Your AI agent can back itself up now

What it does

openclaw-backup is a pair of Bash scripts that dump an OpenClaw instance’s complete state into a tar.gz archive, then restore it to a fresh instance. The archive grabs workspace files, config with live API keys, channel pairing credentials, conversation history, cron jobs, and guardian scripts. Restore to a new server and your channels reconnect automatically—no re-authenticating with Discord, Slack, or whatever else you’ve wired up.

There’s also a browser UI (serve.sh) for download/upload, protected by a required token.

The interesting bit

The “no re-pairing” claim is the hook. Most bot platforms make you re-authenticate when you migrate; this preserves the channel pairing state in the archive. For an AI agent platform where the agent itself can invoke the backup, that’s a neat recursion: the bot saves its own soul.

Key highlights

• Single archive covers workspace, config, credentials, sessions, cron jobs, and scripts
• Restore includes --dry-run by default (well, the docs nag you to use it)
• Browser UI runs on a configurable port with mandatory token auth
• Backup files are chmod 600 automatically
• Published as a ClaWHub skill installable via clawhub install myclaw-backup

Caveats

• The security section warns about sensitive data but the transport security is left to you—“never expose… without TLS” is the guidance, not enforcement
• Shell scripts doing full-system restore with live credentials: one bug away from a very bad day

Verdict

Worth a look if you’re running OpenClaw in production and need migration or disaster recovery. Skip it if you’re not already in the MyClaw.ai ecosystem—this is ecosystem glue, not a generic backup tool.