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)

~/.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

~/.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:

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

~/.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:

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:

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

Example: Set explicit sandbox scope:

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

Workflow

Standard Update Flow

# 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

# 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

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

Monitoring

# 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:

pnpm clawdbot logs --grep error
pnpm clawdbot doctor

Auth errors:

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

Sandbox issues:

# 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:

# 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

clawdbot skills install clawdbot-update

Manual

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

License

MIT - see [LICENSE](LICENSE)

Author

Pascal Schott (@pasogott)

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