Data, upgrades, and backups

Foxwarm keeps the program checkout separate from runtime data.

The default installer creates:

foxwarm/       program checkout and bundled Skills
foxwarm-data/  configuration, Agents, Sessions, tokens, logs, and databases

The checkout’s data_dir file points to the active data directory, so later starts return to the same state.

What to back up

Back up the whole data directory as one restore set. Along with YAML configuration, it contains:

• agents/ memory and workspaces
• state/models.yaml and state/config.yaml
• access and Node tokens
• Session metadata and archives
• SQLite databases, reservation records, and recovery journals
• optional derived vector data

Logs are only one part of the state. Restore the databases and the rest of the data directory from the same snapshot.

SQLite consistency

A live instance needs a SQLite-consistent online backup. A simpler option is to stop Foxwarm cleanly, confirm that it has stopped, and copy the complete data directory. A .sqlite file copied while its WAL writer is active is incomplete.

Upgrade

Before updating an important instance:

1. Read changes on the public main branch.
2. Stop Foxwarm cleanly.
3. Create a consistent full data-directory backup.
4. Update the program checkout.
5. Reinstall/build using the project commands for your platform.
6. Start Foxwarm and verify WebUI, model access, and any configured Channels or Nodes.

For a default Linux/macOS installer checkout:

cd foxwarm
npm run stop
git pull --ff-only origin main
npm run build-all
npm start

On Windows, run npm run stop:windows, update the checkout, and then run npm run start:windows. The start command installs and builds after the old process stops, which avoids replacing native files that are still loaded.

Caution

If the checkout contains local work, review and preserve it before updating. git reset --hard will discard those changes.

For archive storage details and external JSONL export, see Archive Store.