Bug

scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs lines 787-791 attempt to prune /tmp/node-compile-cache/v<NODE>-x64-<HASH>-0. When the directory is owned by a different user (e.g., created by a previous root-owned install or by a shared cache from another user on the same host), the prune fails:

[postinstall] could not prune OpenClaw compile cache: Error: EACCES, Permission denied: /tmp/node-compile-cache/v24.13.0-x64-cf738c9d-0

The script handles this with a try/catch that emits a warning, but the warning misleads users into thinking something is broken.

Impact

Cosmetic. Postinstall completes successfully; the WARN just adds noise during the upgrade workflow. Particularly visible when the v5.2 upgrade procedure prescribes running node scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs manually with OPENCLAW_EAGER_BUNDLED_PLUGIN_DEPS=1 after --ignore-scripts install.

Proposed fix

In the catch block, check err.code === "EACCES" and silently skip:

} catch (err) {
  if (err.code === "EACCES" || err.code === "EPERM") {
    // shared compile cache not writable by current user; safe to skip
    return;
  }
  console.warn(`[postinstall] could not prune OpenClaw compile cache: ${err}`);
}

Alternative: prefix the cache path with the current uid (e.g. /tmp/node-compile-cache-${process.getuid()}/...) so each user has its own cache, sidestepping the shared-cache permission issue entirely.

Repro

1. As root (or sudo): npm install -g [email protected] --ignore-scripts
2. Run postinstall: cd /usr/lib/node_modules/openclaw && node scripts/postinstall-bundled-plugins.mjs
3. As non-root user: npm install -g [email protected] --ignore-scripts
4. Run postinstall as that user; observe the EACCES WARN

Environment

• OpenClaw v2026.5.2 (8b2a6e5)
• Debian 11 (Bitnami AWS instance)
• Node 24.13.0
• Compile cache path: /tmp/node-compile-cache/v24.13.0-x64-cf738c9d-0