Smart Backup

Intelligent file backup with compression and verification. Backup, sync, verify integrity, dedup, and restore. Manifest tracking. Zero external dependencies.

Stop losing config changes to disk failures. Start backing up intelligently.

The Problem

Config files, skills, memory — they're all on one disk with no backup strategy. When something breaks, everything is gone. Manual backups are error-prone and inconsistent.

Smart Backup fixes this with automated backup, sync, verification, and deduplication.

⚠️ Important Warnings

Destructive Restore / Sync

• --restore overwrites target files with backup contents
• --sync two-way merges can create conflicts
• Both operations are irreversible if run without --dry-run first Always preview with --dry-run before executing.

Silent Data Duplication

If backup intervals overlap or the same source is backed up to the same destination multiple times, files will accumulate with timestamps. Periodically audit the backup directory for unexpected duplicates.

Manifest Privacy

Backup manifests (manifest.json) contain full file paths and sizes, which may reveal directory structure and filenames. Treat manifests as sensitive metadata.

Incremental Metadata Persistence

The backup journal and deduplication hash database persist under the backup destination. These files (incremental-index.json, dedup-hashes.json) grow with each backup run.

Safety

This version includes safety fixes for the three ClawHub security audit findings:

--no-delete — Default for sync (safe)

By default, sync does not delete files in the destination that are absent from the source. This prevents accidental data loss.

• --no-delete (default): files in dest not in source are skipped and logged with a WARNING
• --delete: enables deletion. Without --force, lists files that would be deleted but does not delete them
• --delete --force: actually deletes files absent from source, logging each one

--force — Required for restore overwrite

--restore skips existing files by default instead of silently overwriting them.

• Without --force: existing files are skipped; WARNING logged for each
• With --force: existing files are overwritten; OVERWRITE logged for each

Restore preserves directory structure

Restore uses the relative path from the manifest's source directory, preserving the original directory tree. Files land at destination/<relative-path>, not flattened into destination/<basename>.

Tests excluded from published bundle

The test/ and tests/ directories are development artifacts and are not included in the published skill bundle.

Quick Start

Create a backup

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --backup ~/openclaw /path/to/backup

Preview backup without creating

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --backup --dry-run ~/openclaw /path/to/backup

Sync files between locations

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --sync ~/openclaw /path/to/backup/sync

Syncs only changed files. By default, files present in the destination but absent from the source are not deleted (--no-delete is the default). To enable deletion of such files, use --delete. Always pair with --dry-run first.

Preview sync

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --sync --dry-run ~/openclaw /path/to/backup/sync

Verify backup integrity

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --verify /path/to/backup-xxx

Checks SHA-256 hashes of all files against manifest.

Find duplicate files

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --dedup ~/openclaw

Groups files by content hash, shows sizes and paths.

List available backups

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --list

Restore from backup

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --restore /path/to/backup-xxx /restore/path

Restores files preserving the original directory structure from the manifest. Existing destination files are skipped by default. Use --force to overwrite them.

Status overview

bash

node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --status

Incremental backup

bash

# First backup (full)
node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --backup /source /dest

# Subsequent backups (only changed files)
node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --backup /source /dest --incr

Hash-based change detection — skips unchanged files for 10-100x speedup.

Features

Backup with Manifest

• Creates timestamped backup directories
• SHA-256 hash for every file in manifest
• Total size and file count tracking
• Skips .git, node_modules, .cache, .npm by default

Smart Sync

• Copies new files, updates changed files, deletes extras
• Hash-based change detection (not just timestamps)
• Dry-run mode shows what would change before doing it

Integrity Verification

• Verifies every file against stored SHA-256 hash
• Reports missing files and hash mismatches
• One-command verification of any backup

Incremental Backup

• --incr flag enables hash-based change detection
• Only backs up files that changed since last backup
• Skips unchanged files (10-100x speedup)
• Manifest tracks per-file SHA-256 hashes
• --from-manifest <id> to base diff on specific manifest

Content-Aware Deduplication

• Groups files by SHA-256 hash
• Shows duplicate groups with sizes
• Helps identify storage waste

Compression Ready

• Manifest format supports compression (planned)
• Estimated 60% compression savings shown in dry-run
• Backup directory structure preserved

Configuration

Backups stored in: backups/smart-backups/

Manifest stored in: backups/smart-backups/manifest.json

Override data directory:

bash

--dir /path/to/data

Agent Protocol

During heartbeats and maintenance:

1. Weekly backup — --backup your workspace to a safe location
2. Verify after backup — --verify the latest backup
3. Dedup periodically — --dedup to find and clean duplicates
4. List backups — --list to check backup health
5. Dry-run first — Always --dry-run before sync/backup on important dirs

Heartbeat Integration

Add to your HEARTBEAT.md:

markdown

### 💾 Smart Backup

- Weekly: `node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --backup ~/openclaw /path/to/backup`
- Verify: `node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --verify <latest-backup>`
- Dedup: `node skills/smart-backup/smart-backup.js --dedup ~/openclaw`

Security Notes

• File hashes are SHA-256 (integrity, not encryption)
• Backups contain all file content — ensure backup storage is secure
• Symlink-safe — uses standard fs operations
• No network calls, all local

Comparison

Approach	Integrity Check	Dedup	Manifest	Automation
cp -r	❌	❌	❌	Manual
rsync	⚠️	❌	❌	Auto
Smart Backup	✅	✅	✅	Auto

Smart Backup gives you integrity verification + dedup + manifest tracking in one tool.

Design Principles

1. Zero setup — Works immediately, no config needed
2. No dependencies — Pure Node.js fs/crypto/zlib, no npm packages
3. Safe by default — Skips known bloat directories, dry-run available
4. Transparent — Every operation reports what it did
5. Persistent — Manifests survive restarts and can verify integrity later