OpenClaw: Permission Denied During Install

Do not solve a global package permission error by making the entire Node installation or OpenClaw state directory world-writable. Use an install prefix owned by the user who runs OpenClaw.

Find the failing path

Read the first EACCES or permission-denied line. Then inspect the package prefix and current identity:

whoami
npm prefix -g

If the prefix belongs to root or another account, either use a Node version manager or move npm’s global prefix to a user-owned directory as described in the official Node guide.

Keep one service identity

Install and run the Gateway as the same normal user. A CLI installed with sudo and a Gateway running as a normal user can produce a mixed set of state, logs, and global packages.

If the error points to an existing OpenClaw file, inspect its owner before changing anything. Correct only the specific path that was accidentally created by the wrong user; do not recursively change ownership of a home directory or system package tree.

Retry from a fresh shell

After updating the global prefix or version-manager setup, open a new terminal and confirm:

node --version
npm prefix -g
openclaw --version

Expected result

The global package prefix is writable by the intended OpenClaw user, the CLI runs without elevated privileges, and no new root-owned files appear in the OpenClaw state or workspace.