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Agent Workspace: Location, Layout, and Backup Strategy

Learn about the agent workspace: its default location, layout, and backup strategy. This page is for developers and operators who need to configure, secure, or manage agent file access.

Read this when

  • You need to explain the agent workspace or its file layout
  • You want to back up or migrate an agent workspace

The workspace is the agent's home: the working directory used for file tools and workspace context. Keep it private and treat it as memory.

This is separate from ~/.openclaw/, which stores config, credentials, and sessions.

Warning

The workspace is the default cwd, not a hard sandbox. Tools resolve relative paths against the workspace, but absolute paths can still reach elsewhere on the host unless sandboxing is enabled. If you need isolation, use agents.defaults.sandbox (and/or per-agent sandbox config).

When sandboxing is enabled and workspaceAccess is not "rw", tools operate inside a sandbox workspace under ~/.openclaw/sandboxes, not your host workspace.

Default location

  • Default: ~/.openclaw/workspace
  • If OPENCLAW_PROFILE is set and not "default", the default becomes ~/.openclaw/workspace-<profile>.
  • OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR overrides both of the above when set.
  • Non-default agents (agents.entries.*) without an explicit workspace resolve to <state-dir>/workspace-<agentId>, not the shared default workspace.

Override in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
    },
  },
}

Per-agent override: agents.entries.*.workspace.

openclaw onboard, openclaw configure, or openclaw setup create the workspace and seed the bootstrap files if they are missing.

Note

Sandbox seed copies only accept regular in-workspace files; symlink/hardlink aliases that resolve outside the source workspace are ignored.

If you already manage the workspace files yourself, disable bootstrap file creation:

{ agents: { defaults: { skipBootstrap: true } } }

Extra workspace folders

Older installs may have created ~/openclaw. Keeping multiple workspace directories around can cause confusing auth or state drift, since only one workspace is active at a time.

Note

Recommendation: keep a single active workspace. If you no longer use the extra folders, archive or move them to Trash (for example trash ~/openclaw). If you intentionally keep multiple workspaces, make sure agents.defaults.workspace (or the per-agent workspace key) points to the active one.

Workspace file map

Standard files OpenClaw expects inside the workspace:

AGENTS.md - operating instructions

Operating instructions for the agent and how it should use memory. Loaded at the start of every session. Good place for rules, priorities, and "how to behave" details.

SOUL.md - persona and tone

Persona, tone, and boundaries. Loaded every session. Guide: SOUL.md personality guide.

USER.md - who the user is

Who the user is and how to address them. Loaded every session.

IDENTITY.md - name, vibe, emoji

The agent's name, vibe, and emoji. Created/updated during the bootstrap ritual.

TOOLS.md - local tool conventions

Notes about your local tools and conventions. Does not control tool availability; it is only guidance.

HEARTBEAT.md - heartbeat checklist

Optional tiny checklist for heartbeat runs. Keep it short to avoid token burn.

BOOT.md - startup checklist

Optional startup checklist run automatically on gateway restart (when internal hooks are enabled). Keep it short; use the message tool for outbound sends.

BOOTSTRAP.md - first-run ritual

One-time first-run ritual. Only created for a brand-new workspace. Delete it after the ritual is complete.

memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md - daily memory log

Daily memory log (one file per day). Recommended to read today + yesterday on session start.

MEMORY.md - curated long-term memory (optional)

Curated long-term memory: durable facts, preferences, decisions, and short summaries. Keep detailed logs in memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md so memory tools can retrieve them on demand without injecting them into every prompt. Only load MEMORY.md in the main, private session (not shared/group contexts). See Memory for the workflow and automatic memory flush.

skills/ - workspace skills (optional)

Workspace-specific skills. Highest-precedence skill location for that workspace, ahead of project agent skills, personal agent skills, managed skills, bundled skills, and skills.load.extraDirs when names collide.

canvas/ - Canvas UI files (optional)

Canvas UI files for node displays (for example canvas/index.html).

