fix(scripts): avoid downgrade release upgrade baselines

docs/help/testing.md

@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ The live-model Docker runners also bind-mount only the needed CLI auth homes (or
 - Release user journey smoke: `pnpm test:docker:release-user-journey` installs the packed OpenClaw tarball globally in a clean Docker home, runs onboarding, configures a mocked OpenAI provider, runs an agent turn, installs/uninstalls external plugins, configures ClickClack against a local fixture, verifies outbound/inbound messaging, restarts Gateway, and runs doctor.
 - Release typed onboarding smoke: `pnpm test:docker:release-typed-onboarding` installs the packed tarball, drives `openclaw onboard` through a real TTY, configures OpenAI as an env-ref provider, verifies no raw key persistence, and runs a mocked agent turn.
 - Release media/memory smoke: `pnpm test:docker:release-media-memory` installs the packed tarball, verifies image understanding from a PNG attachment, OpenAI-compatible image generation output, memory search recall, and recall survival across Gateway restart.
-- Release upgrade user journey smoke: `pnpm test:docker:release-upgrade-user-journey` installs `openclaw@latest` by default, configures provider/plugin/ClickClack state on the published package, upgrades to the candidate tarball, then reruns the core agent/plugin/channel journey. Override the baseline with `OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC=openclaw@<version>`.
+- Release upgrade user journey smoke: `pnpm test:docker:release-upgrade-user-journey` installs the newest published baseline older than the candidate tarball by default, configures provider/plugin/ClickClack state on the published package, upgrades to the candidate tarball, then reruns the core agent/plugin/channel journey. If no older published baseline exists, it reuses the candidate version. Override the baseline with `OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC=openclaw@<version>`.
 - Release plugin marketplace smoke: `pnpm test:docker:release-plugin-marketplace` installs from a local fixture marketplace, updates the installed plugin, uninstalls it, and verifies the plugin CLI disappears with install metadata pruned.
 - Skill install smoke: `pnpm test:docker:skill-install` installs the packed OpenClaw tarball globally in Docker, disables uploaded archive installs in config, resolves the current live ClawHub skill slug from search, installs it with `openclaw skills install`, and verifies the installed skill plus `.clawhub` origin/lock metadata.
 - Update channel switch smoke: `pnpm test:docker:update-channel-switch` installs the packed OpenClaw tarball globally in Docker, switches from package `stable` to git `dev`, verifies the persisted channel and plugin post-update work, then switches back to package `stable` and checks update status.

scripts/e2e/lib/release-upgrade-user-journey/scenario.sh

@@ -40,13 +40,17 @@ CLICKCLACK_SERVER_LOG="$LOG_DIR/clickclack-server.log"
 GATEWAY_LOG="$LOG_DIR/gateway.log"
 MOCK_REQUEST_LOG="$scenario_tmp/openai-requests.jsonl"
 CLICKCLACK_STATE="$scenario_tmp/clickclack.json"
-BASELINE_SPEC="${OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC:-openclaw@latest}"
 export SUCCESS_MARKER MOCK_REQUEST_LOG CLICKCLACK_STATE
 
 candidate_version="$(
   tar -xOf "${OPENCLAW_CURRENT_PACKAGE_TGZ:?missing OPENCLAW_CURRENT_PACKAGE_TGZ}" package/package.json |
     node -e 'let raw = ""; process.stdin.setEncoding("utf8"); process.stdin.on("data", (chunk) => { raw += chunk; }); process.stdin.on("end", () => { process.stdout.write(JSON.parse(raw).version); });'
 )"
+if [ -n "${OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC:-}" ]; then
+  BASELINE_SPEC="$OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC"
+else
+  BASELINE_SPEC="$(node scripts/lib/release-upgrade-baseline.mjs --candidate-version "$candidate_version")"
+fi
 
 mock_pid=""
 clickclack_pid=""

