| name | update-nanoclaw |
| description | Efficiently bring upstream NanoClaw updates into a customized install, with preview, selective cherry-pick, and low token usage. |
About
Your NanoClaw fork drifts from upstream as you customize it. This skill pulls upstream changes into your install without losing your modifications.
Run /update-nanoclaw in Claude Code.
How it works
Preflight: checks for clean working tree (git status --porcelain). If upstream remote is missing, asks you for the URL (defaults to https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw.git) and adds it. Detects the upstream branch name (main or master).
Backup: creates a timestamped backup branch and tag (backup/pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp>, pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp>) before touching anything. Safe to run multiple times.
Preview: runs git log and git diff against the merge base to show upstream changes since your last sync. Groups changed files into categories:
- Skills (
.claude/skills/): unlikely to conflict unless you edited an upstream skill
- Host source (
src/): may conflict if you modified the same files
- Container (
container/): triggers container rebuild
- Build/config (
package.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, tsconfig*.json): lockfile changes trigger dep install
Update paths (you pick one):
merge (default): git merge upstream/<branch>. Resolves all conflicts in one pass.cherry-pick: git cherry-pick <hashes>. Pull in only the commits you want.rebase: git rebase upstream/<branch>. Linear history, but conflicts resolve per-commit.abort: just view the changelog, change nothing.
Conflict preview: before merging, runs a dry-run (git merge --no-commit --no-ff) to show which files would conflict. You can still abort at this point.
Conflict resolution: opens only conflicted files, resolves the conflict markers, keeps your local customizations intact.
Validation: runs pnpm run build and pnpm test. If container files changed, also runs the container typecheck and ./container/build.sh.
Breaking changes check: after validation, reads CHANGELOG.md for any [BREAKING] entries introduced by the update. If found, shows each breaking change and offers to run the recommended skill to migrate.
Rollback
The backup tag is printed at the end of each run:
git reset --hard pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp>
Backup branch backup/pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp> also exists.
Token usage
Only opens files with actual conflicts. Uses git log, git diff, and git status for everything else. Does not scan or refactor unrelated code.
Goal
Help a user with a customized NanoClaw install safely incorporate upstream changes without a fresh reinstall and without blowing tokens.
Operating principles
- Never proceed with a dirty working tree.
- Always create a rollback point (backup branch + tag) before touching anything.
- Prefer git-native operations (fetch, merge, cherry-pick). Do not manually rewrite files except conflict markers.
- Default to MERGE (one-pass conflict resolution). Offer REBASE as an explicit option.
- Keep token usage low: rely on
git status, git log, git diff, and open only conflicted files.
Step 0a: Refresh this skill first
The update process itself evolves, so run its newest version before doing anything else:
- Ensure the
upstream remote exists (default https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw.git) and fetch: git fetch upstream --prune. Detect the upstream branch (main or master).
- Refresh this skill from upstream:
git checkout upstream/<branch> -- .claude/skills/update-nanoclaw/
- Re-read
.claude/skills/update-nanoclaw/SKILL.md. If it changed, follow the updated version from the top instead of this one.
This is the only working-tree change expected before the preflight check; the full update commits it along with everything else.
Step 0: Preflight (stop early if unsafe)
Run:
git status --porcelain
If output is non-empty:- Tell the user to commit or stash first, then stop.
- Exception: changes limited to
.claude/skills/update-nanoclaw/ are the Step 0a self-refresh — ignore those and proceed.
Confirm remotes:
git remote -v
If upstream is missing:- Ask the user for the upstream repo URL (default:
https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw.git).
- Add it:
git remote add upstream <user-provided-url>
- Then:
git fetch upstream --prune
Determine the upstream branch name:
git branch -r | grep upstream/- If
upstream/main exists, use main.
- If only
upstream/master exists, use master.
- Otherwise, ask the user which branch to use.
- Store this as UPSTREAM_BRANCH for all subsequent commands. Every command below that references
upstream/main should use upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH instead.
Fetch:
git fetch upstream --prune
Step 1: Create a safety net
Capture current state:
HASH=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
Create backup branch and tag (using timestamp to avoid collisions on retry):
git branch backup/pre-update-$HASH-$TIMESTAMPgit tag pre-update-$HASH-$TIMESTAMP
Save the tag name for later reference in the summary and rollback instructions.
Step 2: Preview what upstream changed (no edits yet)
Compute common base:
BASE=$(git merge-base HEAD upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH)
Show upstream commits since BASE:
git log --oneline $BASE..upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH
Show local commits since BASE (custom drift):
git log --oneline $BASE..HEAD
Show file-level impact from upstream:
git diff --name-only $BASE..upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH
Bucket the upstream changed files:
- Skills (
.claude/skills/): unlikely to conflict unless the user edited an upstream skill
- Host source (
src/): may conflict if user modified the same files
- Container (
container/): triggers container rebuild (+ typecheck if agent-runner/src/ changed)
- Build/config (
package.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, tsconfig*.json): lockfile changes trigger dep install
- Version pins (
versions.json): a changed onecli-gateway / onecli-cli value requires upgrading the OneCLI gateway/CLI to match — see Step 5.5
- Other: docs, tests, setup scripts, misc
Large drift check: If the upstream commit count and age suggest the user has a lot of catching up to do, mention that /migrate-nanoclaw might be a better fit — it extracts customizations and reapplies them on clean upstream instead of merging. Offer it as an option but don't push.
Present these buckets to the user and ask them to choose one path using AskUserQuestion:
- A) Full update: merge all upstream changes
- B) Selective update: cherry-pick specific upstream commits
- C) Abort: they only wanted the preview
- D) Rebase mode: advanced, linear history (warn: resolves conflicts per-commit)
If Abort: stop here.
Step 3: Conflict preview (before committing anything)
If Full update or Rebase:
Step 4A: Full update (MERGE, default)
Run:
git merge upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH --no-edit
If conflicts occur:
- Run
git status and identify conflicted files.
- For each conflicted file:
- Open the file.
- Resolve only conflict markers.
- Preserve intentional local customizations.
- Incorporate upstream fixes/improvements.
- Do not refactor surrounding code.
git add <file>
- When all resolved:
- If merge did not auto-commit:
git commit --no-edit
Step 4B: Selective update (CHERRY-PICK)
If user chose Selective:
- Recompute BASE if needed:
BASE=$(git merge-base HEAD upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH)
- Show commit list again:
git log --oneline $BASE..upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH
- Ask user which commit hashes they want.
- Apply:
git cherry-pick <hash1> <hash2> ...
If conflicts during cherry-pick:
- Resolve only conflict markers, then:
git add <file>git cherry-pick --continue
If user wants to stop:git cherry-pick --abort
Step 4C: Rebase (only if user explicitly chose option D)
Run:
git rebase upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH
If conflicts:
- Resolve conflict markers only, then:
git add <file>git rebase --continue
If it gets messy (more than 3 rounds of conflicts):git rebase --abort- Recommend merge instead.
Step 4.5: Install dependencies (if lockfiles changed)
Check if the merge changed any lockfiles or package manifests:
git diff <backup-tag-from-step-1>..HEAD --name-only | grep -E '^(pnpm-lock\.yaml|package\.json)$'
git diff <backup-tag-from-step-1>..HEAD --name-only | grep -E '^container/agent-runner/(bun\.lock|package\.json)$'
- If matched AND
command -v bun succeeds: cd container/agent-runner && bun install
- If bun is not installed on the host, skip — container deps will be installed during
./container/build.sh
Skip this step if neither lockfile changed.
Step 5: Validation
Check which areas changed to determine what to validate:
CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --name-only <backup-tag-from-step-1>..HEAD)
Host build (always):
pnpm run buildpnpm test (do not fail the flow if tests are not configured)
Container typecheck (only if container/agent-runner/src/ files are in CHANGED_FILES AND bun types are available):
- Check:
pnpm exec tsc -p container/agent-runner/tsconfig.json --noEmit
- If this fails because bun types are missing (
Cannot find type definition file for 'bun'), skip with a note — type errors will surface at container runtime instead
Container image rebuild (only if any container/ files are in CHANGED_FILES):
If build fails:
- Show the error.
- Only fix issues clearly caused by the merge (missing imports, type mismatches from merged code).
- Do not refactor unrelated code.
- If unclear, ask the user before making changes.
Step 5.5: OneCLI upgrade (if pins moved)
The OneCLI gateway and CLI are external components pinned in versions.json; when a pin moves, the running version must be upgraded to match or the new code may fail against it.
If git diff <backup-tag-from-step-1>..HEAD -- versions.json shows the onecli-gateway or onecli-cli value changed, follow docs/onecli-upgrades.md before the service restart (Step 8). Otherwise skip.
Step 6: Breaking changes check
After validation succeeds, check if the update introduced any breaking changes.
