updatePluginsAfterCoreUpdate() runs in the same (old) process
3. src/plugins/install.ts uses a lazy dynamic import: import("./install.runtime.js")
4. The old install.js chunk references install.runtime-BEOb-kNW.js (old hash)
5. But on disk it is now install.runtime-Xyz12345.js (new hash) -> ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND

The lazy import in install.ts (line 19-23) was introduced to avoid heavyweight imports at module load time, but it means the import is resolved after the files have been replaced:

let pluginInstallRuntimePromise: Promise<typeof import("./install.runtime.js")> | undefined;
async function loadPluginInstallRuntime() {
  pluginInstallRuntimePromise ??= import("./install.runtime.js");
  return pluginInstallRuntimePromise;
}

This issue did not exist before ~2026-02-28 because:

• The auto-updater was added on 2026-02-22 (f442a353)
• Various install refactors in Feb introduced the lazy import pattern to avoid startup stalls (see PR #46301)

Suggested Fix

Option A: After runGatewayUpdate() replaces the dist files, spawn a child process using the new binary to run plugin updates, rather than continuing in the stale process.

Option B: Eagerly resolve the install.runtime.js import before runGatewayUpdate() replaces the files, so the module is already cached in memory when plugin updates run.

Environment

• Node.js v22.22.1
• Global npm install
• Linux
• Affects all npm-installed plugins

Reproduction

1. Have any npm-installed plugin
2. Wait for a new openclaw release
3. Run openclaw update
4. Observe plugin update failure
5. Run openclaw update again - succeeds