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Node.js

OpenClaw requires Node 22 or newer. The installer script will detect and install Node automatically — this page is for when you want to set up Node yourself and make sure everything is wired up correctly (versions, PATH, global installs).

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Check your version

node -v
If this prints v22.x.x or higher, you’re good. If Node isn’t installed or the version is too old, pick an install method below.

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Install Node

Homebrew (recommended):
brew install node
Or download the macOS installer from nodejs.org.
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 22
fnm use 22
Make sure your version manager is initialized in your shell startup file (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc). If it isn’t, openclaw may not be found in new terminal sessions because the PATH won’t include Node’s bin directory.

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Troubleshooting

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openclaw: command not found

This almost always means npm’s global bin directory isn’t on your PATH.
1

Find your global npm prefix

npm prefix -g
2

Check if it's on your PATH

echo "$PATH"
Look for <npm-prefix>/bin (macOS/Linux) or <npm-prefix> (Windows) in the output.
3

Add it to your shell startup file

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).

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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.