A technical workflow for migrating local OpenClaw sub-agents to a remote VPS environment while maintaining configuration integrity and service continuity.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install vps-agent-migration
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install vps-agent-migration using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is VPS Agent Migration?
The VPS Agent Migration skill provides a structured methodology for transitioning locally developed OpenClaw agents—such as creative, dev, qa, or strategist roles—to a remote Virtual Private Server. This ensures that your agents can run persistently in a server-side environment without the limitations of local hardware uptime.
By utilizing this skill, developers can synchronize workspace files and SOUL.md configurations using rsync, automate the injection of Discord bot tokens into remote configurations, and manage routing bindings through the command line. It is a critical component for scaling Openclaw Skills from personal development to production-grade deployment.
VPS Agent Migration Use Cases
- Moving a locally tested creative or dev agent to a 24/7 VPS environment.
- Offloading agent processing from a local machine to a centralized server to save local resources.
- Migrating specialized agents like pojun or strategist while preserving their core logic and personality files.
- Synchronizing environment-specific bindings when deploying agents to remote cloud infrastructure.
How VPS Agent Migration Works
- Connect to the target VPS via SSH and use rsync to transfer the agent directory, specifically excluding transient data like sessions and memory logs.
- Extract the unique Discord Bot Token and Account ID from the local configuration file.
- Execute a Python script on the remote VPS to patch the openclaw.json file with the new account details and streaming settings.
- Update the remote gateway bindings to ensure the migrated agent is correctly routed to its Discord channel.
- Restart the remote OpenClaw gateway to apply the new configurations and bring the agent online.
- Disable the local account instance and restart the local gateway to prevent login conflicts and ensure single-instance integrity.
VPS Agent Migration Setup
Before starting, ensure OpenClaw is installed on the VPS and you have SSH access. You will need the name of the agent you wish to migrate and its corresponding Discord credentials.
# Transfer agent files (excluding sessions and local memory)
rsync -avz --exclude='sessions' --exclude='.DS_Store' --exclude='memory.md' \
~/.openclaw/agents/[agent_name]/ root@VPS_IP:/root/.openclaw/agents/[agent_name]/
# Restart the remote gateway after configuration
sshpass -p 'VPS_PASSWORD' ssh root@VPS_IP "openclaw gateway restart"
VPS Agent Migration Data Schema & Taxonomy
| Data Component | Storage Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Profile | Markdown/File | Includes SOUL.md and workspace files defining the agent's identity. |
| Account Config | JSON | Located in openclaw.json; contains tokens and group policies for Discord. |
| Bindings | JSON Array | Maps specific Agent IDs to Discord account IDs for message routing. |
| Session Data | File (Excluded) | Local interaction history typically excluded during the migration process. |
VPS Agent Migration Advanced Features
- Smart rsync exclusion patterns to prevent copying system-specific files like .DS_Store or heavy session logs.
- Automated remote configuration patching using inline Python execution for safe JSON manipulation.
- Multi-account management support for deploying multiple Openclaw Skills to a single VPS.
- Granular control over the requireMention toggle to ensure agents respond appropriately in different guild contexts.
- Local conflict resolution by programmatically disabling redundant accounts after successful migration.
SKILL.md
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