Updating Zirkabot safely (global install or source), plus rollback strategy

Read when…
  • Updating Zirkabot
  • Something breaks after an update

Updating

Zirkabot is moving fast (pre “1.0”). Treat updates like shipping infra: update → run checks → restart (or use zirkabot update, which restarts) → verify.

Recommended: re-run the website installer (upgrade in place)

The preferred update path is to re-run the installer from the website. It detects existing installs, upgrades in place, and runs zirkabot doctor when needed.

curl -fsSL https://zirka.bot/install.sh | bash

Notes:

  • Add --no-onboard if you don’t want the onboarding wizard to run again.
  • For source installs, use:
    curl -fsSL https://zirka.bot/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-method git --no-onboard
    The installer will git pull --rebase only if the repo is clean.
  • For global installs, the script uses npm install -g zirkabot@latest under the hood.

Before you update

  • Know how you installed: global (npm/pnpm) vs from source (git clone).
  • Know how your Gateway is running: foreground terminal vs supervised service (launchd/systemd).
  • Snapshot your tailoring:
    • Config: ~/.zirkabot/zirkabot.json
    • Credentials: ~/.zirkabot/credentials/
    • Workspace: ~/zirka

Update (global install)

Global install (pick one):

npm i -g zirkabot@latest

pnpm add -g zirkabot@latest

We do not recommend Bun for the Gateway runtime (WhatsApp/Telegram bugs).

To switch update channels (git + npm installs):

zirkabot update --channel beta
zirkabot update --channel dev
zirkabot update --channel stable

Use --tag <dist-tag|version> for a one-off install tag/version.

See Development channels for channel semantics and release notes.

Note: on npm installs, the gateway logs an update hint on startup (checks the current channel tag). Disable via update.checkOnStart: false.

Then:

zirkabot doctor
zirkabot gateway restart
zirkabot health

Notes:

  • If your Gateway runs as a service, zirkabot gateway restart is preferred over killing PIDs.
  • If you’re pinned to a specific version, see “Rollback / pinning” below.

Update (zirkabot update)

For source installs (git checkout), prefer:

zirkabot update

It runs a safe-ish update flow:

  • Requires a clean worktree.
  • Switches to the selected channel (tag or branch).
  • Fetches + rebases against the configured upstream (dev channel).
  • Installs deps, builds, builds the Control UI, and runs zirkabot doctor.
  • Restarts the gateway by default (use --no-restart to skip).

If you installed via npm/pnpm (no git metadata), zirkabot update will try to update via your package manager. If it can’t detect the install, use “Update (global install)” instead.

Update (Control UI / RPC)

The Control UI has Update & Restart (RPC: update.run). It:

  1. Runs the same source-update flow as zirkabot update (git checkout only).
  2. Writes a restart sentinel with a structured report (stdout/stderr tail).
  3. Restarts the gateway and pings the last active session with the report.

If the rebase fails, the gateway aborts and restarts without applying the update.

Update (from source)

From the repo checkout:

Preferred:

zirkabot update

Manual (equivalent-ish):

git pull
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm ui:build # auto-installs UI deps on first run
zirkabot doctor
zirkabot health

Notes:

  • pnpm build matters when you run the packaged zirkabot binary (dist/entry.js) or use Node to run dist/.
  • If you run from a repo checkout without a global install, use pnpm zirkabot ... for CLI commands.
  • If you run directly from TypeScript (pnpm zirkabot ...), a rebuild is usually unnecessary, but config migrations still apply → run doctor.
  • Switching between global and git installs is easy: install the other flavor, then run zirkabot doctor so the gateway service entrypoint is rewritten to the current install.

Always run: zirkabot doctor

Doctor is the “safe update” command. It’s intentionally boring: repair + migrate + warn.

Note: if you’re on a source install (git checkout), zirkabot doctor will offer to run zirkabot update first.

Typical things it does:

  • Migrate deprecated config keys / legacy config file locations.
  • Audit DM policies and warn on risky “open” settings.
  • Check Gateway health and can offer to restart.
  • Detect and migrate older gateway services (launchd/systemd; legacy schtasks) to current Zirkabot services.
  • On Linux, ensure systemd user lingering (so the Gateway survives logout).

Details: Doctor

Start / stop / restart the Gateway

CLI (works regardless of OS):

zirkabot gateway status
zirkabot gateway stop
zirkabot gateway restart
zirkabot gateway --port 18789
zirkabot logs --follow

If you’re supervised:

  • macOS launchd (app-bundled LaunchAgent): launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/com.zirkabot.gateway (use com.zirkabot.<profile> if set)
  • Linux systemd user service: systemctl --user restart zirkabot-gateway[-<profile>].service
  • Windows (WSL2): systemctl --user restart zirkabot-gateway[-<profile>].service
    • launchctl/systemctl only work if the service is installed; otherwise run zirkabot gateway install.

Runbook + exact service labels: Gateway runbook

Rollback / pinning (when something breaks)

Pin (global install)

Install a known-good version (replace <version> with the last working one):

npm i -g zirkabot@<version>

pnpm add -g zirkabot@<version>

Tip: to see the current published version, run npm view zirkabot version.

Then restart + re-run doctor:

zirkabot doctor
zirkabot gateway restart

Pin (source) by date

Pick a commit from a date (example: “state of main as of 2026-01-01”):

git fetch origin
git checkout "$(git rev-list -n 1 --before=\"2026-01-01\" origin/main)"

Then reinstall deps + restart:

pnpm install
pnpm build
zirkabot gateway restart

If you want to go back to latest later:

git checkout main
git pull

If you’re stuck