The Update Trap

If the gateway fails to start on 4.14 and you get an entry.js not found error or stale dist chunk errors, it's not a configuration problem — it's a case of entrypoint resolution getting tangled.

The fix described in the release notes is meant to keep updates, reinstalls, and doctor repairs from getting confused between the old dist/entry.js and the current dist/index.js.

The issue arises when, after multiple updates or with leftover partial installs, some state still points to the legacy path, causing it to look for a file that no longer actually exists.

The recommended fix order is as follows:

• Fully stop the gateway
• npm uninstall -g openclaw
• npm cache clean --force
• npm install -g openclaw@latest
• Reload the launch agent

It's noted that local data lives under ~/.openclaw/ and is not removed by npm uninstall.

However, if you use cron jobs, it's recommended to back them up first, because there's a separate bug (#66401) where openclaw update deletes jobs.json in some environments.

In the end, it wraps up as an anecdote noting that self-hosting openclaw comes with no small amount of maintenance overhead.