Backups

Overview

Claworc can create compressed snapshots of your OpenClaw instances on demand or on a schedule.

Admins can manage backups for every OpenClaw instance. Regular users can create, list, download, and delete backups for their assigned instances. Restoring a backup additionally requires the Can create instances permission, which an admin can grant per user.

What gets backed up

When creating a backup, you select from path aliases or enter absolute paths:

Alias	Resolves to	Description
HOME	/home/claworc	The agent’s home directory (default)
Homebrew	/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew	Homebrew installation and packages
/	/	Full container filesystem (excluding system directories)

If you don’t select any paths, HOME is used by default. You can also enter any absolute path (for example, /etc/nginx) to include specific directories.

System directories such as /proc, /sys, /dev, /tmp, and /run are always excluded.

Where backups are stored

By default, backup archives are written under <CLAWORC_DATA_PATH>/backups on the control plane. To direct backups to a different volume — for example, a larger or cheaper disk — set CLAWORC_BACKUPS_PATH to the desired directory. See Environment variables for details.

Creating a manual backup

1. Open Backups in the sidebar.
2. Click Create Backup.
3. Select the target instance.
4. Choose which folders to include.
5. Optionally add a note (for example, “Before upgrading packages”).
6. Click Create Backup.

The backup runs in the background. While it runs, the status column shows running with a spinner. Once complete, the archive size appears and the backup is ready for download or restore.

You can also start a quick backup from the instance detail page. The Overview tab shows a Backups card with the latest backup status and a link to the full backups list for that instance.

Scheduling backups

Scheduled backups run automatically based on a cron expression.

1. Open Backups in the sidebar.
2. Click Schedule Backups.
3. Select one or more instances, or choose All Instances to cover every instance (including any created in the future).
4. Pick a cron preset or enter a custom expression.
5. Choose which folders to include.
6. Click Create Schedule.

Restoring a backup

Click the restore icon on a completed backup, then select the target instance. The target instance must be running. Claworc streams the archive into the container and extracts it, restoring all files to their original paths.

Caution

Restoring overwrites any existing files at the same paths inside the container. There is no undo — consider creating a fresh backup of the target instance before restoring.