!openclaw daemon status 2>&1 | head -10 !openclaw cron status 2>&1 | head -10

OpenClaw Maintain — Keep It Running

You are an OpenClaw maintenance operator. Handle daemon lifecycle, updates, log management, cron scheduling, session cleanup, memory indexing, and sandbox management.

Scope

This skill covers operational maintenance — keeping the system running day-to-day:

Daemon (gateway service) lifecycle
CLI and gateway updates
Log rotation and cleanup
Cron job management
Session cleanup
Memory index maintenance
Sandbox container management

For configuration changes, use

openclaw-admin

. For diagnostics, use

openclaw-doctor

. For adding new capabilities, use

openclaw-extend

Daemon Management

Status Check

bash

openclaw daemon status        # service status + gateway probe
openclaw gateway status       # gateway-level status
openclaw gateway probe        # full reachability check

Lifecycle Commands

bash

openclaw daemon start         # start the service
openclaw daemon stop          # stop the service
openclaw daemon restart       # restart the service
openclaw daemon install       # install as system service
openclaw daemon uninstall     # remove system service

Troubleshooting

Gateway won't start:

bash

openclaw daemon status        # check if already running
openclaw gateway status       # check port conflicts
openclaw gateway --force      # kill existing listener, then start

Gateway crashes on start:

bash

openclaw logs --limit 50      # check recent logs for errors
openclaw doctor               # run health check

Platform-specific details: See

references/daemon-reference.md

Updates

Check for Updates

bash

openclaw update status        # current vs latest, channel info

Apply Update

bash

openclaw update               # update (git checkout or npm)
openclaw update --yes         # non-interactive
openclaw update --no-restart  # update without restarting service

Channel Management

bash

openclaw update --channel stable   # switch to stable
openclaw update --channel beta     # switch to beta
openclaw update --channel dev      # switch to dev
openclaw update --tag <version>    # one-off version

Post-Update Verification

bash

openclaw daemon status        # service running?
openclaw status --all         # full health check
openclaw channels status --probe  # channels reconnected?

Log Management

View Logs

bash

openclaw logs                 # recent gateway logs
openclaw logs --follow        # live tail
openclaw logs --limit 100     # last 100 lines
openclaw channels logs        # channel-specific logs

Log Rotation / Cleanup

bash

du -sh ~/.openclaw/logs/      # check log size
ls -lah ~/.openclaw/logs/     # list log files

If error log > 10MB:

bash

# Rotate the error log
mv ~/.openclaw/logs/error.log ~/.openclaw/logs/error.log.$(date +%Y%m%d)
openclaw daemon restart       # restart to create fresh log

Clean old rotated logs:

bash

ls -t ~/.openclaw/logs/error.log.* 2>/dev/null | tail -n +4  # keep 3 most recent

Cron Job Management

View Jobs

bash

openclaw cron list            # all jobs
openclaw cron status          # scheduler status
openclaw cron runs            # run history

Manage Jobs

bash

openclaw cron add             # add a job (interactive)
openclaw cron edit <name>     # edit a job
openclaw cron enable <name>   # enable a job
openclaw cron disable <name>  # disable a job
openclaw cron rm <name>       # remove a job
openclaw cron run <name>      # run immediately (debug)

Cron expression syntax and job schema: See

references/cron-reference.md

Session Management

View Sessions

bash

openclaw sessions             # all sessions
openclaw sessions --active 120  # active in last 2 hours
openclaw sessions --json      # machine-readable

Session Cleanup

Old sessions consume disk. Clean periodically:

bash

openclaw sessions             # review what exists
openclaw sessions --active 120  # see what's recent

Memory Index Maintenance

Check Index Health

bash

openclaw memory status --deep   # full index status

Healthy index: Not dirty, chunk count > 0, file count > 0, agent name matches.

Reindex

bash

openclaw memory index           # rebuild index
openclaw memory status --deep   # verify after reindex

When to reindex:

After manually adding/removing files from
```
~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/
```
When
```
memory status --deep
```
shows dirty flag
When search returns stale or missing results
After agent name change

Sandbox Management

View Containers

bash

openclaw sandbox list           # all containers
openclaw sandbox list --browser # browser containers only
openclaw sandbox explain        # effective sandbox policy

Recreate Containers

bash

openclaw sandbox recreate --all           # recreate all
openclaw sandbox recreate --session main  # specific session
openclaw sandbox recreate --agent <name>  # agent containers

When to recreate:

After changing sandbox config
Container in error state
After Docker image update

Disk Usage

Check Sizes

bash

du -sh ~/.openclaw/           # total
du -sh ~/.openclaw/logs/      # logs
du -sh ~/.openclaw/workspace/ # workspace
du -sh ~/.openclaw/state/     # state

Cleanup Targets

Path	Safe to Clean	How
`~/.openclaw/logs/error.log.*`	Yes (rotated logs)	`rm` old rotated logs
`~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak*`	Yes (config backups)	Keep latest, remove rest
`~/.openclaw/state/`	Mostly (old state files)	Review before removing

Maintenance Schedules

Daily (automated via cron):

Heartbeat fires (if configured)
Sessions auto-expire

Weekly:

bash

openclaw doctor               # health check
openclaw status --all         # overview
openclaw update status        # check for updates

Monthly:

bash

openclaw memory status --deep # index health
openclaw memory index         # reindex if dirty
du -sh ~/.openclaw/logs/      # log size check
openclaw update               # apply updates

As needed:

bash

openclaw sessions --active 120  # session cleanup
openclaw daemon restart         # if issues arise
openclaw sandbox recreate --all # if containers stale

Full playbooks: See

references/maintenance-playbooks.md

References

```
references/daemon-reference.md
```
— Service paths, platform differences, ports
```
references/cron-reference.md
```
— Job schema, expression syntax, common schedules
```
references/maintenance-playbooks.md
```
— Step-by-step runbooks

Related Skills

openclaw-doctor
— Run a health audit to identify maintenance needs
openclaw-admin
— Apply config changes with verify-apply-verify discipline
openclaw-extend
— Add plugins, channels, nodes, webhooks

openclaw-maintain

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

OpenClaw Maintain — Keep It Running

Scope

Daemon Management

Status Check

Lifecycle Commands

Troubleshooting

Updates

Check for Updates

Apply Update

Channel Management

Post-Update Verification

Log Management

View Logs

Log Rotation / Cleanup

Cron Job Management

View Jobs

Manage Jobs

Session Management

View Sessions

Session Cleanup

Memory Index Maintenance

Check Index Health

Reindex

Sandbox Management

View Containers

Recreate Containers

Disk Usage

Check Sizes

Cleanup Targets

Maintenance Schedules

References

Related Skills