What's the latest OpenClaw version? npm, GitHub, and Docker, untangled
The current release on each channel, the one command that shows them all, and why a Docker install can be up to date while the banner says otherwise.
As of July 31, 2026, the latest stable OpenClaw is 2026.7.1-2 on npm (with 2026.7.2 in beta and 2026.6.33 on the slower extended-stable channel). Check it yourself any time with npm view openclaw dist-tags — and know that “latest” means something slightly different on npm, GitHub, and Docker, which is where most version confusion comes from.
Three places “the latest version” lives
OpenClaw releases surface in three systems, updated on different rhythms:
- npm dist-tags are the source of truth for package installs.
latestis current stable,betais the next line,extended-stabletrails for people who want slower, well-soaked releases. One command shows all of them:npm view openclaw dist-tags - GitHub releases carry the release notes — what changed, breaking changes, security fixes. Read these before updating; the version number alone tells you nothing about whether the update matters to you.
- Container images publish to
ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw(a Docker Hub mirror exists, but prefer ghcr) with version tags plus moving tags —latest,main,extended-stable— and variants like-slimand-browser(Chromium baked in).
The gap that actually confuses people
The three systems are not guaranteed to be in lockstep, and the sharpest example is live right now: npm’s latest is the patch release 2026.7.1-2, but there is no ghcr image for it — container users are on 2026.7.1 until an imaged release ships. Small npm patches don’t always get container builds, so a Docker install can be fully up to date for its distribution channel while an update banner (keyed to npm) insists otherwise — that banner has its own guide. The practical rule: compare your version against the channel you actually install from, not against npm’s latest in the abstract.
What version am I running?
openclaw --version answers for package installs. For Docker setups the truth is the image tag in your compose file — which is also why we pin exact version tags on the pods we operate rather than tracking a moving latest: an agent’s version should change when its operator decides, not when a tag moves overnight. Whichever install you have, the version-checking habit pairs with the updating discipline — how to update without breaking your agent covers that half.