OpenClaw Backup

**Judgement:** A solid, purpose-built backup/restore skill for OpenClaw that is well-scoped and practical for real deployments, especially when combined with OpenClaw’s cron. It appears mature (high download count) and aligns closely with how OpenClaw stores its state. **What it does well** - Backs up all key OpenClaw state in `~/.openclaw` (config, credentials, agents, workspace, telegram sessions, cron entries). - Sensibly excludes cache (`completions/`) and log files to keep backups lean and fast. - Provides a straightforward CLI script (`./scripts/backup.sh [backup_dir]`) with a default backup location (`~/openclaw-backups/`). - Supports daily automated backups with OpenClaw’s cron system and user notifications. - Includes automatic rotation, keeping the most recent 7 backups. - Quick-restore flow is documented and reasonably safe (stops gateway, renames old dir, then restores from tarball). **Key risks / limitations** - **Secrets in backups:** Credentials and tokens are intentionally included; tarballs must be stored and transmitted securely. There is no built-in encryption or offsite storage. - **Data overwrite on restore:** The restore procedure replaces `~/.openclaw`. Although it renames the old directory first, an incorrect restore target or wrong archive could still lead to confusion or data loss if the user cleans up old copies incorrectly. - **Rotation window is short:** Keeping only the last 7 backups may be insufficient for long-term audit or recovery needs; external archival strategy may still be required. - **Operational expertise required:** Users must be comfortable with the shell, path management, and basic cron configuration via JSON. **Recommended scenarios** - You run OpenClaw continuously (server, VPS, homelab) and want a simple, local, automated daily backup with minimal setup overhead. - You frequently experiment with agents/configs and want easy rollback points before each major change. - You need a pragmatic migration/restore mechanism that closely matches OpenClaw’s directory structure and is easy to script around. **Less ideal scenarios** - You require encrypted, offsite, or versioned backups with long retention and compliance features—those would need to be layered on top of this skill. - You want fully non-technical, UI-driven backup management; this skill is geared toward CLI/JSON-cron users.