<!-- SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved. --> <!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 -->

Backup and Restore Workspace Files

Workspace files define your agent's personality, memory, and user context. They persist across sandbox restarts but are permanently deleted when you run nemoclaw <name> destroy.

This guide covers snapshot commands, manual backup with CLI commands, and an automated script.

Step 1: When to Back Up

• Before running nemoclaw <name> destroy
• Before major NemoClaw version upgrades
• Periodically, if you've invested time customizing your agent

Step 2: Snapshot Commands

The fastest way to back up and restore sandbox state is with the built-in snapshot commands. Snapshots capture all workspace state directories defined in the agent manifest and store them in ~/.nemoclaw/rebuild-backups/<name>/.

$ nemoclaw my-assistant snapshot create
$ nemoclaw my-assistant snapshot list
$ nemoclaw my-assistant snapshot restore

snapshot list prints a table of version, name, timestamp, and path. Versions (v1, v2, ..., vN) are computed from the timestamp order, so vN is always the newest snapshot.

To tag a snapshot with a human-readable label, pass --name:

$ nemoclaw my-assistant snapshot create --name before-upgrade

To restore a specific snapshot instead of the latest, pass a version, name, or timestamp prefix:

$ nemoclaw my-assistant snapshot restore v3
$ nemoclaw my-assistant snapshot restore before-upgrade
$ nemoclaw my-assistant snapshot restore 2026-04-14T

The nemoclaw <name> rebuild command uses the same snapshot mechanism automatically. For full details, see the Commands reference (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill).

Step 3: Manual Backup

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/"

Step 4: Manual Restore

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/

Step 5: Using the Backup Script

The repository includes a convenience script at scripts/backup-workspace.sh.

Backup

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

Restore

Restore from the most recent backup:

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

Restore from a specific timestamp:

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

Step 6: Verifying a Backup

List backed-up files to confirm completeness:

$ ls -la ~/.nemoclaw/backups/20260320-120000/
AGENTS.md
IDENTITY.md
MEMORY.md
SOUL.md
USER.md
memory/

Step 7: Multi-Agent Deployments

When OpenClaw is configured with multiple named agents, each agent has its own workspace directory (workspace-main/, workspace-support/, workspace-ops/, and so on — see Multi-Agent Deployments (use the nemoclaw-user-workspace skill)).

nemoclaw <name> snapshot create automatically discovers every workspace-*/ directory under the sandbox state tree and includes it in the snapshot bundle alongside the default workspace/. snapshot restore re-applies the full per-agent set. No manual per-workspace backup pattern is needed.

The sandbox entrypoint ensures every per-agent workspace is backed by the persistent .openclaw-data/ tree (via a symlink from .openclaw/workspace-<name>/) so state also survives openshell sandbox restart.

Shared files across agents

Files that operators typically want consistent across every per-agent workspace (AGENTS.md, shared skills, common templates) are not synced automatically. Each workspace is independent; changes in one don't propagate. Operators that need this either copy the shared files explicitly to each workspace after editing, or maintain a host-side sync layer. Tracking shared-file tooling (shared mount, workspaces list command) in #1260.

References

• Load references/workspace-files.md when users ask about SOUL.md, USER.md, IDENTITY.md, AGENTS.md, or other workspace files, or when preparing to back up or restore workspace state. Explains what workspace personality and configuration files are, where they live, and how they persist across sandbox restarts.

Related Skills

• nemoclaw-user-reference — Commands reference (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill)