Node.js

OpenClaw requires Node 22.22.3+, Node 24.15+, or Node 25.9+ (which includes Node 26). Node 26 is the default and recommended runtime — it starts the Gateway noticeably faster and uses less memory than Node 24, and the installer script provisions it when Node is missing. CI and release workflows still pin Node 24; Node 22 remains supported via its LTS line. Node 23 is unsupported. The installer script detects and installs Node automatically — use this page when you want to set up Node yourself (versions, PATH, global installs).

Check your version

node -v

v26 (any release) is the recommended default. v24.15.0 or newer 24.x remains fully supported (and is what CI pins); v22.22.3 or newer 22.x is the supported Node 22 LTS path; Node v25.9.0+ is also supported. Node 23 is unsupported. If Node is missing or outside the supported range, pick an install method below.

Install Node

macOS
Linux
Windows

Homebrew (recommended):

brew install node

Or download the macOS installer from nodejs.org.

Ubuntu / Debian:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_26.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Fedora / RHEL:

sudo dnf install nodejs

Or use a version manager (see below).

winget (recommended):

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Chocolatey:

choco install nodejs-lts

Or download the Windows installer from nodejs.org.

Using a version manager (nvm, fnm, mise, asdf)

Version managers let you switch between Node versions easily. Popular options:

fnm - fast, cross-platform
nvm - widely used on macOS/Linux
mise - polyglot (Node, Python, Ruby, etc.)

Example with fnm:

fnm install 26
fnm use 26

Initialize your version manager in your shell startup file (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc). If you skip this, openclaw may not be found in new terminal sessions because PATH won’t include Node’s bin directory.

Troubleshooting

`openclaw: command not found`

This almost always means npm’s global bin directory isn’t on your PATH.

Find your global npm prefix

npm prefix -g

Check if it's on your PATH

echo "$PATH"

Look for <npm-prefix>/bin (macOS/Linux) or <npm-prefix> (Windows) in the output.

Add it to your shell startup file

macOS / Linux
Windows

Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"

Then open a new terminal (or run rehash in zsh / hash -r in bash).

Add the output of npm prefix -g to your system PATH via Settings → System → Environment Variables.

Permission errors on `npm install -g` (Linux)

If you see EACCES errors, switch npm’s global prefix to a user-writable directory:

mkdir -p "$HOME/.npm-global"
npm config set prefix "$HOME/.npm-global"
export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"

Add the export PATH=... line to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to make it permanent.

Install Overview - all installation methods
Updating - keeping OpenClaw up to date
Getting Started - first steps after install

Install overview

Maintenance

Containers

Hosting

Advanced setup

Check your version

Install Node

Troubleshooting

`openclaw: command not found`

Permission errors on `npm install -g` (Linux)

​Check your version

​Install Node

​Troubleshooting

​openclaw: command not found

​Permission errors on npm install -g (Linux)

​Related

Check your version

Install Node

Troubleshooting

`openclaw: command not found`

Permission errors on `npm install -g` (Linux)

Related