OpenClaw WebDAV Backup

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name: openclaw-webdav-backup description: Backup and restore an OpenClaw workspace with incremental backups, integrity verification, health checks, optional config encryption and optional WebDAV upload. Supports full/incremental backup strategies (smart/daily/hourly), backup version management (list/select/delete), and configuration health diagnostics. Use when users want OpenClaw backup, restore, VM migration/disaster recovery, encrypted config backups, WebDAV-based offsite copies, scheduled backups, or backup integrity monitoring. Users must provide their own WebDAV service and credentials.

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OpenClaw WebDAV Backup

Lightweight backup/restore skill for OpenClaw.

It covers:

local backup archives (full and incremental)

multi-level backup strategies (smart, daily, hourly)

optional encryption for openclaw.json

optional WebDAV upload

restore from local backup archives

backup version management (list, select, delete)

backup integrity verification

configuration health checks

lightweight scheduled backup guidance

optional Telegram notifications for backup success/failure

It does not provide WebDAV storage. The user must supply their own WebDAV endpoint and credentials.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when the user asks to:

back up OpenClaw (full or incremental)

restore OpenClaw from backup

migrate OpenClaw to a new VM or machine

protect backup configs with encryption

upload backups to a self-provided WebDAV target

schedule daily or periodic backups

receive Telegram notifications for scheduled backup success/failure

prepare a simple disaster-recovery workflow

check backup configuration health

verify backup integrity

manage backup versions (list, delete old backups)

Implementation layout

Canonical implementation lives inside the skill:

scripts/openclaw-backup.impl.sh

scripts/openclaw-restore.impl.sh

Thin wrapper scripts may also exist in the workspace and call these implementations. Keep the skill scripts as the source of truth.

Default workflow

1. Local backup (full)

bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh

2. Incremental backup with smart strategy

Auto-determines level based on day:

Sunday: Level 0 (full backup)

Monday-Saturday: Level 1 (incremental)

# Smart strategy (recommended for cron)
BACKUP_STRATEGY=smart bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh
Or explicitly set level
bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh --level=1

3. Encrypted backup + WebDAV upload

Prepare .env.backup with the user's own WebDAV settings, then run:

bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh --encrypt-config --upload

Only do real upload after confirming the user wants to write to the remote WebDAV target.

4. Restore from a local backup set

bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-restore.sh --from backups/openclaw/latest --decrypt-config

Backup Strategies

The skill supports multiple backup strategies via BACKUP_STRATEGY environment variable:

| Strategy | Description | Level Behavior | |----------|-------------|----------------| | full (default) | Always full backup | Level 0 | | weekly | Weekly full backup | Level 0 | | daily | Daily with auto-incremental | Level 0 once, then Level 1 | | smart | Recommended for production | Sunday=Level 0, Mon-Sat=Level 1 | | hourly | Fine-grained incremental | Level 0 → 1 → 2 chain |

Level Explanation

Level 0: Full backup (tar creates complete archive + snapshot file)

Level 1: Incremental backup (only files changed since Level 0)

Level 2: Incremental backup (only files changed since Level 1)

Cron Examples

# Smart strategy: Sunday full, weekdays incremental
0 0 * * 0 BACKUP_STRATEGY=smart /path/to/openclaw-backup.sh --upload
30 3 * * 1-6 BACKUP_STRATEGY=smart /path/to/openclaw-backup.sh --upload
Weekly full only
0 3 * * 0 BACKUP_STRATEGY=weekly /path/to/openclaw-backup.sh --upload
Daily with auto-level detection
0 3 * * * BACKUP_STRATEGY=daily /path/to/openclaw-backup.sh

Manual Level Control

Override auto-detection with --level flag:

bash openclaw-backup.sh --level=0  # Force full backup
bash openclaw-backup.sh --level=1  # Force incremental (level 1)

Compression Options

The skill supports multiple compression tools with automatic detection of parallel variants:

| Option | Tool | Threads | Notes | |--------|------|---------|-------| | gzip | gzip | 1 | Standard, widely available | | pigz | pigz | N | Parallel gzip, 3-5x faster | | zstd | zstd | 1 | High compression ratio | | pzstd | pzstd | N | Parallel zstd, fastest option |

Auto-Detection

By default, the skill auto-detects the best available compressor:

# Prefers pigz > gzip, pzstd > zstd
bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh

Explicit Selection

Force a specific compressor:

bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh --compress=pigz
bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh --compress=pzstd

Parallel Jobs

Control the number of compression threads (default: auto-detect CPU cores):

# Use 8 threads explicitly
PARALLEL_JOBS=8 bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh
Or via CLI
bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-backup.sh --jobs=8

Installation

Install parallel compression tools for best performance:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install pigz zstd
macOS
brew install pigz zstd
CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install pigz zstd

Backup Notifications

The skill supports multiple notification channels for backup success/failure alerts.

