Manage SandboxesState and Backups

Transfer State Manually

View as Markdown

Use manual transfer when you need to inspect or move specific state files. Use Create and Restore Snapshots for normal backup, rebuild, and restore workflows.

Download State

Use openshell sandbox download to copy files from the sandbox to your host.

$SANDBOX=my-assistant
$BACKUP_DIR=~/.nemoclaw/backups/$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
$mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
$
$openshell sandbox download "$SANDBOX" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md "$BACKUP_DIR/"
$openshell sandbox download "$SANDBOX" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/USER.md "$BACKUP_DIR/"
$openshell sandbox download "$SANDBOX" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/IDENTITY.md "$BACKUP_DIR/"
$openshell sandbox download "$SANDBOX" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/AGENTS.md "$BACKUP_DIR/"
$openshell sandbox download "$SANDBOX" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/MEMORY.md "$BACKUP_DIR/"
$openshell sandbox download "$SANDBOX" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/memory/ "$BACKUP_DIR/memory/"

Upload State

Use openshell sandbox upload to push files back into a sandbox.

$SANDBOX=my-assistant
$BACKUP_DIR=~/.nemoclaw/backups/20260320-120000  # pick a timestamp
$
$openshell sandbox upload "$SANDBOX" "$BACKUP_DIR/SOUL.md" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/
$openshell sandbox upload "$SANDBOX" "$BACKUP_DIR/USER.md" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/
$openshell sandbox upload "$SANDBOX" "$BACKUP_DIR/IDENTITY.md" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/
$openshell sandbox upload "$SANDBOX" "$BACKUP_DIR/AGENTS.md" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/
$openshell sandbox upload "$SANDBOX" "$BACKUP_DIR/MEMORY.md" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/
$openshell sandbox upload "$SANDBOX" "$BACKUP_DIR/memory/" /sandbox/.openclaw/workspace/memory/

Use the Source-Tree Backup Helper

Source-tree helper script

The scripts/backup-workspace.sh helper exists only in the NemoClaw source repository for engineering workflows. It is not installed by the standard installer, so host installs should use nemoclaw backup-all or the snapshot commands.

Back up a workspace:

$./scripts/backup-workspace.sh backup my-assistant

Expected output:

Backing up workspace from sandbox 'my-assistant'...
Backup saved to /home/user/.nemoclaw/backups/20260320-120000/ (6 items)

Restore the most recent backup or a specific timestamp:

$./scripts/backup-workspace.sh restore my-assistant
$./scripts/backup-workspace.sh restore my-assistant 20260320-120000

Verify the saved files:

$ls -la ~/.nemoclaw/backups/20260320-120000/

Expected output:

AGENTS.md
IDENTITY.md
MEMORY.md
SOUL.md
USER.md
memory/