scripts/e2e/release-upgrade-user-journey-docker.sh

@@ -24,11 +24,17 @@ docker_e2e_build_or_reuse "$IMAGE_NAME" release-upgrade-user-journey "$ROOT_DIR/
 OPENCLAW_TEST_STATE_SCRIPT_B64="$(docker_e2e_test_state_shell_b64 release-upgrade-user-journey empty)"
 
 run_log="$(docker_e2e_run_log release-upgrade-user-journey)"
+DOCKER_ENV_ARGS=(
+  -e COREPACK_ENABLE_DOWNLOAD_PROMPT=0
+  -e "OPENCLAW_TEST_STATE_SCRIPT_B64=$OPENCLAW_TEST_STATE_SCRIPT_B64"
+)
+if [ -n "${OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC:-}" ]; then
+  DOCKER_ENV_ARGS+=(-e "OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC=$OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC")
+fi
+
 echo "Running release upgrade user journey Docker E2E..."
 if ! docker_e2e_run_with_harness \
-  -e COREPACK_ENABLE_DOWNLOAD_PROMPT=0 \
-  -e "OPENCLAW_TEST_STATE_SCRIPT_B64=$OPENCLAW_TEST_STATE_SCRIPT_B64" \
-  -e "OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC=${OPENCLAW_RELEASE_UPGRADE_BASELINE_SPEC:-openclaw@latest}" \
+  "${DOCKER_ENV_ARGS[@]}" \
   "${DOCKER_E2E_PACKAGE_ARGS[@]}" \
   -i "$IMAGE_NAME" bash scripts/e2e/lib/release-upgrade-user-journey/scenario.sh >"$run_log" 2>&1; then
   docker_e2e_print_log "$run_log"

scripts/lib/release-upgrade-baseline.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { parseReleaseVersion } from "./npm-publish-plan.mjs";
+
+function parseVersion(version) {
+  return parseReleaseVersion(String(version ?? "").trim()) ?? undefined;
+}
+
+export function compareOpenClawVersions(leftVersion, rightVersion) {
+  const left = parseVersion(leftVersion);
+  const right = parseVersion(rightVersion);
+  if (!left || !right) {
+    throw new Error(`cannot compare OpenClaw versions: ${leftVersion} ${rightVersion}`);
+  }
+  for (const key of ["year", "month", "patch"]) {
+    const delta = left[key] - right[key];
+    if (delta !== 0) {
+      return delta;
+    }
+  }
+  const channelRank = { alpha: 0, beta: 1, stable: 2 };
+  const channelDelta = channelRank[left.channel] - channelRank[right.channel];
+  if (channelDelta !== 0) {
+    return channelDelta;
+  }
+  if (left.channel === "alpha") {
+    return (left.alphaNumber ?? 0) - (right.alphaNumber ?? 0);
+  }
+  if (left.channel === "beta") {
+    return (left.betaNumber ?? 0) - (right.betaNumber ?? 0);
+  }
+  return (left.correctionNumber ?? 0) - (right.correctionNumber ?? 0);
+}
+
+function normalizePublishedVersions(publishedVersions) {
+  return [...new Set(publishedVersions.map((version) => String(version).trim()).filter(Boolean))]
+    .filter((version) => parseVersion(version))
+    .toSorted((left, right) => compareOpenClawVersions(right, left));
+}
+
+export function resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline(candidateVersion, publishedVersions) {
+  const candidate = parseVersion(candidateVersion);
+  if (!candidate) {
+    throw new Error(`invalid candidate OpenClaw version: ${candidateVersion}`);
+  }
+
+  const versions = normalizePublishedVersions(publishedVersions);
+  const older = versions.find((version) => compareOpenClawVersions(version, candidate.version) < 0);
+  if (older) {
+    return `openclaw@${older}`;
+  }
+
+  const same = versions.find(
+    (version) => compareOpenClawVersions(version, candidate.version) === 0,
+  );
+  if (same) {
+    return `openclaw@${same}`;
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(`no published OpenClaw baseline is <= candidate ${candidate.version}`);
+}
+
+function parseArgs(argv) {
+  const args = new Map();
+  for (let index = 0; index < argv.length; index += 1) {
+    const arg = argv[index];
+    if (!arg.startsWith("--")) {
+      throw new Error(`unexpected argument: ${arg}`);
+    }
+    const key = arg.slice(2);
+    const value = argv[index + 1];
+    if (value === undefined || value.startsWith("--")) {
+      throw new Error(`missing value for --${key}`);
+    }
+    args.set(key, value);
+    index += 1;
+  }
+  return args;
+}
+
+function readPublishedVersions(args) {
+  const versionsJson = args.get("versions-json");
+  if (versionsJson) {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(readFileSync(versionsJson, "utf8"));
+    if (!Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+      throw new Error(`npm versions list must be a JSON array: ${versionsJson}`);
+    }
+    return parsed;
+  }
+  const raw = execFileSync("npm", ["view", "openclaw", "versions", "--json", "--silent"], {
+    encoding: "utf8",
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "inherit"],
+  });
+  const parsed = JSON.parse(raw);
+  if (!Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+    throw new Error("npm returned a non-array openclaw versions payload");
+  }
+  return parsed;
+}
+
+const isMain = process.argv[1] ? fileURLToPath(import.meta.url) === process.argv[1] : false;
+
+if (isMain) {
+  const args = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
+  const candidateVersion = args.get("candidate-version");
+  if (!candidateVersion) {
+    throw new Error("--candidate-version is required");
+  }
+  const baseline = resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline(
+    candidateVersion,
+    readPublishedVersions(args),
+  );
+  process.stdout.write(`${baseline}\n`);
+}

