Clawdbot Update Skill

Comprehensive backup, update, and restore workflow for Clawdbot installations.

Repository

• GitHub: https://github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot
• Upstream: origin/main
• Local Clone: ~/code/clawdbot (default)

Description

This skill provides a complete, modular update workflow for Clawdbot with dynamic workspace detection:

• Configuration files
• Agent states and sessions
• Credentials and auth tokens
• All agent workspaces (auto-detected from config)
• Cron jobs and sandboxes
• Git repository state

Key Features

✅ Dynamic Workspace Detection - Reads workspace paths from config ✅ Multi-Agent Support - Handles multiple agents automatically ✅ Safe Rollback - Full restore capability ✅ Git Integration - Tracks versions and remotes ✅ Validation - Pre/post checks included ✅ Dry Run - Preview before backup

Files

• config.json - Skill configuration (repo URLs, paths)
• backup-clawdbot-dryrun.sh - Dry run preview (no changes)
• backup-clawdbot-full.sh - Dynamic full backup script
• restore-clawdbot.sh - Dynamic restore script
• validate-setup.sh - Pre/post update validation
• check-upstream.sh - Check for available updates
• UPDATE_CHECKLIST.md - Step-by-step update checklist
• QUICK_REFERENCE.md - Quick command reference
• SKILL.md - This file
• README.md - Quick start guide

Dynamic Features

Both backup and restore scripts now:

• Read workspace paths from ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json
• Support any number of agents
• Handle missing workspaces gracefully
• Generate safe filenames from agent IDs

When to Use

Trigger this skill when asked to:

• "update clawdbot"
• "upgrade to latest version"
• "backup clawdbot before update"
• "restore clawdbot from backup"
• "rollback clawdbot update"

Usage

1. Preview Backup (Dry Run)

bash
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/backup-clawdbot-dryrun.sh

Shows:

• What files would be backed up
• Estimated backup size
• Workspace detection results
• Disk space availability
• Files that would be skipped

No files are created or modified!

2. Create Full Backup

bash
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/backup-clawdbot-full.sh

Backs up:

• ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json (config)
• ~/.clawdbot/sessions/ (session state)
• ~/.clawdbot/agents/ (multi-agent state)
• ~/.clawdbot/credentials/ (auth tokens)
• ~/.clawdbot/cron/ (scheduled jobs)
• ~/.clawdbot/sandboxes/ (sandbox state)
• All agent workspaces (dynamically detected!)
• Git commit and status

Output: ~/.clawdbot-backups/pre-update-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS/

3. Update Clawdbot

Follow the checklist:

bash
cat ~/.skills/clawdbot-update/UPDATE_CHECKLIST.md

Key steps:

1. Create backup
2. Stop gateway
3. Pull latest code
4. Adjust config for breaking changes
5. Run doctor
6. Test functionality
7. Start gateway as daemon

4. Restore from Backup

bash
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/restore-clawdbot.sh ~/.clawdbot-backups/pre-update-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS

Restores:

• All configuration
• All state files
• All workspaces
• Optionally: git version

Important Notes

Multi-Agent Setup

This skill is designed for multi-agent setups with:

• Multiple agents with separate workspaces
• Sandbox configurations
• Provider routing (WhatsApp/Telegram/Discord/Slack/etc.)

Breaking Changes in v2026.1.8

CRITICAL:

• DM Lockdown: DMs now default to pairing policy instead of open
• Groups: telegram.groups and whatsapp.groups are now allowlists
• Sandbox: Default scope changed to "agent" from implicit
• Timestamps: Now UTC format in agent envelopes

Backup Validation

After backup, always verify:

bash
BACKUP_DIR=~/.clawdbot-backups/pre-update-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS
cat "$BACKUP_DIR/BACKUP_INFO.txt"
ls -lh "$BACKUP_DIR"

Should contain:

• ✅ clawdbot.json
• ✅ credentials.tar.gz
• ✅ workspace-*.tar.gz (one per agent)

Config Changes Required

Example: Switch WhatsApp to pairing:

bash
jq '.whatsapp.dmPolicy = "pairing"' ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json | sponge ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json

Example: Set explicit sandbox scope:

bash
jq '.agent.sandbox.scope = "agent"' ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json | sponge ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json

Workflow

Standard Update Flow

bash
# 1. Check for updates
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/check-upstream.sh

# 2. Validate current setup
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/validate-setup.sh

# 3. Dry run
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/backup-clawdbot-dryrun.sh

# 4. Backup
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/backup-clawdbot-full.sh

# 5. Stop gateway
cd ~/code/clawdbot
pnpm clawdbot gateway stop

# 6. Update code
git checkout main
git pull --rebase origin main
pnpm install
pnpm build

# 7. Run doctor
pnpm clawdbot doctor --yes

# 8. Test
pnpm clawdbot gateway start  # foreground for testing

# 9. Deploy
pnpm clawdbot gateway stop
pnpm clawdbot gateway start --daemon

Rollback Flow

bash
# Quick rollback
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/restore-clawdbot.sh <backup-dir>

# Manual rollback
cd ~/code/clawdbot
git checkout <old-commit>
pnpm install && pnpm build
cp <backup-dir>/clawdbot.json ~/.clawdbot/
pnpm clawdbot gateway restart

Testing After Update

Functionality Tests

• ] Provider DMs work (check pairing policy)
• ] Group mentions respond
• ] Typing indicators work
• ] Agent routing works
• ] Sandbox isolation works
• ] Tool restrictions enforced

New Features

bash
pnpm clawdbot agents list
pnpm clawdbot logs --tail 50
pnpm clawdbot providers list --usage
pnpm clawdbot skills list

Monitoring

bash
# Live logs
pnpm clawdbot logs --follow

# Or Web UI
open http://localhost:3001/logs

# Check status
pnpm clawdbot status
pnpm clawdbot gateway status

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Gateway won't start:

bash
pnpm clawdbot logs --grep error
pnpm clawdbot doctor

Auth errors:

bash
# OAuth profiles might need re-login
pnpm clawdbot providers login <provider>

Sandbox issues:

bash
# Check sandbox config
jq '.agent.sandbox' ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json

# Check per-agent sandbox
jq '.routing.agents[] | {name, sandbox}' ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json

Emergency Restore

If something goes wrong:

bash
# 1. Stop gateway
pnpm clawdbot gateway stop

# 2. Full restore
LATEST_BACKUP=$(ls -t ~/.clawdbot-backups/ | head -1)
~/.skills/clawdbot-update/restore-clawdbot.sh ~/.clawdbot-backups/$LATEST_BACKUP

# 3. Restart
pnpm clawdbot gateway start

Installation

Via ClawdHub

bash
clawdbot skills install clawdbot-update

Manual

bash
git clone <repo-url> ~/.skills/clawdbot-update
chmod +x ~/.skills/clawdbot-update/*.sh

License

MIT - see LICENSE

Author

Pascal Schott (@pasogott)

Contribution for Clawdbot https://github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot