SkillHub

gitclaw

v1.0.0

Back up the OpenClaw agent workspace to a GitHub repo and keep it synced via a cron-driven commit/push script.

Sourced from ClawHub, Authored by Mariano Pardo

Installation

Please help me install the skill `gitclaw` from SkillHub official store. npx skills add marian2js/gitclaw

GitClaw: Agent self-backup to GitHub

When to use

Use this skill automatically when it's installed or reference, and also when the user asks to:

  • back up / sync / mirror the OpenClaw workspace
  • set up periodic commits and pushes
  • install/configure GitHub backup automation for the agent

Behavioral rule (important)

  • Do everything automatically and quietly.
  • Only message the user when:
  • you need inputs (repo name, visibility, optional frequency), or
  • Git/GH/Cron install fails, or
  • GitHub auth requires the user to complete the browser/device step, or
  • Git operations fail (conflicts, permissions, etc).

Inputs to ask the user for

Ask the user for:

  1. Repository name (e.g., openclaw-backup)
  2. Visibility: public or private
  3. (Optional) Backup frequency in minutes (default: 60)

Do NOT ask for a Personal Access Token. We use gh auth.

Step 1: Ensure prerequisites (auto-install)

1A) Ensure git is installed (auto-install; do not stop)

Check:

  • git --version

If missing, install using the best available method:

  • If brew exists:
  • brew install git
  • Else if apt-get exists:
  • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y git
  • Else if dnf exists:
  • sudo dnf install -y git
  • Else if yum exists:
  • sudo yum install -y git
  • Else if pacman exists:
  • sudo pacman -S --noconfirm git
  • Else if zypper exists:
  • sudo zypper install -y git
  • Else if apk exists:
  • sudo apk add git
  • Else if macOS and xcode-select exists:
  • xcode-select --install (this may prompt the user)
  • Else:
  • Tell the user you couldn’t auto-install git on this OS and show the failing detection output.

Re-check:

  • git --version

Only notify the user if install failed.

1B) Ensure cron/crontab is available (best-effort auto-install)

Check:

  • command -v crontab

If missing, attempt install:

  • If apt-get exists:
  • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y cron
  • sudo systemctl enable --now cron || sudo service cron start || true
  • Else if dnf exists:
  • sudo dnf install -y cronie
  • sudo systemctl enable --now crond || true
  • Else if yum exists:
  • sudo yum install -y cronie
  • sudo systemctl enable --now crond || true
  • Else if pacman exists:
  • sudo pacman -S --noconfirm cronie
  • sudo systemctl enable --now cronie || true
  • Else if apk exists:
  • sudo apk add dcron
  • sudo rc-update add dcron default || true
  • sudo rc-service dcron start || true
  • Else:
  • If you can’t install, tell the user cron is required for scheduling.

Re-check:

  • command -v crontab

Step 2: Ensure GitHub CLI (gh) is installed (auto-install)

Check:

  • gh --version

If missing, install:

  • If brew exists:

  • brew install gh

  • Else if apt-get exists (official GitHub CLI packages; preferred):

  • Install using the official apt repo steps:

    • (type -p wget >/dev/null || (sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y wget))
    • sudo mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/keyrings
    • out=$(mktemp) && wget -nv -O"$out" https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg
    • cat "$out" | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null
    • sudo chmod go+r /etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg
    • sudo mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/sources.list.d
    • echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null
    • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y gh

  • Else if dnf exists:

  • sudo dnf install -y 'dnf-command(config-manager)' || sudo dnf install -y dnf5-plugins || true
  • sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://cli.github.com/packages/rpm/gh-cli.repo || sudo dnf config-manager addrepo --from-repofile=https://cli.github.com/packages/rpm/gh-cli.repo || true

  • sudo dnf install -y gh --repo gh-cli || sudo dnf install -y gh || true

  • Else if yum exists:

  • type -p yum-config-manager >/dev/null || sudo yum install -y yum-utils
  • sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://cli.github.com/packages/rpm/gh-cli.repo

  • sudo yum install -y gh

  • Else if zypper exists:

  • sudo zypper addrepo https://cli.github.com/packages/rpm/gh-cli.repo || true
  • sudo zypper ref

  • sudo zypper install -y gh

  • Else if pacman exists:

  • sudo pacman -S --noconfirm github-cli

  • Else if apk exists:

  • sudo apk add github-cli

  • Else:

  • Tell the user you can’t auto-install gh on this OS.

Re-check:

  • gh --version

Only notify the user if install failed.

Step 3: Ensure the user is authenticated in gh (agent runs the flow)

Check:

  • gh auth status --hostname github.com

If NOT authenticated:

  1. Run:

  2. gh auth login --hostname github.com --git-protocol https

  3. The terminal flow will show a one-time code and ask the user to authorize.

  4. Tell the user to open https://github.com/login/device in their browser and enter the code shown in the terminal, then authorize.

  5. After login:

  6. gh auth setup-git

  7. Verify again:

  8. gh auth status --hostname github.com

If auth fails, stop and report the exact terminal output.

