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https://github.com/webdevtodayjason/openclaw-self-backup

Automatic workspace and memory backups for AI agents
https://github.com/webdevtodayjason/openclaw-self-backup

Last synced: 17 days ago
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Automatic workspace and memory backups for AI agents

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README 

          
# 🛡️ OpenClaw Self-Backup



**Automatic workspace and memory backups for AI agents**



Never lose your agent's memory, identity, or work again. Self-Backup creates comprehensive, automated backups of everything that makes your AI agent unique.



[![GitHub](https://img.shields.io/badge/GitHub-webdevtodayjason%2Fopenclaw--self--backup-blue?logo=github)](https://github.com/webdevtodayjason/openclaw-self-backup)

[![ClawHub](https://img.shields.io/badge/ClawHub-webdevtoday%2Fopenclaw--self--backup-orange)](https://clawhub.com/webdevtoday/openclaw-self-backup)

[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-green.svg)](LICENSE)



---



## 🎯 What It Does



- 🧠 **Memory & Identity** — Backs up MEMORY.md, daily logs, SOUL.md, USER.md, AGENTS.md

- 💾 **SQLite Databases** — Proper backup of openclaw-mem database (no corruption)

- 📜 **Scripts & Automation** — Preserves your custom scripts and tools

- 🗜️ **Compression** — Reduces backup size (typical: 148KB for full workspace)

- ☁️ **Multiple Targets** — Local, Git, Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2

- 🔄 **Retention Policies** — Configurable daily/weekly/monthly retention

- 🔒 **Optional Encryption** — Secure your backups

- 📅 **Flexible Scheduling** — On-demand or automated (cron/launchd)



---



## 📦 Installation



### Option 1: Install from ClawHub (Recommended)



```bash

clawhub install webdevtoday/openclaw-self-backup

```



### Option 2: Install from GitHub



```bash

# Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/webdevtodayjason/openclaw-self-backup.git



# Copy to your OpenClaw skills directory

cp -r openclaw-self-backup ~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup



# Or symlink it (for development)

ln -s "$(pwd)/openclaw-self-backup" ~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup

```



### Option 3: Manual Installation



```bash

# Create the skill directory

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup



# Download the latest release

curl -L https://github.com/webdevtodayjason/openclaw-self-backup/archive/refs/heads/main.tar.gz | tar xz -C ~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup --strip-components=1

```



---



## 🚀 Quick Start



### 1. Configure Your Backup



```bash

cd ~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup

cp config/backup.example.json config/backup.json

nano config/backup.json  # or your preferred editor

```



**Basic configuration:**

```json

{

  "workspaceRoot": "~/clawd",

  "backupRoot": "~/clawd-backups",

  "compression": true,

  "targets": {

    "local": {

      "enabled": true,

      "path": "~/clawd-backups"

    }

  },

  "retention": {

    "daily": 7,

    "weekly": 4,

    "monthly": 6

  }

}

```



### 2. Run Your First Backup



```bash

./scripts/backup.sh

```



**Expected output:**

```

🛡️  Self-Backup for OpenClaw Agents

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⏱  Timestamp: 2026-02-03_18-30-45

✅ Created backup directory

✅ Backed up memory files

✅ Backed up identity files

✅ Backed up daily logs

✅ Backed up databases (836 observations)

✅ Backed up scripts

✅ Compressed backup (148KB)

✅ Retention policy applied (7 daily, 4 weekly, 6 monthly)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🎉 Backup complete!

```



### 3. Test Restore



```bash

# List available backups

./scripts/restore.sh --list



# Restore everything from latest backup

./scripts/restore.sh --latest



# Restore only memory files

./scripts/restore.sh --latest --memory-only

```



---



## ⚙️ Configuration Options



### Backup Targets



#### Local Backups

```json

{

  "targets": {

    "local": {

      "enabled": true,

      "path": "~/clawd-backups"

    }

  }

}

```



#### Git Backups

```json

{

  "targets": {

    "git": {

      "enabled": true,

      "repoPath": "~/clawd-backup-repo",

      "autoCommit": true,

      "autoPush": false

    }

  }

}

```



#### Amazon S3

```json

{

  "targets": {

    "s3": {

      "enabled": true,

      "bucket": "my-agent-backups",

      "prefix": "argent/",

      "storageClass": "STANDARD_IA"

    }

  }

}

```



**Setup S3:**

```bash

# Install AWS CLI

brew install awscli



# Configure credentials

aws configure

```



#### Cloudflare R2

```json

{

  "targets": {

    "r2": {

      "enabled": true,

      "accountId": "YOUR_CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID",

      "bucket": "agent-backups",

      "prefix": "argent/",

      "accessKeyId": "YOUR_R2_ACCESS_KEY",

      "secretAccessKey": "YOUR_R2_SECRET_KEY"

    }

  }

}

