From 127bc620fea71386df0907dcab96a775dd49a04e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Ash (Bug Lab)" <ash@openclaw-lab>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2026 20:50:52 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] fix(update): proactively kill stale gateway PIDs before
 restart (#28332)

---
 src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts b/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
index abc9c0080c7..7a8895b5ffa 100644
--- a/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
+++ b/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
 } from "../../config/config.js";
 import { formatConfigIssueLines } from "../../config/issue-format.js";
 import { resolveGatewayService } from "../../daemon/service.js";
+import { cleanStaleGatewayProcessesSync } from "../../infra/restart-stale-pids.js";
 import {
   channelToNpmTag,
   DEFAULT_GIT_CHANNEL,
@@ -589,6 +590,10 @@ async function maybeRestartService(params: {
           }
         }
       }
+      // Proactively kill any stale gateway processes (e.g. bare-process nohup gateways)
+      // holding the port before we attempt the restart. Without this, the new process
+      // fails to bind the port and openclaw update leaves two conflicting gateway PIDs.
+      cleanStaleGatewayProcessesSync();
       if (params.restartScriptPath) {
         await runRestartScript(params.restartScriptPath);
         restartInitiated = true;

From f7760757fde0afc80a73acd54deb61589dbf7714 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Ash (Bug Lab)" <ash@openclaw-lab>
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2026 10:25:56 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] fix(update): guard stale-PID cleanup behind viable
 restart path
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Addresses Codex P1 review: cleanStaleGatewayProcessesSync() ran
unconditionally before the restart strategy was resolved. When using
nohup (no managed service, restartScriptPath == null) runDaemonRestart()
returns false, leaving the gateway killed with no replacement — a
regression from pre-change behaviour.

Fix: move the proactive PID cleanup inside the restartScriptPath branch
where a managed service script guarantees a replacement is coming. The
daemon-restart fallback path skips the proactive cleanup; the existing
post-restart health check (waitForGatewayHealthyRestart) already handles
stale PIDs after the new gateway is confirmed healthy.
---
 src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts | 14 ++++++++++----
 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts b/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
index 7a8895b5ffa..ec04f2dd876 100644
--- a/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
+++ b/src/cli/update-cli/update-command.ts
@@ -590,14 +590,20 @@ async function maybeRestartService(params: {
           }
         }
       }
-      // Proactively kill any stale gateway processes (e.g. bare-process nohup gateways)
-      // holding the port before we attempt the restart. Without this, the new process
-      // fails to bind the port and openclaw update leaves two conflicting gateway PIDs.
-      cleanStaleGatewayProcessesSync();
       if (params.restartScriptPath) {
+        // A managed service restart script is available: kill stale bare-process
+        // gateway PIDs first so the service can bind the port on the way up.
+        // We only do this when we have a guaranteed restart path — killing the
+        // live gateway without a viable replacement would leave it down.
+        cleanStaleGatewayProcessesSync();
         await runRestartScript(params.restartScriptPath);
         restartInitiated = true;
       } else {
+        // No restart script — fall back to daemon restart.  Skip the proactive
+        // PID cleanup here: if the daemon is not loaded runDaemonRestart returns
+        // false and we would kill the live gateway with no replacement.  The
+        // post-restart health check (waitForGatewayHealthyRestart) already
+        // handles stale PID cleanup once the new gateway is confirmed healthy.
         restarted = await runDaemonRestart();
       }