Step 4: Initialize git in the OpenClaw workspace and connect/create the repo

Workspace dir (where you store SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, etc.):

  • Example (path might be different on your environment): WORKSPACE_DIR="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace"

  • Ensure the workspace exists:

  • mkdir -p "$WORKSPACE_DIR"

  • cd "$WORKSPACE_DIR"

  • Initialize repo if needed:

  • If .git does not exist: git init

  • git branch -M main

  • Configure a deterministic commit identity (local-only):

  • git config user.name "gitclaw.ai"

  • git config user.email "[email protected]"

  • Determine the authenticated GitHub username (owner):

  • OWNER="$(gh api user --jq .login)"

  • (Do not print unless debugging is needed)

  • Repo name and visibility:

  • REPO="<repo name from user>"

  • Visibility:

    • public => --public
    • private => --private

  • Ensure there is at least one commit (required for first push/cron):

  • Create a tiny marker file if needed:
    • test -f .gitclaw.keep || printf "gitclaw initialized: %sn" "$(date -u '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')" > .gitclaw.keep
  • git add -A

  • git commit -m "gitclaw: initial backup" || true

  • Create or reuse the target repo:

  • If it exists:
    • gh repo view "$OWNER/$REPO" >/dev/null 2>&1
    • Set remote:
    • REMOTE_URL="https://github.com/$OWNER/$REPO.git"
    • If origin exists: git remote set-url origin "$REMOTE_URL"
    • Else: git remote add origin "$REMOTE_URL"
    • Try to fast-forward sync (avoid overwriting remote history):
    • git fetch origin main || true
    • git merge --ff-only origin/main || true

  • If it does NOT exist:

    • Create it non-interactively and connect it:
    • Public:
      • gh repo create "$REPO" --public --confirm
    • Private:
      • gh repo create "$REPO" --private --confirm
    • Set remote:
    • REMOTE_URL="https://github.com/$OWNER/$REPO.git"
    • git remote add origin "$REMOTE_URL" || git remote set-url origin "$REMOTE_URL"

  • Initial push:

  • git push -u origin main

If push fails due to conflicts or non-fast-forward:

  • Do NOT force-push automatically.
  • Report the exact error and stop (user decision required).

Step 5: Install deterministic backup script (NO AI / NO heartbeat)

Create a folder outside the workspace:

  • mkdir -p "$HOME/.openclaw/gitclaw"

Create this script EXACTLY:

Path:

  • $HOME/.openclaw/gitclaw/auto_backup.sh

Contents:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# GitClaw deterministic backup (no AI)
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:$PATH"

WORKSPACE_DIR="${HOME}/.openclaw/workspace"
STATE_DIR="${HOME}/.openclaw/gitclaw"
LOG_FILE="${STATE_DIR}/backup.log"
LOCK_DIR="${STATE_DIR}/lock"

mkdir -p "${STATE_DIR}"

timestamp() { date -u '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ'; }

# Simple lock to prevent overlapping runs
if ! mkdir "${LOCK_DIR}" 2>/dev/null; then
  echo "$(timestamp) Skip: already running." >> "${LOG_FILE}"
  exit 0
fi
trap 'rmdir "${LOCK_DIR}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true' EXIT

if ! command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "$(timestamp) ERROR: git not found on PATH. Install git first." >> "${LOG_FILE}"
  exit 2
fi

if [ ! -d "${WORKSPACE_DIR}/.git" ]; then
  echo "$(timestamp) ERROR: ${WORKSPACE_DIR} is not a git repo. Run GitClaw setup first." >> "${LOG_FILE}"
  exit 3
fi

cd "${WORKSPACE_DIR}"

# Stage everything
git add -A

# If nothing staged, exit quietly
if git diff --cached --quiet; then
  echo "$(timestamp) No changes." >> "${LOG_FILE}"
  exit 0
fi

# Commit + push
git commit -m "gitclaw backup: $(timestamp)" >> "${LOG_FILE}" 2>&1
git push origin main >> "${LOG_FILE}" 2>&1

echo "$(timestamp) Backup OK." >> "${LOG_FILE}"

Write the script to:

  • $HOME/.openclaw/gitclaw/auto_backup.sh

Then:

  • chmod +x "$HOME/.openclaw/gitclaw/auto_backup.sh"

Step 6: Configure crontab (idempotent)

Default schedule: hourly (0 * * * *). If user provided a different frequency, convert it to a cron expression.

  1. Define:

  2. CRON_CMD="$HOME/.openclaw/gitclaw/auto_backup.sh"

  3. CRON_LINE="0 * * * * $CRON_CMD"

  4. Install without duplicates:

  5. crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -F "$CRON_CMD" >/dev/null

  6. If not found, append:

  7. (crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "$CRON_LINE") | crontab -

  8. Confirm:

  9. crontab -l | grep -F "$CRON_CMD"

Step 7: Final validation

  1. Run once:

  2. $HOME/.openclaw/gitclaw/auto_backup.sh

  3. Show the log:

  4. tail -n 50 "$HOME/.openclaw/gitclaw/backup.log" || true

  5. Tell the user:

  6. Repo: https://github.com/$OWNER/$REPO

  7. Schedule: hourly (or the chosen cadence)
  8. Script path: ~/.openclaw/gitclaw/auto_backup.sh