verify-release

---
name: verify-release
description: "Verify regular or extended-stable OpenClaw releases against the exact publication surfaces, workflow identities, package provenance, smoke tests, and live Gateway behavior expected for that release track."
---

# Verify Release

Use this when asked whether an OpenClaw release is fully released, published,
promoted, smoke-tested, or live-verified. This is a verification skill, not a
publish skill; use `$release-openclaw-maintainer` before changing release state.

## Rules

- Resolve short suffixes like `.27` to the concrete CalVer version from the
  current date/context, then say the resolved version.
- Resolve the track first. Both tracks use the shared GitHub Release evidence
  ledger. Regular beta/stable also uses the platform graph; extended-stable
  uses its canonical branch, npm selector, and Gateway surfaces. Do not require
  one track's native or ClawHub artifacts from the other.
- Verify live state. Do not trust local checkout state, release notes, or old
  memory as current truth.
- If the checkout is dirty or divergent, use it only for scripts/reference.
  For version metadata, fetch from GitHub release/tag or unpack the tag tarball
  under `/tmp`.
- Never print secrets. Use inherited live keys only for scoped smoke commands.
- Keep the final terse: `yes/no`, evidence bullets, caveats, cleanup.

## Regular beta/stable checks

Use these checks only for the regular orchestrated release track.

1. GitHub release:
   - `gh release view v<VERSION> --repo openclaw/openclaw --json tagName,name,publishedAt,isDraft,isPrerelease,targetCommitish,url,body,assets`
   - Confirm stable releases are not draft/prerelease.
   - Confirm release body has npm, CI, plugin npm, ClawHub, mac/appcast evidence
     links when expected.
   - Confirm assets expected for stable mac releases are uploaded: zip, dmg,
     dSYM, dependency evidence, immutable full-validation manifest,
     postpublish evidence, and stable-main closeout manifest.
   - Download each immutable evidence asset and its `.sha256` companion, then
     verify the checksum before trusting the release record.
2. Root npm:
   - `npm view openclaw@<VERSION> version dist-tags.latest dist.tarball dist.integrity time.<VERSION> --json`
   - `latest` must equal `<VERSION>` for stable.
   - Record tarball, integrity, publish time.
   - Confirm the release postpublish evidence records
     `npmRegistrySignaturesVerified: true` and
     `npmProvenanceAttestationMatched: true`.
3. Plugin publish set:
   - Get exact tag metadata from GitHub, not the local checkout when dirty:
     download `https://api.github.com/repos/openclaw/openclaw/tarball/v<VERSION>`
     into `/tmp/openclaw-v<VERSION>-src`.
   - Derive the full expected npm and ClawHub package sets for the release track
     with the canonical publication planners/collector from the recorded release
     Tooling SHA, using the exact tag's package metadata.
     Do not count raw publish flags: `openclaw.build.bundledDist === true`
     explicitly defers external publication even when publish flags are set.
     Record deferred package names and reasons separately.
   - Reconcile expected package identities, versions, and counts across original
     publication, previously published versions, and selected recovery runs using
     immutable publication plans, registry readback, and workflow jobs. A selected
     recovery subset must not narrow the full expected release set:
     `gh api repos/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/<RUN>/jobs --paginate`.
   - Each expected npm plugin must have version `<VERSION>` and
     `dist-tags.latest === <VERSION>`.
4. ClawHub:
   - Check the Plugin ClawHub Release workflow conclusion and publish job count.
   - Use OpenClaw itself for live registry proof:
     `openclaw plugins search <known-plugin> --json`.
   - Install one official plugin at the exact requested release version from
     ClawHub in an isolated HOME:
     `openclaw plugins install clawhub:@openclaw/matrix@<VERSION>`.
     Prefer `matrix` unless that plugin is not in the expected set. ClawHub
     versions belong in the spec; `--pin` is only supported for npm installs.
5. Release workflows:
   - Verify conclusions for release notes evidence links:
     Full Release Validation, OpenClaw Release Checks, OpenClaw NPM Release,
     Plugin NPM Release, Plugin ClawHub Release, mac preflight/validation/publish
     when stable mac assets are expected.
   - For stable, verify `OpenClaw Stable Main Closeout` succeeded and its
     manifest records the matching release tag, current rollback drill, stable
     soak, and blocking performance evidence.
   - Summarize only relevant successful/failed jobs; ignore routine skipped
     optional lanes unless the release body promised them.

