How do I install the Backup And Recovery skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add cbrock84/backup-and-recovery in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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Which AI agents work with Backup And Recovery?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Backup And Recovery free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Backup And Recovery?

cbrock84 (@cbrock84) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Backup And Recovery by cbrock84 — Agent Skill

Name: Backup And Recovery
Author: cbrock84

Backup And Recovery

Protects and restores data — backup coverage and scope, retention, immutability against ransomware, and proving restores actually work. Use this to design a backup regime, verify restores, plan retention, protect backups from ransomware, or recover from data loss.

cbrock84 Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Backup and recovery

Nobody wants backups; they want restores. The distinction is not pedantic — organizations discover the difference during the only event that matters.

Recovery objectives and which processes must survive are set by operations:business-continuity-and-resilience. This skill delivers against them.

Coverage is where it fails first

Most backup gaps are things nobody thought to include: a database somebody stood up outside the standard process, configuration that only exists in a running system, data in a SaaS platform assumed to be the vendor's responsibility, or a developer's machine holding the only copy of something.

Reconcile backup coverage against the asset register from it-operations:it-asset-management on a cadence and treat the difference as a finding. An untested assumption of coverage is the normal state of affairs.

Note that SaaS providers protect against their failures, not against your deletion or a malicious insider. Read what the contract actually commits to, rather than what the marketing implies.

The 3-2-1 shape, and why the offline copy matters

Three copies, two media or platforms, one off-site — and, since ransomware, one immutable or offline.

Modern ransomware deliberately targets backups first, using the credentials it found on the way in. A backup system reachable with production credentials will be encrypted alongside production. Immutable storage or genuinely offline copies are what survive this, and it is the difference between an outage and an extinction event.

Retention is a policy decision, not a storage one

Retention has to satisfy operational recovery, legal and regulatory obligations, and data protection requirements — which pull in opposite directions. Data protection law obliges deletion of personal data you no longer have a basis to keep, and indefinite backup retention conflicts with that directly. Settle it with legal-risk:privacy-and-data-protection.

Know how you would satisfy a deletion request that touches backups, before one arrives.

Test restores, or you have nothing

A backup job reporting success proves a file was written. It says nothing about whether the data is complete, uncorrupted, or restorable in a usable time.

Test on a schedule, restore to a separate environment, and verify the application actually works on the restored data rather than that the bytes arrived. Record how long it took — that measurement is the only honest input to an RTO, and it is invariably longer than assumed.

Test the full-scale case at least annually. Restoring one file proves the mechanism; restoring the system proves the plan.

Tooling

Backup platforms: Veeam, Rubrik, Cohesity, Commvault, Acronis, and similar.

SaaS data is the gap people miss. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce retain for a short window and no longer; Veeam, Druva, AvePoint, Keepit, and similar cover it.

The tool is not the control. An untested restore is not a backup, whatever the console reports.

Never

Report backup health from job success rather than tested restores.
Leave backups reachable with production credentials.
Set retention without reconciling legal obligation against deletion duty.
Quote an RTO you have not measured by actually restoring.

---name: backup-and-recoverydescription: Protects and restores data — backup coverage and scope, retention, immutability against ransomware, and proving restores actually work. Use this to design a backup regime, verify restores, plan retention, protect backups from ransomware, or recover from data loss.---# Backup and recoveryNobody wants backups; they want restores. The distinction is not pedantic — organizations discoverthe difference during the only event that matters.Recovery objectives and which processes must survive are set by`operations:business-continuity-and-resilience`. This skill delivers against them.## Coverage is where it fails firstMost backup gaps are things nobody thought to include: a database somebody stood up outside thestandard process, configuration that only exists in a running system, data in a SaaS platform assumedto be the vendor's responsibility, or a developer's machine holding the only copy of something.Reconcile backup coverage against the asset register from`it-operations:it-asset-management` on a cadence and treat the difference as a finding. An untestedassumption of coverage is the normal state of affairs.Note that SaaS providers protect against **their** failures, not against your deletion or a maliciousinsider. Read what the contract actually commits to, rather than what the marketing implies.## The 3-2-1 shape, and why the offline copy mattersThree copies, two media or platforms, one off-site — and, since ransomware, **one immutable oroffline**.Modern ransomware deliberately targets backups first, using the credentials it found on the way in.A backup system reachable with production credentials will be encrypted alongside production.Immutable storage or genuinely offline copies are what survive this, and it is the differencebetween an outage and an extinction event.## Retention is a policy decision, not a storage oneRetention has to satisfy operational recovery, legal and regulatory obligations, and data protectionrequirements — which pull in opposite directions. Data protection law obliges deletion of personaldata you no longer have a basis to keep, and indefinite backup retention conflicts with thatdirectly. Settle it with `legal-risk:privacy-and-data-protection`.Know how you would satisfy a deletion request that touches backups, before one arrives.## Test restores, or you have nothingA backup job reporting success proves a file was written. It says nothing about whether the data iscomplete, uncorrupted, or restorable in a usable time.Test on a schedule, restore to a separate environment, and verify the application actually works onthe restored data rather than that the bytes arrived. Record how long it took — that measurement isthe only honest input to an RTO, and it is invariably longer than assumed.Test the full-scale case at least annually. Restoring one file proves the mechanism; restoring thesystem proves the plan.## ToolingBackup platforms: Veeam, Rubrik, Cohesity, Commvault, Acronis, and similar.SaaS data is the gap people miss. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce retainfor a short window and no longer; Veeam, Druva, AvePoint, Keepit, and similar cover it.The tool is not the control. An untested restore is not a backup, whatever the consolereports.## Never- Report backup health from job success rather than tested restores.- Leave backups reachable with production credentials.- Set retention without reconciling legal obligation against deletion duty.- Quote an RTO you have not measured by actually restoring.

Frequently asked questions