test/scripts/release-upgrade-baseline.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  compareOpenClawVersions,
+  resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline,
+} from "../../scripts/lib/release-upgrade-baseline.mjs";
+
+describe("release upgrade baseline resolver", () => {
+  it("prefers the newest published baseline older than the candidate across channels", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.6.2", [
+        "2026.5.30",
+        "2026.6.2",
+        "2026.6.6",
+        "2026.6.2-beta.1",
+        "2026.6.1",
+      ]),
+    ).toBe("openclaw@2026.6.2-beta.1");
+    expect(resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.6.7", ["2026.6.6", "2026.6.7-beta.2"])).toBe(
+      "openclaw@2026.6.7-beta.2",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("uses prerelease baselines only when no stable baseline can satisfy the candidate", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.6.2-beta.2", ["2026.6.2", "2026.6.2-beta.1"]),
+    ).toBe("openclaw@2026.6.2-beta.1");
+  });
+
+  it("prefers older prerelease baselines over same-version stable baselines", () => {
+    expect(resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.6.2", ["2026.6.2", "2026.6.1-beta.1"])).toBe(
+      "openclaw@2026.6.1-beta.1",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("treats numeric correction releases as stable baselines", () => {
+    expect(resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.5.3-1", ["2026.5.2", "2026.5.3"])).toBe(
+      "openclaw@2026.5.3",
+    );
+    expect(
+      resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.5.3-2", ["2026.5.2", "2026.5.3", "2026.5.3-1"]),
+    ).toBe("openclaw@2026.5.3-1");
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to the candidate version when no older baseline exists", () => {
+    expect(resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.6.2", ["2026.6.2", "2026.6.6"])).toBe(
+      "openclaw@2026.6.2",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("does not pick a newer stable release for a prerelease candidate", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveDefaultReleaseUpgradeBaseline("2026.6.7-beta.1", [
+        "2026.6.6",
+        "2026.6.7",
+        "2026.6.7-beta.2",
+      ]),
+    ).toBe("openclaw@2026.6.6");
+  });
+
+  it("compares prerelease versions with semver ordering", () => {
+    expect(compareOpenClawVersions("2026.6.7-beta.2", "2026.6.7-beta.10")).toBeLessThan(0);
+    expect(compareOpenClawVersions("2026.6.7", "2026.6.7-beta.10")).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+});