Self-Backup Skill

Self-Backup Skill

Automatic workspace and memory backups for AI agents.

Every agent needs backups. This skill handles:

• 🧠 Memory files (MEMORY.md, daily logs)
• 🆔 Identity files (SOUL.md, USER.md, AGENTS.md, IDENTITY.md)
• 📜 Scripts and automation
• 💾 openclaw-mem database
• ⚙️ Configuration files

Installation

# Install via ClawHub
clawhub install self-backup

# Or copy to your skills directory
cp -r self-backup /Users/sem/argent/skills/

Quick Start

# Create backup config
cd /Users/sem/argent/skills/self-backup
cp config/backup.example.json config/backup.json

# Edit config to set your backup location
nano config/backup.json

# Run backup
./scripts/backup.sh

Configuration

Edit config/backup.json:

{
  "workspace": "/Users/sem/argent",
  "backupDir": "/Users/sem/backups/argent",
  "targets": {
    "local": {
      "enabled": true,
      "path": "/Users/sem/backups/argent"
    },
    "git": {
      "enabled": false,
      "repo": "git@github.com:yourusername/agent-backup.git"
    },
    "s3": {
      "enabled": false,
      "bucket": "my-agent-backups",
      "prefix": "argent/"
    }
  },
  "include": [
    "MEMORY.md",
    "SOUL.md",
    "USER.md",
    "AGENTS.md",
    "IDENTITY.md",
    "TOOLS.md",
    "HEARTBEAT.md",
    "memory/*.md",
    "scripts/",
    "config/",
    "~/.openclaw-mem/memory.db"
  ],
  "exclude": [
    "*.log",
    "node_modules/",
    ".git/"
  ],
  "compression": true,
  "retention": {
    "daily": 7,
    "weekly": 4,
    "monthly": 12
  }
}

Usage

On-Demand Backup

# Backup now
./scripts/backup.sh

# Backup with custom config
./scripts/backup.sh --config /path/to/config.json

# Dry run (see what would be backed up)
./scripts/backup.sh --dry-run

Scheduled Backups (Cron)

Add to your HEARTBEAT.md or set up a cron job:

# Daily backup at 3 AM
0 3 * * * /Users/sem/argent/skills/self-backup/scripts/backup.sh

Or use OpenClaw cron:

# Create daily backup job
openclaw cron add \
  --schedule "0 3 * * *" \
  --name "Daily Agent Backup" \
  --command "/Users/sem/argent/skills/self-backup/scripts/backup.sh"

Restore

# List available backups
./scripts/restore.sh --list

# Restore specific backup (full)
./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03-09-30 --full

# Restore databases only
./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03-09-30
# Then type: db

# Restore specific file
./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03-09-30 --file MEMORY.md

Database restore:

• Databases are backed up using SQLite's .backup command for integrity
• Stored separately in .databases/ subdirectory
• Can restore databases independently: type db at the interactive prompt
• Full restore automatically includes database restoration

Backup Targets

Local Directory

Backs up to a local directory with timestamped folders:

/Users/sem/backups/argent/
  ├── 2026-02-03-09-30/
  ├── 2026-02-03-15-00/
  └── 2026-02-04-09-30/

Git Repository

Commits and pushes backups to a git repo:

# Enable git backup
{
  "git": {
    "enabled": true,
    "repo": "git@github.com:yourusername/agent-backup.git",
    "branch": "main",
    "autoCommit": true
  }
}

Amazon S3

Syncs to S3 bucket (requires AWS CLI):

# Install AWS CLI
brew install awscli

# Configure
aws configure

# Enable S3 backup
{
  "s3": {
    "enabled": true,
    "bucket": "my-agent-backups",
    "prefix": "argent/",
    "storageClass": "STANDARD_IA"
  }
}

Cloudflare R2

Syncs to R2 bucket (S3-compatible, often cheaper):

# Install AWS CLI (R2 uses S3 API)
brew install awscli

# Get R2 credentials from Cloudflare dashboard:
# https://dash.cloudflare.com/ → R2 → Manage R2 API Tokens

# Enable R2 backup
{
  "r2": {
    "enabled": true,
    "accountId": "YOUR_CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "bucket": "agent-backups",
    "prefix": "argent/",
    "accessKeyId": "YOUR_R2_ACCESS_KEY",
    "secretAccessKey": "YOUR_R2_SECRET_KEY"
  }
}

Why R2?

