OpenClaw 2026.8.2: Linux, Home, and Background Work

v2026.8.2 adds a Linux desktop companion, a docked Home view, background sessions, browser relay wake-up, and a more explicit recovery path for failed upgrades. It is a practical release for people who move between a Gateway, a workstation, and a phone.

Linux gets a desktop entry point

The release supports an x86-64 .deb or AppImage that connects to a local or remote Gateway. AppImage updates are signature-verified; .deb updates remain under the package manager. The Linux guide has the host requirements and connection steps.

Choose one installation path and keep it visible in your notes. Mixing a package-managed desktop with a separately installed CLI makes ownership and update paths harder to diagnose.

Background sessions stay attached to a placement

From New Session, you can start local, cloud, or paired-device work without leaving the current page. The completion notice opens the resulting session, and the selected placement remains part of the run. Prepared cloud projects can reuse validated snapshots rather than repeating setup every time.

That convenience has a cost: a cloud worker is an active machine with its own storage and provider billing. Stop or delete workers you no longer need, and do not send secrets to a workspace you have not inspected.

Upgrade recovery is easier to inspect

Configuration preservation, incomplete migration checks, and verified package recovery make a failed update less mysterious. The cleanup command can preview retained originals before you permanently remove the rollback path.

openclaw doctor
openclaw gateway status

Read the complete release notes and the security guide before exposing a remote Gateway or a paired device.