```



**Why R2?**

- ✅ Zero egress fees (S3 charges for downloads)

- ✅ S3-compatible API (same tools work)

- ✅ Often cheaper storage costs

- ✅ Great for frequent backups



**Get R2 credentials:**

1. Go to https://dash.cloudflare.com/

2. Navigate to R2 → Manage R2 API Tokens

3. Create a new API token

4. Copy Account ID, Access Key, and Secret Key



---



## 🔄 Scheduled Backups



### Option 1: Using OpenClaw Cron



```bash

# Add to your OpenClaw cron

openclaw cron add \

  --schedule "0 */6 * * *" \

  --command "~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup/scripts/backup.sh" \

  --name "Agent Self-Backup"

```



### Option 2: System Cron (macOS/Linux)



```bash

# Edit crontab

crontab -e



# Add this line (backs up every 6 hours)

0 */6 * * * ~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup/scripts/backup.sh

```



### Option 3: LaunchAgent (macOS)



Create `~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.openclaw.self-backup.plist`:



```xml



    Label

    com.openclaw.self-backup

    ProgramArguments

    

        /bin/bash

        /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.openclaw/skills/self-backup/scripts/backup.sh

    

    StartInterval

    21600

    RunAtLoad

    



```



```bash

# Load the LaunchAgent

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.openclaw.self-backup.plist

```



---



## 🔧 Advanced Usage



### Dry Run (Preview Without Executing)



```bash

./scripts/backup.sh --dry-run

```



### Backup Only Memory Files



```bash

./scripts/backup.sh --memory-only

```



### Restore Specific Components



```bash

# Restore only memory files

./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03_18-30-45 --memory-only



# Restore only databases

./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03_18-30-45 --databases-only



# Restore only identity files

./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03_18-30-45 --identity-only

```



### List All Backups



```bash

./scripts/restore.sh --list

```



### Verify Backup Integrity



```bash

./scripts/backup.sh --verify

```



---



## 📂 What Gets Backed Up



**Memory & Identity:**

- `MEMORY.md` — Long-term curated memory

- `memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md` — Daily logs

- `SOUL.md`, `USER.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `IDENTITY.md` — Core identity files



**Databases:**

- `~/.openclaw-mem/memory.db` — OpenClaw persistent memory (SQLite)



**Scripts & Automation:**

- All files in `scripts/` directory

- Custom automation scripts

- Cron jobs and LaunchAgents



**Configuration:**

- OpenClaw config files

- Skill configurations

- API credentials (optional, can exclude)



---



## 🩺 Troubleshooting



### Backup Fails with "Permission Denied"



```bash

# Make scripts executable

chmod +x ~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup/scripts/*.sh

```



### S3/R2 Upload Fails



```bash

# Verify AWS CLI is installed

which aws



# Test credentials

aws s3 ls  # For S3

aws s3 ls --endpoint-url https://YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID.r2.cloudflarestorage.com  # For R2

```



### Database Backup Corruption



This skill uses SQLite's `.backup` command, which is safe even while the database is being written to. If you still encounter issues:



```bash

# Stop OpenClaw gateway

openclaw gateway stop



# Run backup

~/.openclaw/skills/self-backup/scripts/backup.sh



# Restart gateway

openclaw gateway start

```



### Large Backup Size



```bash

# Enable compression (if not already)

# Edit config/backup.json:

{

  "compression": true

}



# Exclude large files

{

  "exclude": [

    "node_modules",

    "*.mp4",

    "*.mov",

    "cache"

  ]

}

```



---



## 🤝 Contributing



Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.



**Ideas for contributions:**

- Azure Blob Storage support

- Google Cloud Storage support

- Encryption improvements

- Web UI for backup management

- Backup verification and health checks

- Incremental backups



---



## 📄 License



MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.



---



## 🙏 Credits



Built by [Argent](mailto:argent@moltyverse.email) for the OpenClaw community.



**Links:**

- 🌐 [OpenClaw Documentation](https://docs.openclaw.ai)

- 💬 [OpenClaw Discord](https://discord.com/invite/clawd)

- 🔧 [ClawHub](https://clawhub.com)



---



## 🐛 Issues & Support



Found a bug? Have a question?



- **GitHub Issues:** https://github.com/webdevtodayjason/openclaw-self-backup/issues

- **Discord:** https://discord.com/invite/clawd

- **Email:** argent@moltyverse.email



---



**Remember:** Agents wake up fresh. Without backups = lose everything. With backups = restore from any point in time. 🛡️