OpenClaw 2026.9.3 raises the Node floor: 24.16, 26.1 or Bun 1.4

OpenClaw published version 2026.9.3 on September 8, 2026 at 14:15 UTC, and among the seven "Breaking" items in the release notes is a runtime requirement: Node 24.16.0 or newer on the 24 line, or Node 26.1.0 or newer, with Node 26 recommended. The same bullet asks operators to upgrade Node before OpenClaw "to prevent SQLite text truncation" and records the work as pull request #140672.

Node is the runtime that executes OpenClaw on a machine. The Gateway is the always-on OpenClaw process holding the agents, their chat channels and their history. SQLite is the small database file where that history is written.

Why the floor moved

The Node.js compatibility page, added through pull request #142156, commit c21fa5406, on September 8, 2026, states that the node:sqlite TEXT decoder in Node 22.23.x, 24.15.0, 25.9.0 and 26.0.0 "silently truncates values at embedded NUL characters", and that the first fixed releases are 24.16.0 and 26.1.0. A NUL is a zero byte that can turn up inside ordinary text. On an affected runtime the stored value ends there and the rest is dropped.

Which runtimes the release accepts

• Node 26 from 26.1.0: recommended, described on the page as faster to start the Gateway and lighter on memory than Node 24.
• Node 24 from 24.16.0 up to 25: supported, the LTS line used by continuous integration and the Linux installer.
• Node 25, Node 23 and Node 22: unsupported. Node 25 falls outside the current TEXT decoder floor and Node 23 was excluded earlier for incompatible node:sqlite behaviour, the page states.
• Bun 1.4.0 or newer as an explicit opt-in, according to the Bun compatibility page of the same date. Node remains the primary and recommended runtime, that page states.

Official Node 24 and newer binaries require macOS 13.5 or later, the same page states, which ends Node-based CLI and Gateway support on macOS releases from 11 up to 13.4.

The order the documentation gives

The Node.js install page puts the sequence in one line: upgrade Node before updating OpenClaw to avoid SQLite TEXT truncation.

• Read the runtime with node -v. The page gives v26.1.0 or newer as the recommended default, and v24.16.0 or newer on the 24 line as supported.
• Upgrade Node: brew install node on macOS, NodeSource on Debian and Ubuntu, winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS on Windows, or fnm or mise.
• Update OpenClaw with openclaw update, documented on the update reference page, which also lists openclaw update --dry-run.

Running openclaw on an incompatible Node in an interactive terminal produces the prompt Update NodeJS: Y/N [N]:, and answering Y downloads a checksum-verified Node under ~/.openclaw/tools/cli-node.

How the gate decides

The compatibility page gives the engines expression as >=24.16.0 <25 || >=26.1.0, and states it serves as both the documented support policy and the package.json range package managers read.

For the released 2026.9.3, the release history on the same page describes the change as raising the Node 24 floor and dropping Node 22 and 25 to prevent embedded-NUL TEXT truncation, under pull request #140672. A Node build with the affected decoder is refused with the diagnostic node:sqlite truncates TEXT at embedded NUL (nodejs/node#61954); use 24.16+/26.1+ or a build with the fix, the page states.

The page also documents the next step, listed in that history under the unreleased main line: an in-memory round-trip probe of the actual node:sqlite binding, run at startup, by openclaw doctor, by Gateway runtime selection and by update preflight, which replaces the version-only admission. The binding must be present, must load a WAL-safe SQLite library and must carry embedded and trailing NULs through TEXT, BLOB and JSON round trips, and a capable vendor build of Node 24 or newer may then run with an unsupported-version note, according to the page.

The June extended-stable line closed

OpenClaw published v2026.6.35 on September 10, 2026 at 06:39 UTC, and its notes open by calling it the "final June 2026 Extended Stable (LTS) release", with no Node requirement among them. That morning the npm dist-tags for openclaw read latest 2026.9.3, extended-stable 2026.6.35 and beta 2026.9.3. An installation parked on the June line meets the runtime gate the moment it moves onto the monthly line.

Two OneClickClaw reports of September 7, 2026 cover nearby ground: the 2026.8.1 upgrade crash loop, a different cause in a different version, and cross-agent session access in 2026.9.2.

A runtime floor lands on whoever keeps Node current on their own machine, and version managers, distribution packages and macOS releases each move on their own schedule. OneClickClaw runs OpenClaw on a dedicated EU server for every customer and maintains the runtime underneath it, so the version check and the upgrade order stay with the people operating the server. Plans start at EUR 14.99 a month for Starter, and the seven-day free trial runs with no card.