intentionally carried.

4. Create `release/YYYY.M.D` from current `main`; do not do normal release work

directly on `main`.

5. Bump every required version location for the intended tag, run

`pnpm plugins:sync` so publishable plugin packages share the release

version and compatibility metadata, then run the local deterministic preflight:

5. Bump every required version location for the intended tag, then run

`pnpm release:prep`. It refreshes plugin versions, plugin inventory, config

schema, bundled channel config metadata, config docs baseline, plugin SDK

exports, and plugin SDK API baseline in the right order. Commit any generated

drift before tagging. Then run the local deterministic preflight:

`pnpm check:test-types`, `pnpm check:architecture`,

`pnpm build && pnpm ui:build`, `pnpm plugins:sync:check`, and

`pnpm release:check`.

`pnpm build && pnpm ui:build`, and `pnpm release:check`.

6. Run `OpenClaw NPM Release` with `preflight_only=true`. Before a tag exists,

a full 40-character release-branch SHA is allowed for validation-only

preflight. Save the successful `preflight_run_id`.

ClawHub in parallel, and then promotes the prepared OpenClaw npm preflight

artifact with the matching dist-tag as soon as plugin npm publish succeeds.

ClawHub publishing may still be running while OpenClaw npm publishes, but the

release publish workflow does not finish until both plugin publish paths and

the OpenClaw npm publish path have completed successfully. After publish, run

release publish workflow prints the child run IDs immediately. By default it

does not wait for ClawHub after dispatching it, so OpenClaw npm availability

is not blocked by slower ClawHub approvals or registry work; set

`wait_for_clawhub=true` when ClawHub must block workflow completion. The

ClawHub path retries transient CLI dependency install failures, publishes

preview-passing plugins even when one preview cell flakes, and ends with

registry verification for every expected plugin version so partial publishes

remain visible and retryable. After publish, run

the post-publish package

acceptance against the published `openclaw@YYYY.M.D-beta.N` or

`openclaw@beta` package. If a pushed or published prerelease needs a fix,

- Run `pnpm build && pnpm ui:build` before `pnpm release:check` so the expected

`dist/*` release artifacts and Control UI bundle exist for the pack

validation step

- Run `pnpm plugins:sync` after the root version bump and before tagging. It

updates publishable plugin package versions, OpenClaw peer/API compatibility

metadata, build metadata, and plugin changelog stubs to match the core

release version. `pnpm plugins:sync:check` is the non-mutating release guard;

the publish workflow fails before any registry mutation if this step was

forgotten.

- Run `pnpm release:prep` after the root version bump and before tagging. It

runs every deterministic release generator that commonly drifts after a

version/config/API change: plugin versions, plugin inventory, base config

schema, bundled channel config metadata, config docs baseline, plugin SDK

exports, and plugin SDK API baseline. `pnpm release:check` re-runs those

guards in check mode and reports every generated drift failure it finds in one

pass before running package release checks.

- Run the manual `Full Release Validation` workflow before release approval to

kick off all pre-release test boxes from one entrypoint. It accepts a branch,

tag, or full commit SHA, dispatches manual `CI`, and dispatches