OpenClaw Backup

Backup and restore OpenClaw data. Use when user asks to create backups, set up automatic backup schedules, restore from backup, or manage backup rotation. Handles ~/.openclaw directory archiving with proper exclusions.

Security Scan

The skill's files and instructions are coherent with a local backup/restore utility for ~/.openclaw; it backs up sensitive data (credentials, Telegram session) as expected but does not show signs of exfiltration or unrelated permissions requests.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description match the included script and docs: they create and rotate tar.gz archives of ~/.openclaw and provide restore steps. The items listed for backup (config, credentials, agents, workspace, telegram, cron) are consistent with a full OpenClaw backup.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions stay within backup/restore scope, including running the included scripts and using tar for archiving. Notes: restore instructions call the 'openclaw' CLI (openclaw gateway stop/start/status) but the registry metadata does not declare that binary — this is expected for restoring a running product but should be confirmed present. The cron payload references running '~/.openclaw/backup.sh' whereas the provided script is at './scripts/backup.sh' — a path mismatch that could cause user confusion or misconfiguration.

Install Mechanism

No install spec — instruction-only plus a simple shell script. The script uses standard POSIX utilities (tar, mkdir, date, du, ls, xargs) and writes archives to the user's home directory; there are no downloads or extracts from remote URLs and no new binaries are installed.

Credentials

The skill requests no environment variables or external credentials. It does back up highly sensitive local data (credentials/telegram/agents). This is proportionate for a backup tool, but users should be aware backups contain secrets and protect the backup storage (consider encryption).

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill is user-invocable. The SKILL.md suggests adding a recurring OpenClaw cron entry; that causes scheduled backups within OpenClaw but is within the stated scope. No evidence the skill modifies other skills or system-wide settings.

Assessment

This skill appears to do what it says: locally archive ~/.openclaw (including credentials and Telegram session) and keep the last 7 archives. Before installing: (1) confirm you trust the skill because backups include secrets — store backups securely or encrypt them; (2) ensure the 'openclaw' CLI exists if you intend to use the restore steps; (3) fix the minor path inconsistency (SKILL.md cron JSON points to ~/.openclaw/backup.sh but the provided script is scripts/backup.sh) so scheduled runs find the script; (4) review where backups will be stored (default ~/openclaw-backups) and limit access to that directory; (5) if you need uploads to remote storage, add explicit, reviewed steps rather than relying on this script.

Backup and restore OpenClaw configuration, credentials, and workspace.

Create Backup

Run the backup script:

./scripts/backup.sh [backup_dir]

Default backup location: ~/openclaw-backups/

Output: openclaw-YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM.tar.gz

What Gets Backed Up

• openclaw.json — main config
• credentials/ — API keys, tokens
• agents/ — agent configs, auth profiles
• workspace/ — memory, SOUL.md, user files
• telegram/ — session data
• cron/ — scheduled tasks

Excluded

• completions/ — cache, regenerated automatically
• *.log — logs

Setup Daily Backup with Cron

Use OpenClaw cron for daily backups with notification:

{
  "name": "daily-backup",
  "schedule": {"kind": "cron", "expr": "0 3 * * *", "tz": "UTC"},
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "Run ~/.openclaw/backup.sh and report result to user."
  },
  "sessionTarget": "isolated",
  "delivery": {"mode": "announce"}
}

Restore

See references/restore.md for step-by-step restore instructions.

Quick restore:

openclaw gateway stop
mv ~/.openclaw ~/.openclaw-old
tar -xzf ~/openclaw-backups/openclaw-YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM.tar.gz -C ~
openclaw gateway start

Rotation

Script keeps last 7 backups automatically.