Determine which CHANGELOG entries are new by diffing against the backup tag:
git diff <backup-tag-from-step-1>..HEAD -- CHANGELOG.md
Parse the diff output for lines that contain [BREAKING] anywhere in the line. Each such line is one breaking change entry. The format is:
[BREAKING] <description>. Run `/<skill-name>` to <action>.
If no [BREAKING] lines are found:
- Skip this step silently. Proceed to Step 7 (skill updates check).
If one or more [BREAKING] lines are found:
- Display a warning header to the user: "This update includes breaking changes that may require action:"
- For each breaking change, display the full description.
- Collect all skill names referenced in the breaking change entries (the
/<skill-name> part).
- Use AskUserQuestion to ask the user which migration skills they want to run now. Options:
- One option per referenced skill (e.g., "Run /add-whatsapp to re-add WhatsApp channel")
- "Skip — I'll handle these manually"
- Set
multiSelect: true so the user can pick multiple skills if there are several breaking changes.
- For each skill the user selects, invoke it using the Skill tool.
- After all selected skills complete (or if user chose Skip), proceed to Step 7 (skill updates check).
Step 7: Skill updates (part of updating NanoClaw)
Updating your installed skills is part of updating NanoClaw, not an optional
extra. Channel and provider code ships on long-lived branches (channels,
providers) that the host merge above doesn't touch — so stopping here leaves
that code on whatever version you installed, which is how an important upstream
fix gets silently left behind. The default is to continue into /update-skills,
which re-applies your installed channels/providers to pull their latest code.
Detect whether anything is installed: read src/channels/index.ts and
src/providers/index.ts, collecting import './<name>.js'; lines (excluding
cli).
- If nothing is installed: skip silently and proceed to Step 7.9.
- If one or more are installed: continue into skill updates.
Hand-off — default in, minimal opt-out. Use AskUserQuestion (single-select).
Name the installed skills in the question so the choice is concrete:
- Question: "Skill updates are part of this NanoClaw update — your installed
channels/providers () ride separate branches the host
update didn't touch. Continue into
/update-skills to bring them up to date?"
- Option 1 (Recommended): "Continue into skill updates" — description: "Runs
/update-skills, which re-applies your installed channels/providers to pull
their latest upstream code. You pick which ones there."
- Option 2: "Skip — I'll run
/update-skills myself later" — description: "Your
installed skill code stays as-is and may be behind upstream."
Keep it to these two options — the per-skill selection lives inside
/update-skills, not here.
- On "Continue": invoke
/update-skills using the Skill tool. (If the re-apply
touches container code, /update-skills rebuilds the agent image itself — see
its Step 4 — so nothing container-related is owed back here.)
- On "Skip": note that
/update-skills can be run anytime, then proceed.
Proceed to Step 7.9.
Step 7.9: Stamp the upgrade marker (required)
After validation has succeeded, record that this install reached the new version through the supported path. Without this, the startup tripwire stops the host on its next start.
pnpm exec tsx scripts/upgrade-state.ts set "" update-nanoclaw
- The empty version argument stamps the current
package.json version.
If validation did NOT succeed, do not stamp — leave the tripwire to catch the broken state.
Proceed to Step 8.
Step 8: Summary + rollback instructions
Show:
- Backup tag: the tag name created in Step 1
- New HEAD:
git rev-parse --short HEAD
- Upstream HEAD:
git rev-parse --short upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH
- Conflicts resolved (list files, if any)
- Breaking changes applied (list skills run, if any)
- Remaining local diff vs upstream:
git diff --name-only upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH..HEAD
Tell the user:
- To rollback:
git reset --hard <backup-tag-from-step-1>
- Backup branch also exists:
backup/pre-update-<HASH>-<TIMESTAMP>
- Restart the service to apply changes. The unit/label names are per-install — derive them with
setup/lib/install-slug.sh. Run from your NanoClaw project root:
- macOS (Darwin):
source setup/lib/install-slug.sh && launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/$(launchd_label)
- Linux:
source setup/lib/install-slug.sh && systemctl --user restart $(systemd_unit) (or, if you want to confirm the unit name first: systemctl --user list-units --type=service | grep "$(. setup/lib/install-slug.sh && systemd_unit)")
- Manual (no service found): restart
pnpm run dev
Diagnostics
- Use the Read tool to read
.claude/skills/update-nanoclaw/diagnostics.md.
- Follow every step in that file before finishing.