## Extended-stable checks

Extended-stable has a GitHub Release with shared release evidence but no native
or ClawHub artifacts. Verify it alongside
the live tag, workflow, registry, provenance, and image state.

1. **Identity:** require final `v<VERSION>` at patch `33+`, with no suffix,
   contained in `extended-stable/YYYY.M.33`. Only an active candidate must equal
   the tip. Root and every publishable official plugin must declare `<VERSION>`.
   Require the Git tag and a public, non-prerelease GitHub Release whose title
   and canonical body match the tag. Require `isLatest=false`, the dependency
   evidence, immutable Full Release Validation manifest, postpublish evidence,
   and their checksums. Require no native or ClawHub assets.
2. **Workflow chain:** find the successful parent release run plus its
   preflight, complete validation, plugin npm, and core publish children.
   Require a protected `release-publish/*` parent and canonical `release-ci/*`
   validation producer with verified workflow SHA provenance. Validation must
   use `rerun_group=all`, `release_profile=stable`, blocking soak/performance,
   and the saved attempt. Core publish must reference all three run IDs and bind
   its manifest, workflow ref, and tarball digest to the release SHA.
3. **Registry:** require exact and `extended-stable` selectors to return
   `<VERSION>` for root, every preflight `corePackageTarballs` entry, and every
   `publishToNpm === true` official plugin derived from the tag. Compare the
   plugin plan, jobs, and complete readback; never infer inventory from diffs.
4. **Provenance:** from trusted current tooling, run
   `node --import tsx scripts/openclaw-npm-postpublish-verify.ts <VERSION>`.
   Require signatures, canonical-branch provenance, and publish/preflight
   digest binding to the release SHA. Preserve output and workflow URLs.
5. **Docker:** verify exact default, slim, browser, and architecture images and
   attestations in both registries. Only the three `extended-stable*` aliases may
   resolve to those digests. Require the successful `OpenClaw Release Publish`
   parent run and its completed Docker verification. The normal route finalizes
   afterward; an explicitly requested fast path may activate GitHub first. Repair
   aliases through current-main `Docker Channel Promotion` for the exact tag,
   without rebuilding.
6. **Recovery:** never republish. Use `promote_extended_stable` in the
   `openclaw/releases` dist-tag workflow for the root selector (an unsuffixed
   final patch `33+`) and approved credential-isolated tooling for others, then repeat
   complete readback. Do not require ClawHub, native/mobile apps, website,
   private dist-tags, or regular `latest`. Require shared release evidence, but
   do not require regular native or ClawHub assets.

## Shared live smoke

After the track-specific publication checks pass:

1. Published package smoke:
   - In `/tmp`, isolated HOME:
     `npm exec --yes --package openclaw@<VERSION> -- openclaw --version`.
   - Run at least one harmless command that touches the published CLI surface,
     for example `plugins --help` or `gateway --help`.
2. Dev Gateway live model smoke:
   - Use temp HOME/workspace, not the user's normal state:
     `HOME=/tmp/openclaw-release-smoke/home OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE=/tmp/openclaw-release-smoke/work pnpm openclaw --dev gateway run --auth none --force --verbose`.
   - Resolve the launched Gateway's bound port from its startup output or log.
   - For `--auth none`, require unauthenticated
     `GET http://127.0.0.1:<PORT>/healthz` to return HTTP 200 with the exact JSON
     object `{"ok":true,"status":"live"}`.
   - Reserve `gateway health --json` for intentionally credentialed or
     device-paired smoke, passing the explicit credential required by that
     Gateway.
   - Run one Gateway-backed agent turn with inherited `OPENAI_API_KEY`, short
     prompt, explicit session key, JSON output, and a known-available model.
   - If the configured default model fails as unavailable, record that caveat
     and retry with the newest known-good OpenAI model instead of declaring the
     release failed.
   - Stop the gateway and verify the port is not listening.

## Caveats To Report

- Dist-tag caveat: stable `latest` is release truth; if optional `beta` mirrors
  still point at a beta version, report it as a caveat, not a stable-release
  blocker, unless the user asked to verify beta promotion.
- Track caveat: name the track and intentionally absent surfaces. Do not call
  missing regular-release artifacts an extended-stable failure.
- Divergent checkout caveat: say when local source SHA differs from release tag
  or origin and which live sources were used instead.
- Smoke caveat: distinguish Gateway-backed agent success from local embedded
  fallback. A valid auth-none live smoke has the exact `/healthz` result plus a
  successful Gateway-backed agent turn and the Gateway log/run id for that call.

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