Resolve a Rick Installation Error Without Leaking Secrets

Self-service release paused. This resolver is for existing verified installations and source review. The current public repair script is a status probe that sends no network request and changes no files.

Paste a redacted error fragment to match it against reviewed failure branches and the doctor command. Matching happens locally in your browser.

Redact first. Remove API keys, bot tokens, license keys, emails, usernames, IP addresses, home-directory paths, and configuration values. This resolver never needs them.

Repair principles

Identify before changing. A port conflict or permission error has many possible causes. Inspect the exact process or path before stopping or changing it.
Change the smallest surface. Do not rerun the full installer as root because one user-owned directory has the wrong permissions.
Keep integrity checks enabled. A checksum, unsafe archive path, or unsafe symlink failure is a reason to stop, not a flag to bypass.
Verify the same failure state. Run rick doctor or the exact failed command again. A repair is not a successful exit code from an unrelated command.
Keep rollback possible. Back up personal Rick files and record commands before changing services, ownership, or runtime versions.

Common failures and verification

Python 3 is missing

Rick requires python3 and Python’s standard JSON module. Install Python with Homebrew on macOS or your Linux distribution’s package manager. Verify with python3 --version and python3 -c "import json" before rerunning the installer.

Node.js is below version 22

The installer requires Node 22 or later. It attempts to install Node 22 through nvm when the current version is missing or too old. Verify the active shell sees the correct runtime with node --version; do not assume a package installation changed the version in your current path.

Port 18789 is already in use

Rick’s local gateway uses port 18789. On macOS, inspect it with lsof -i :18789. On Linux, use ss -ltnp | grep 18789. Stop a process only after you identify it and understand whether it is an existing OpenClaw/Rick gateway.

Permission denied or EACCES

Inspect ownership of ~/.openclaw and ~/.local/bin. Correct the specific path that belongs to the wrong account. Running the entire installer with sudo can create more root-owned files and should not be the default repair.

Telegram token rejected

Create or rotate the token with BotFather, enter it only in your local terminal, and verify it through Telegram’s getMe endpoint. Never paste the token into this page, a support issue, or a screenshot.

Gateway unreachable

Run rick doctor, inspect the background-service status and local logs, then test the loopback address. Do not solve a local reachability problem by exposing port 18789 to the public internet.

Checksum or archive-safety failure

Stop. The installer validates downloads and rejects path traversal and unsafe symlinks. Retry only from https://meetrick.ai/install.sh. If the same current release fails twice, record the exact version and report it rather than bypassing the check.

When no match appears

The resolver intentionally has a small verified set. Existing verified customers can run rick doctor, capture only the failing check, redact identifiers, and compare it with the current installer source. During the release pause, repair.sh only reports status:

curl -fsSLO https://meetrick.ai/repair.sh
curl -fsSLO https://meetrick.ai/repair.sh.sha256
if command -v shasum >/dev/null; then shasum -a 256 -c repair.sh.sha256; else sha256sum -c repair.sh.sha256; fi
less repair.sh
# Running repair.sh exits with status 78 and makes no changes while release is paused.

Review the script to confirm that fail-closed behavior. A copied command from a forum or generated answer is not a trusted replacement for the canonical source.