Gateway Auto-Rollback

Automatic configuration rollback mechanism for OpenClaw Gateway. Provides three-layer protection: pre-modification backup, post-modification validation, and...

Security Scan

The skill's files and runtime instructions match its stated purpose (local config backups, JSON validation, health probes and rollback) and there is no evidence of network exfiltration or unrelated privileges; a small operational mismatch (use of curl) is noted.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description (auto rollback for OpenClaw Gateway) aligns with included Python script and test script. The code operates on ~/.openclaw config files, creates backups, validates JSON, checks local Gateway health, and performs rollbacks — all coherent with the declared purpose.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md instructions map directly to the script behavior: one-shot run, watch mode, manual rollback, cron examples, and test steps. The instructions only reference local files (~/.openclaw), the local Gateway health endpoint (127.0.0.1:18789), and local logging — they do not instruct the agent to read unrelated system files or to transmit data externally.

Install Mechanism

There is no install spec (instruction-only with included script files). This is low risk: no downloads or archives are fetched at install time. The skill does include runnable code, so users should still inspect/execute it in their environment before trusting it.

Credentials

The skill declares no required env vars and the code does not read secrets. One operational caveat: check_gateway_health() calls the external 'curl' binary; the registry metadata lists no required binaries, so the script will silently fail health checks if curl is absent. No credentials or unrelated environment access are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and model invocation is allowed (platform default). The skill does not modify other skills or global agent settings; it writes to ~/.openclaw (its own config area) which is consistent with its function.

Assessment

This skill appears to do what it says: local backups, JSON validation, health probes and rollback for OpenClaw config files. Before installing or running it: 1) review the Python script yourself (it's included) and run tests in a safe environment; 2) be aware it will create/modify files under ~/.openclaw (backup and log files) and will copy backups back into place on rollback; 3) ensure the local Gateway health endpoint (http://127.0.0.1:18789/api/health) is what you expect and that the system has 'curl' available (the script expects it but the metadata declares no required binaries); 4) run the bundled tests (test-rollback-mechanism.sh) manually to confirm behavior before enabling any daemon/watch mode; 5) if you do not trust the anonymous source, avoid running the watch/daemon mode or run it in a constrained/testing environment. If you see any unexpected network calls or references to remote endpoints in future versions, treat that as a red flag.

Three-layer configuration protection for OpenClaw Gateway — never break your config again.

What It Does

Automatically protects your OpenClaw configuration files with:

1. Pre-modification backup — SHA256 content-addressed snapshots before any change
2. Post-modification validation — JSON syntax check + Gateway health probe
3. Automatic rollback — instant restore if validation fails

When to Use

• Before modifying openclaw.json, exec-approvals.json, or skills.json
• When running automated config changes (cron jobs, scripts)
• As a background safety net during development
• When you want peace of mind that a bad config won't take down your agent

Quick Start

One-shot check (before manual edits)

python3 gateway-auto-rollback.py

This initializes the backup directory, validates current config, and logs status.

Watch mode (background daemon)

python3 gateway-auto-rollback.py --watch &

Monitors critical config files every 3 minutes. Auto-exits after 3 consecutive healthy checks (config is stable).

How It Works

Before Modification        During              After Modification
       ↓                    ↓                        ↓
  Backup + Hash  ───→  Execute Change  ───→  JSON Validate + Health Check
       │                                          │
       └──────────────────────────────────────→ Auto-rollback on failure

Protected Files

File	Description
openclaw.json	Main Gateway configuration
exec-approvals.json	Command execution approvals
skills.json	Skills registry

Backup Naming

Backups are stored in ~/.openclaw/backup/ with content-addressed names:

openclaw.json.20260301_053612.a1b2c3d4.bak
                 ↑ timestamp    ↑ SHA256 prefix (dedup)

API Reference

Python Functions

from gateway_auto_rollback import (
    pre_modification_check,   # Call before modifying config
    post_modification_verify, # Call after modifying config
    create_backup,            # Manual backup creation
    validate_json,            # JSON syntax validation
    check_gateway_health,     # Gateway health probe
    rollback_to_backup,       # Manual rollback
    watch_config_files,       # Start watch daemon
)

Pre-modification flow

from pathlib import Path

config = Path.home() / ".openclaw" / "openclaw.json"

# Returns backup path on success, False on failure
backup = pre_modification_check(config)

# ... make your changes ...

# Validates and auto-rolls back if needed
success = post_modification_verify(config, backup)

Watch mode details

The watcher:

• Polls every 3 minutes (gives Gateway time to restart)
• Detects changes via SHA256 hash comparison
• Auto-creates backup when change detected
• Validates JSON + health check after each change
• Auto-exits after 3 consecutive healthy checks (config stabilized)
• Logs all events to ~/.openclaw/logs/config-modification.log

Integration with Cron

Set up periodic health checks:

# Cron job example: check every hour
0 * * * * python3 /path/to/gateway-auto-rollback.py

Or use OpenClaw's built-in cron:

{
  "name": "Gateway-Auto-Rollback",
  "schedule": { "kind": "cron", "expr": "0 */6 * * *", "tz": "Asia/Shanghai" },
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "Run gateway health check. If unhealthy, rollback to latest backup."
  },
  "sessionTarget": "isolated"
}

Manual Rollback

If you need to manually restore a config:

# List available backups (newest first)
ls -lt ~/.openclaw/backup/ | head -10

# Restore a specific backup
cp ~/.openclaw/backup/openclaw.json.20260301_053612.a1b2c3d4.bak \
   ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

# Restart Gateway
openclaw gateway restart

# Verify
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:18789/api/health

Testing

Run the included test suite to verify the mechanism works:

bash test-rollback-mechanism.sh

Tests cover:

• Backup directory existence
• JSON validation
• SHA256 hash computation
• Backup creation and restore
• Watch daemon status
• Log file integrity
• Script permissions

Logs

All events are logged to ~/.openclaw/logs/config-modification.log:

[2026-03-01 05:37:00] INFO: ✅ 备份创建: openclaw.json.20260301_053612.a1b2c3d4.bak
[2026-03-01 05:37:01] INFO: ✅ 修改验证通过
[2026-03-01 05:40:00] WARN: ⚠️ 检测到修改: openclaw.json
[2026-03-01 05:40:01] ERROR: JSON 验证失败 — 触发回滚

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• OpenClaw Gateway running (for health checks)
• No additional pip packages needed (stdlib only)

File Structure

gateway-auto-rollback/
├── SKILL.md                      # This file
├── _meta.json                    # ClawHub metadata
├── gateway-auto-rollback.py      # Main script (backup/validate/rollback/watch)
└── test-rollback-mechanism.sh    # Test suite