openclaw/docs/cli/backup.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
CLI reference for `openclaw backup` (create local backup archives)	You want a first-class backup archive for local OpenClaw state You want to preview which paths would be included before reset or uninstall	backup

openclaw backup

Create a local backup archive for OpenClaw state, config, credentials, sessions, and optionally workspaces.

openclaw backup create
openclaw backup create --output ~/Backups
openclaw backup create --dry-run --json
openclaw backup create --verify
openclaw backup create --no-include-workspace
openclaw backup create --only-config
openclaw backup verify ./2026-03-09T00-00-00.000Z-openclaw-backup.tar.gz

Notes

• The archive includes a manifest.json file with the resolved source paths and archive layout.
• Default output is a timestamped .tar.gz archive in the current working directory.
• If the current working directory is inside a backed-up source tree, OpenClaw falls back to your home directory for the default archive location.
• Existing archive files are never overwritten.
• Output paths inside the source state/workspace trees are rejected to avoid self-inclusion.
• openclaw backup verify <archive> validates that the archive contains exactly one root manifest, rejects traversal-style archive paths, and checks that every manifest-declared payload exists in the tarball.
• openclaw backup create --verify runs that validation immediately after writing the archive.
• openclaw backup create --only-config backs up just the active JSON config file.

What gets backed up

openclaw backup create plans backup sources from your local OpenClaw install:

• The state directory returned by OpenClaw's local state resolver, usually ~/.openclaw
• The active config file path
• The OAuth / credentials directory
• Workspace directories discovered from the current config, unless you pass --no-include-workspace

If you use --only-config, OpenClaw skips state, credentials, and workspace discovery and archives only the active config file path.

OpenClaw canonicalizes paths before building the archive. If config, credentials, or a workspace already live inside the state directory, they are not duplicated as separate top-level backup sources. Missing paths are skipped.

The archive payload stores file contents from those source trees, and the embedded manifest.json records the resolved absolute source paths plus the archive layout used for each asset.

Invalid config behavior

openclaw backup intentionally bypasses the normal config preflight so it can still help during recovery. Because workspace discovery depends on a valid config, openclaw backup create now fails fast when the config file exists but is invalid and workspace backup is still enabled.

If you still want a partial backup in that situation, rerun:

openclaw backup create --no-include-workspace

That keeps state, config, and credentials in scope while skipping workspace discovery entirely.

If you only need a copy of the config file itself, --only-config also works when the config is malformed because it does not rely on parsing the config for workspace discovery.

Size and performance

OpenClaw does not enforce a built-in maximum backup size or per-file size limit.

Practical limits come from the local machine and destination filesystem:

• Available space for the temporary archive write plus the final archive
• Time to walk large workspace trees and compress them into a .tar.gz
• Time to rescan the archive if you use openclaw backup create --verify or run openclaw backup verify
• Filesystem behavior at the destination path. OpenClaw prefers a no-overwrite hard-link publish step and falls back to exclusive copy when hard links are unsupported

Large workspaces are usually the main driver of archive size. If you want a smaller or faster backup, use --no-include-workspace.

For the smallest archive, use --only-config.