Backup to GitHub

OpenClaw skill to backup personalized configuration and user data to a GitHub repository. Ensures easy migration and disaster recovery.

Features

• ✅ Backup only personalized files (not default OpenClaw)
• ✅ Restore to fresh installation with identical state
• ✅ Supports GitHub via Personal Access Token
• ✅ Single-commit backup (clean history)
• ✅ Dry-run mode to preview changes

What Gets Backed Up

This skill backs up files that are specific to your setup, excluding default OpenClaw installation files:

• Core Configuration: openclaw.json (TTS, skills, plugins settings)
• Long-term Memory: MEMORY.md (curated memories, learned context)
• User Identity: USER.md, IDENTITY.md, SOUL.md (your profile & persona)
• Custom Tools: TOOLS.md (camera names, SSH hosts, voice preferences, etc.)
• Heartbeat Tasks: HEARTBEAT.md (periodic checklists)
• Scheduled Jobs: cron/jobs.json (your cron task configuration)
• Monitoring Panel: Custom monitor scripts (openclaw-monitor.cjs, monitor/*.cjs)
• Skill Configurations: Selected skill config files (YAML, README, SKILL.md) for skills you've customized (edit backup.py to add paths)
• Custom Scripts: Any user-created scripts (edit backup.py to add paths)
• Credentials (optional): credentials/*.json (Xiaohongshu cookies, etc.) - configurable

Automatically Excluded:

• Default/standard skills from the library
• Daily memory files (memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md) - too large/ephemeral
• Cron run logs (cron/runs/)
• Temporary files, caches, .git, __pycache__, venv, node_modules
• Large model files and binaries

Prerequisites

• GitHub account with Personal Access Token (repo scope)
• Backup repository (private recommended)

Setup

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Configure (create .env file)
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your_token_here
GITHUB_REPO=your-username/your-backup-repo

Usage

# Backup current configuration
python backup.py --action backup

# Preview what will be backed up (no push)
python backup.py --action backup --dry-run

# Restore from backup (overwrites existing files)
python backup.py --action restore

How It Works

Backup

1. Scans predefined file list (in backup.py → BACKUP_FILES)
2. Filters out excluded patterns
3. Creates a single commit on the default branch with all file changes
4. Pushes to your GitHub repository

Restore

1. Fetches the latest backup commit
2. Downloads each file to its original location
3. Reports success and suggests service restarts

Customization

Edit BACKUP_FILES in backup.py to add or remove files from backup.

Security Notes

• GitHub Token should have minimal scope (repo only)
• Store token in .env (never commit)
• Use a private repository for backups
• Credentials (e.g., Xiaohongshu cookies) are optional and clearly marked

Limitations

• Does not backup large binary files (ML models, caches, datasets)
• Does not backup running state (processes, logs)
• Daily memory files excluded by design (too large, ephemeral)
• Requires internet access for GitHub operations

Troubleshooting

Error: GITHUB_TOKEN not set

→ Set token in .env or use --token flag.

Error: Repository not found

→ Check GITHUB_REPO format: owner/repo.

File not backing up

→ Ensure path is in BACKUP_FILES and not excluded by patterns.

License

MIT