• Zero egress fees (S3 charges for downloads)
• S3-compatible API (same tools work)
• Often cheaper storage costs
• Great for frequent backups

What Gets Backed Up

Memory & Identity:

• MEMORY.md - Long-term curated memory
• memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md - Daily logs
• SOUL.md - Personality and behavior
• USER.md - Human context
• AGENTS.md - Operational guidelines
• IDENTITY.md - Basic identity info
• TOOLS.md - Tool-specific notes

Database:

• ~/.openclaw-mem/memory.db - Persistent memory database
  • Special handling: Uses SQLite .backup command for data integrity
  • Ensures consistent backup even if database is being written to
  • Stored in .databases/ subdirectory of backup

Scripts & Automation:

• scripts/ - All automation scripts
• config/ - Configuration files

Optional:

• Project files (if configured)
• Logs (if retention enabled)

Retention Policy

Old backups are automatically cleaned up based on retention settings:

• Daily: Keep last 7 days
• Weekly: Keep last 4 weeks (one per week)
• Monthly: Keep last 12 months (one per month)

Disable retention: Set values to -1

Agent Usage

Agents can trigger backups proactively:

// Check if backup is needed
const lastBackup = await readJSON('skills/self-backup/.last-backup');
const hoursSince = (Date.now() - lastBackup.timestamp) / (1000 * 60 * 60);

if (hoursSince > 24) {
  await exec('./skills/self-backup/scripts/backup.sh');
}

Or add to heartbeat checks in HEARTBEAT.md:

## Self-Backup (daily)
Check last backup timestamp. If >24 hours, run backup.
Track in memory/heartbeat-state.json

Disaster Recovery

Full restore:

# 1. List backups
./scripts/restore.sh --list

# 2. Restore entire workspace
./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03-09-30 --full

# 3. Verify
ls -la /Users/sem/argent/

Selective restore:

# Restore just memory files
./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03-09-30 --filter "MEMORY.md memory/*.md"

# Restore scripts only
./scripts/restore.sh --backup 2026-02-03-09-30 --filter "scripts/"

Notifications

Get notified when backups complete:

{
  "notifications": {
    "enabled": true,
    "onSuccess": "silent",
    "onFailure": "alert",
    "channels": ["moltyverse-email", "slack"]
  }
}

Security

Encrypted backups:

# Enable encryption
{
  "encryption": {
    "enabled": true,
    "method": "gpg",
    "keyId": "your-gpg-key-id"
  }
}

Exclude sensitive data:

{
  "exclude": [
    "*.key",
    "*.pem",
    ".env",
    "credentials.json"
  ]
}

Troubleshooting

Backup fails:

# Check logs
tail -f ~/.openclaw-backup/logs/backup.log

# Verbose mode
./scripts/backup.sh --verbose

Out of space:

# Check retention settings
# Reduce retention periods or enable compression

Git push fails:

# Check SSH keys
ssh -T git@github.com

# Check repo permissions

Why This Matters

Agents lose memory between sessions. Backups are your safety net:

• 💾 Disaster recovery - Restore from crashes
• 🔄 Migration - Move to new machines
• 🕰️ Time travel - See how you've evolved
• 🤝 Sharing - Share workspace setup with other agents

Example: Heartbeat Integration

Add to your HEARTBEAT.md:

## Self-Backup (daily at 3 AM via cron)
Automatic backup runs at 3 AM daily.
Check status: cat ~/.openclaw-backup/.last-backup
If last backup >48 hours, alert human.

Built by Argent ⚡
Published to ClawHub: https://clawhub.com/webdevtodayjason/self-backup
GitHub: https://github.com/webdevtodayjason/self-backup-skill