Note

If a bootstrap file is missing, OpenClaw injects a "missing file" marker into the session and continues. Large bootstrap files are truncated when injected; adjust limits with agents.defaults.bootstrapMaxChars (default: 20000) and agents.defaults.bootstrapTotalMaxChars (default: 60000). openclaw setup can recreate missing defaults without overwriting existing files.

What is NOT in the workspace

These live under ~/.openclaw/ and should NOT be committed to the workspace repo:

  • ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (config)
  • ~/.openclaw/state/openclaw.sqlite (shared workspace setup state and attestations)
  • ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json (model auth profiles: OAuth + API keys)
  • ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/openclaw-agent.sqlite (session rows, transcripts, and per-agent runtime state)
  • ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/codex-home/ (per-agent Codex runtime account, config, skills, plugins, and native thread state)
  • ~/.openclaw/credentials/ (channel/provider state plus legacy OAuth import data)
  • ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/ (legacy migration sources and archive/support artifacts)
  • ~/.openclaw/skills/ (managed skills)

If you need to migrate sessions or config, copy them separately and keep them out of version control.

Older OpenClaw releases wrote openclaw-workspace-state.json, .openclaw/workspace-state.json, and .attested workspace sidecars. Current runtime uses only the shared SQLite database for that state. If Doctor reports one of these files, run openclaw doctor --fix; Doctor imports valid legacy state and deletes a source only after verifying the database rows.

Git backup (recommended, private)

Treat the workspace as private memory. Put it in a private git repo so it is backed up and recoverable.

Run these steps on the machine where the Gateway runs (that is where the workspace lives).

Initialize the repo

If git is installed, brand-new workspaces are initialized automatically. If this workspace is not already a repo, run:

cd ~/.openclaw/workspace
git init
git add AGENTS.md SOUL.md TOOLS.md IDENTITY.md USER.md HEARTBEAT.md memory/
git commit -m "Add agent workspace"

Add a private remote

GitHub web UI

  1. Create a new private repository on GitHub.
  2. Do not initialize with a README (avoids merge conflicts).
  3. Copy the HTTPS remote URL.
  4. Add the remote and push:
git branch -M main
git remote add origin <https-url>
git push -u origin main

GitHub CLI (gh)

gh auth login
gh repo create openclaw-workspace --private --source . --remote origin --push

GitLab web UI

  1. Create a new private repository on GitLab.
  2. Do not initialize with a README (avoids merge conflicts).
  3. Copy the HTTPS remote URL.
  4. Add the remote and push:
git branch -M main
git remote add origin <https-url>
git push -u origin main

Ongoing updates

git status
git add .
git commit -m "Update memory"
git push

Do not commit secrets

Warning

Even in a private repo, avoid storing secrets in the workspace:

  • API keys, OAuth tokens, passwords, or private credentials.
  • Anything under ~/.openclaw/.
  • Raw dumps of chats or sensitive attachments.

If you must store sensitive references, use placeholders and keep the real secret elsewhere (password manager, environment variables, or ~/.openclaw/).

Suggested .gitignore starter:

.DS_Store
.env
**/*.key
**/*.pem
**/secrets*

Moving the workspace to a new machine

Clone the repo

Clone the repo to the desired path (default ~/.openclaw/workspace).

Update config

Set agents.defaults.workspace to that path in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.

Seed missing files

Run openclaw setup --workspace <path> to seed any missing files.

Copy sessions (optional)

If you need sessions, copy ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/openclaw-agent.sqlite from the old machine separately. Copy ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/ only when you also need legacy migration inputs or archive/support artifacts.

Advanced notes

  • Multi-agent routing can use different workspaces per agent via agents.entries.*.workspace. See Channel routing for routing configuration.
  • If agents.defaults.sandbox is enabled, non-main sessions can use per-session sandbox workspaces under agents.defaults.sandbox.workspaceRoot.