update

name	update
description	Pull the latest ClawDad code, rebuild, and restart the running service. Use when the user says "update", "pull latest", "upgrade", or wants to apply new code changes.

ClawDad Update

Smart update that detects context and uses the right strategy.

1. Pre-flight

Check for uncommitted changes:

git status --porcelain

• Clean → proceed
• Dirty → warn the user and list the changed files. AskUserQuestion:
  1. Stash and continue — git stash before pulling, git stash pop after
  2. Abort — let the user handle it manually

Check which branch we're on:

git branch --show-current

If not on main, warn: "You're on branch <name>. Updates pull from main. Switch to main first?"

2. Detect update mode

Determine the relationship between this repo and its remotes:

UPSTREAM_URL=$(git remote get-url upstream 2>/dev/null || echo "")
ORIGIN_URL=$(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null || echo "")

Two modes:

Mode	Detection	Strategy
Fork mode	upstream points to dfederspiel/clawdad (or no upstream, just origin)	Merge — git pull or git fetch upstream main && git merge upstream/main
Source mode	upstream points to qwibitai/nanoclaw	Cherry-pick — selective sync from upstream NanoClaw

If upstream URL contains qwibitai/nanoclaw → Source mode. Otherwise → Fork mode.

In both modes, always pull from origin first to catch cross-machine pushes:

git fetch origin main && git merge origin/main

3a. Fork mode (merge)

Standard merge from upstream:

git fetch upstream main && git merge upstream/main

If the merge fails (conflict), tell the user and stop. Don't try to auto-resolve.

Skip to Step 4 (post-update).

3b. Source mode (cherry-pick from NanoClaw)

This mode exists because upstream NanoClaw runs periodic bulk formatting (prettier/eslint), version bumps, and token-count doc updates that create false conflicts on merge. We cherry-pick only the substantive changes.

Fetch and analyze

git fetch upstream main

Find commits unique to upstream (patch-id deduped, excludes already-merged work):

git log --oneline --no-merges --cherry-pick --left-only upstream/main...HEAD

Filter noise

Categorize each commit by its message. Skip commits matching these patterns — they cause conflicts and add no value:

• chore: bump version — version bumps
• style: run prettier or style: run eslint — bulk formatting
• docs: update token count — auto-generated token badges
• chore: remove .* test — test cleanup from upstream

Present candidates

Show the user a numbered list of remaining commits with their short description. For each one, show the --stat so they can see what files are touched.

Ask the user which commits to take. Options:

• All — cherry-pick all candidates
• Pick by number — e.g., "1, 3, 5"
• None — skip sync, just do the origin pull + build

Apply selected commits

For each selected commit, attempt cherry-pick:

git cherry-pick --no-commit <sha>

If it conflicts:

1. Show the conflicted files
2. Read each conflicted file and resolve — prefer our version for:
   • Branding (ClawDad vs NanoClaw)
   • Credential system (support both OneCLI and .env/native proxy)
   • Windows-specific code
   • Features we've added (usage tracking, typing indicators, etc.)
3. Take upstream's version for:
   • Bug fixes in shared logic
   • New patterns/features that don't conflict with our additions
4. Stage resolved files and continue

After all selected commits are applied, create a single commit:

git commit -m "fix: sync upstream NanoClaw changes (cherry-picked)

Cherry-picked from upstream NanoClaw:
- <list each ported commit's subject and short SHA>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[e-mail]>"

If no commits were selected or all were filtered as noise, tell the user:

Already up to date with upstream — nothing substantive to sync.

4. Post-update

Parse what changed since before the update:

git diff HEAD@{1}..HEAD --stat

Note whether package.json or package-lock.json changed (needs npm install). Note whether anything in container/ changed (needs container rebuild).

Install dependencies (if needed)

Only if package.json or package-lock.json changed:

npm install

Build

npm run build

If the build fails, show the error and stop. Don't restart the service with a broken build.

Rebuild container (if needed)

Only if files in container/ changed:

./container/build.sh

Tell the user this is happening — container builds take a minute or two.

5. Restart service

Detect the service label for this instance:

# The label is com.clawdad.<directory-name>
LABEL="com.clawdad.$(basename $(pwd))"

macOS (launchd)

# Check if service is registered
launchctl list | grep "$LABEL"

# Restart it
launchctl kickstart -k "gui/$(id -u)/$LABEL"

If the service isn't registered (user runs in dev mode), tell them to restart manually:

npm run dev

Linux (systemd)

UNIT_NAME=$(echo "$LABEL" | tr '.' '-')
systemctl --user restart "$UNIT_NAME"

6. Verify

Wait 3 seconds for the service to start, then check health:

# Read port from .env, default to 3456
PORT=$(grep -oP 'WEB_UI_PORT=\K\d+' .env 2>/dev/null || echo 3456)
curl -sf "http://localhost:$PORT/api/health" | python3 -m json.tool

If health check passes, tell the user:

Updated and restarted. ClawDad is running at http://localhost:.

If it fails, check the error log:

tail -20 logs/clawdad.error.log

7. Summary

After a successful update, show a concise summary:

Updated ClawDad to <short-hash>.
- Mode: fork / source (cherry-pick)
- Origin: merged / already up to date
- Upstream: <N> commits synced / nothing new / skipped (fork mode)
- <N> files changed
- Dependencies: updated / unchanged
- Container: rebuilt / unchanged
- Service: restarted on port <PORT>