OpenClaw 2026.9.2 Brings GPT-6 Astra, Settings Without Restart, and Faster Chat

OpenClaw has shipped version 2026.9.2, bringing a raft of quality-of-life improvements alongside a major new model integration.

GPT-6 Astra support

The headline addition is first-class support for openai/gpt-6-astra — OpenAI’s latest flagship model. OpenClaw can now select GPT-6 Astra via an OpenAI API-key profile or an eligible ChatGPT/Codex account, with full text and image input, the Responses tool-call API, and supported reasoning controls.

Change settings without restarting

Previously, tweaking agent, model, tool, channel, browser, node, access, and terminal settings required a full Gateway restart. OpenClaw 2026.9.2 applies many of these changes live — the configuration reference now marks which settings still require a restart.

Faster, more responsive chat

The release ships multiple performance improvements targeting the chat interface: direct dashboard lookups, reduced cold-load work, durable history reads outside the Gateway event loop, and background processing of long transcripts and disk usage without blocking the UI.

Replies survive restarts

A long-standing pain point is addressed: active, queued, and delegated replies are now recovered after a Gateway restart. The system handles compaction and retry attempts without one completed reply accidentally discarding another’s recovery marker.

Other highlights

  • Reliable upgrades: Automatic updates preserve active settings, enabled skills, and default-agent ownership. Failed upgrades hand off to a built-in triage agent and report actionable recovery guidance.
  • Better backups: Git backups now preserve complete text including embedded NUL characters, support Nix-managed config and credential links, and reject corrupt archive headers.
  • Plugin branding: Plugin icons can now be packaged at assets/icon.png rather than served from a top-level manifest URL, eliminating a network request and preventing broken icons from blocking plugin load.

The release also includes contributions from community members including @fuller-stack-dev, @jason-allen-oneal, @vincentkoc, @obviyus, @ced-cm, @vsumner, @NianJiuZst, and @ylcn91.

Full release notes are available on GitHub.

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