diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-clawhub.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-clawhub.yml
index 0120f6f..4f87abf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-clawhub.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-clawhub.yml
@@ -47,10 +47,14 @@ jobs:
           npm version "$V" --no-git-tag-version --allow-same-version
           node -e "const f='openclaw.plugin.json',j=require('./'+f);j.version='$V';require('fs').writeFileSync(f,JSON.stringify(j,null,2)+'\n')"
 
+      # --ignore-scripts: the openclaw devDependency's preinstall refuses
+      # Node < 24.16. The build uses tsup; its esbuild and rollup binaries
+      # arrive through optional platform packages, so no install script is
+      # needed. v0.4.0's ClawHub publish failed on exactly this.
       - name: Install + build (compile TS so clawhub validator finds dist/)
         run: |
           cd openclaw
-          npm install --force
+          npm install --force --ignore-scripts
           npm run build
 
       - name: Publish to ClawHub