fix(installer): persist Linux npm prefix path

Author: steipete

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ## Unreleased
 
 - Installer: after Linux NodeSource installs, prefer the newly installed supported Node binary when an older `/usr/local/bin/node` still shadows it on PATH.
+- Installer: when redirecting an unwritable Linux npm global prefix in a fresh home, create a `.bashrc` PATH hint so the next shell can find `openclaw`.
 
 ## 2026-05-03
 

public/install.sh

@@ -1719,11 +1719,18 @@ fix_npm_permissions() {
 
     # shellcheck disable=SC2016
     local path_line='export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"'
+    local wrote_rc=0
     for rc in "$HOME/.bashrc" "$HOME/.zshrc"; do
-        if [[ -f "$rc" ]] && ! grep -q ".npm-global" "$rc"; then
-            echo "$path_line" >> "$rc"
+        if [[ -f "$rc" ]]; then
+            if ! grep -q ".npm-global" "$rc"; then
+                echo "$path_line" >> "$rc"
+            fi
+            wrote_rc=1
         fi
     done
+    if [[ "$wrote_rc" -eq 0 ]]; then
+        printf '%s\n' "$path_line" >> "$HOME/.bashrc"
+    fi
 
     export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"
     ui_success "npm configured for user installs"

scripts/test-install-sh-unit.sh

@@ -476,6 +476,40 @@ EOF
   assert_eq "$got_version" "v24.13.0" "activate_supported_node_on_path active node version"
 )
 
+echo "==> case: fix_npm_permissions creates bashrc PATH hint in fresh homes"
+(
+  root="${TMP_DIR}/case-npm-prefix-fresh-home"
+  home_dir="${root}/home"
+  events="${root}/events.log"
+  prefix="${root}/root-owned-prefix"
+  mkdir -p "${home_dir}"
+
+  export OS="linux"
+  export HOME="${home_dir}"
+  export PATH="/usr/bin:/bin"
+
+  npm() {
+    if [[ "${1:-}" == "config" && "${2:-}" == "get" && "${3:-}" == "prefix" ]]; then
+      printf '%s\n' "${prefix}"
+      return 0
+    fi
+    if [[ "${1:-}" == "config" && "${2:-}" == "set" && "${3:-}" == "prefix" ]]; then
+      printf 'npm-set:%s\n' "${4:-}" >>"${events}"
+      return 0
+    fi
+    return 1
+  }
+  ui_info() { :; }
+  ui_warn() { :; }
+  ui_success() { :; }
+
+  fix_npm_permissions
+
+  assert_contains "$(cat "${home_dir}/.bashrc")" '.npm-global/bin' "fix_npm_permissions fresh bashrc"
+  got_path="${PATH%%:*}"
+  assert_eq "$got_path" "${home_dir}/.npm-global/bin" "fix_npm_permissions active PATH"
+)
+
 echo "==> case: npm diagnostics extractors"
 (
   root="${TMP_DIR}/case-npm-diagnostics"