OpenClaw Backup Skill

Backup, restore, and sync your OpenClaw configuration across devices directly from openclaw.

Overview

This skill helps you:

• Backup all openclaw data and settings
• Restore from backups
• Sync between multiple machines
• Version control your configuration
• Automate backup routines
• Migrate to new devices

openclaw Directory Structure

Key Locations

~/.claude/                    # Main openclaw directory
├── settings.json             # Global settings
├── settings.local.json       # Local overrides (machine-specific)
├── projects.json             # Project configurations
├── skills/                   # Your custom skills
│   ├── skill-name/
│   │   ├── SKILL.md
│   │   └── supporting-files/
│   └── another-skill/
├── commands/                 # Custom slash commands (legacy)
│   └── command-name.md
├── contexts/                 # Saved contexts
├── templates/                # Response templates
└── mcp/                      # MCP server configurations
    └── servers.json

~/projects/                   # Your projects (optional backup)
├── project-1/
│   └── .claude/              # Project-specific config
│       ├── settings.json
│       └── skills/
└── project-2/

What to Backup

ESSENTIAL (Always backup):
✓ ~/.claude/skills/           # Custom skills
✓ ~/.claude/commands/         # Custom commands
✓ ~/.claude/settings.json     # Global settings
✓ ~/.claude/mcp/              # MCP configurations

RECOMMENDED (Usually backup):
✓ ~/.claude/contexts/         # Saved contexts
✓ ~/.claude/templates/        # Templates
✓ Project .claude/ folders    # Project configs

OPTIONAL (Case by case):
○ ~/.claude/settings.local.json  # Machine-specific
○ Cache directories              # Can be rebuilt
○ Log files                      # Usually not needed

Quick Backup Commands

Full Backup

# Create timestamped backup
BACKUP_DIR="$HOME/openclaw-backups"
TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_NAME="openclaw_backup_$TIMESTAMP"

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

tar -czvf "$BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz" \
  -C "$HOME" \
  .claude/skills \
  .claude/commands \
  .claude/settings.json \
  .claude/mcp \
  .claude/contexts \
  .claude/templates \
  2>/dev/null

echo "Backup created: $BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_NAME.tar.gz"

Quick Skills-Only Backup

# Backup just skills
tar -czvf ~/openclaw_skills_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
  -C "$HOME" .claude/skills .claude/commands

Restore from Backup

# Restore full backup
BACKUP_FILE="$HOME/openclaw-backups/openclaw_backup_20260129.tar.gz"

# Preview contents first
tar -tzvf "$BACKUP_FILE"

# Restore (will overwrite existing)
tar -xzvf "$BACKUP_FILE" -C "$HOME"

echo "Restore complete!"

Backup Script

Full-Featured Backup Script

#!/bin/bash
# openclaw-backup.sh - Comprehensive openclaw backup tool

set -e