Supported Channels

| Channel | Status | Configuration | |---------|--------|---------------| | Telegram | ✅ Ready | Bot token + Chat ID | | WeCom (企业微信) | ✅ Ready | Webhook key | | Feishu (飞书) | ✅ Ready | Webhook token |

Quick Setup

1. Copy the example config:

cp references/env.backup.notify.example .env.backup.notify

2. Edit .env.backup.notify with your channel settings:

#### Telegram Setup

BACKUP_NOTIFY=1
BACKUP_NOTIFY_CHANNEL="telegram"
BACKUP_NOTIFY_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID="123456789"
BACKUP_NOTIFY_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="123456:your-bot-token"  # Optional, can auto-detect

#### WeCom (企业微信) Setup

BACKUP_NOTIFY=1
BACKUP_NOTIFY_CHANNEL="wecom"
BACKUP_NOTIFY_WECOM_KEY="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
BACKUP_NOTIFY_WECOM_MENTION="13800138000,13900139000"  # Optional: mobile numbers

*Get webhook key from: Group Settings → Add Robot → Copy Webhook URL key*

#### Feishu (飞书) Setup

BACKUP_NOTIFY=1
BACKUP_NOTIFY_CHANNEL="feishu"
BACKUP_NOTIFY_FEISHU_TOKEN="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
BACKUP_NOTIFY_FEISHU_SECRET="your-secret"  # Optional: if signature enabled

*Get webhook token from: Group Settings → Add Bot → Copy Webhook URL token*

Notification Content

Notifications include:

Backup status (✅ success / ❌ failure)

Timestamp and backup type

Local backup location

Encryption status

WebDAV upload status

Retention settings

Important behavior notes

openclaw.json may contain secrets, tokens, and API keys

prefer --encrypt-config before remote upload

.env.backup stores WebDAV connection settings and should not be committed

.env.backup.secret is optional; it is only a convenience carrier for BACKUP_ENCRYPT_PASS

.env.backup.notify is optional and enables backup notifications when configured

restore depends on the decryption password itself, not on the secret file specifically

for encrypted backups, .env.backup.secret and the password are either/or: either keep the file, or remember/provide the password

workspace backups exclude .env.backup and .env.backup.secret

local and remote retention are supported through LOCAL_KEEP and REMOTE_KEEP

Read references when needed

For usage, included files, and backup examples: read references/backup.md

For restore/decrypt flow and restore checks: read references/restore.md

For automation with cron/systemd: read references/scheduling.md

For migration/disaster-recovery planning: read references/migration-plan.md

For common user questions and boundary clarifications: read references/faq.md

For config template examples: read references/env.backup.example, references/env.backup.secret.example, and references/env.backup.notify.example

Validated behaviors

This skill has been validated against a real OpenClaw setup for:

local backup creation

encrypted config backup

WebDAV upload

local and remote retention

restore drill to a simulated fresh-machine home directory

cron-based scheduled backup

Telegram notification on backup success

backup integrity verification

configuration health checks

Health Check & Integrity Verification

Configuration Health Check

Run scripts/openclaw-healthcheck.sh to diagnose backup environment:

bash skills/openclaw-webdav-backup/scripts/openclaw-healthcheck.sh

Checks performed: | Check | Description | |-------|-------------| | Base Environment | workspace dir, state dir, openclaw.json, extensions | | Backup Infrastructure | backup root, snapshot dir, existing backups | | Dependencies | tar, curl, openssl availability | | Configuration | .env.backup, .env.backup.secret variables | | Backup Integrity | Validates all existing tar.gz archives |

Exit codes:

0 - All checks passed

1 - One or more critical checks failed

Backup Integrity Verification

Every backup automatically runs integrity checks:

1. Archive validation - tar -tzf verifies archive structure 2. Manifest verification - Confirms manifest.txt exists 3. Metadata check - Confirms workspace.meta exists

Failed integrity checks will abort the backup with error status.

To manually verify a specific backup:

tar -tzf backups/openclaw/2026-04-02-030000/workspace.tar.gz >/dev/null && echo "Valid" || echo "Corrupted"

Restore with Integrity Check

When restoring, verify the backup before extraction:

# Check integrity first
bash scripts/openclaw-restore.sh --from  --dry-run
Then perform actual restore
bash scripts/openclaw-restore.sh --from 

Private-share checklist

Before sharing this skill privately, verify:

no real .env.backup or .env.backup.secret is included

no real WebDAV URL, username, password, token, or backup passphrase remains in tracked files

examples use placeholder values only

docs state clearly that WebDAV storage is user-provided

restore wording states password and secret file are either/or, not both required

references match actual script behavior

Scope

This skill intentionally stays lightweight. It supports:

local backup and restore

optional config encryption

optional WebDAV upload

local and remote retention

password-based restore with optional secret file automation

It does not currently provide:

built-in WebDAV provisioning

secret-manager integration

fully automatic remote download-and-restore flow

multi-target cloud replication