Getting Started with ClawDNA

ClawDNA is an open-source CLI that treats your AI agent's personality, skills, config, and memory as a portable, versionable artifact. Snapshot your agent's identity, sync it across machines, and deploy fleet-wide updates — all without risking the personality you spent weeks building.

Architecture

ClawDNA consists of three discrete components that can be used independently or together:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     clawdna CLI (OSS)                       │
│  snapshot · restore · push · pull · diff · clone · fleet    │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │  speaks to one of:
        ┌───────────────┼───────────────────┐
        │               │                   │
        v               v                   v
  ┌──────────┐   ┌─────────────┐   ┌──────────────────┐
  │ Local FS │   │ Git Remote  │   │ ClawDNA Cloud    │
  │ (no hub) │   │ (self-host) │   │ (hosted, paid)   │
  └──────────┘   └─────────────┘   └──────────────────┘

• CLI — TypeScript + Node.js, published to npm. Runs on your machine, manages identity files, communicates with the hub.
• Git Hub — Any standard Git remote (GitHub, GitLab, Gitea). Free. The CLI handles all Git operations internally via isomorphic-git.
• ClawDNA Cloud — Cloudflare Workers API + R2 storage. Hosted sync hub with memory distillation, fleet management, and team features.

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 22
• pnpm (recommended) or npm

Install

$ npm install -g @clawco-io/dna

Updating

To update ClawDNA to the latest version:

$ npm install -g @clawco-io/dna

To safely update your agent's runtime (OpenClaw) while protecting your identity, use the built-in clawdna upgrade command instead — it auto-snapshots before the update and verifies identity integrity after.

$ clawdna upgrade

Quick Start

1. Initialize ClawDNA in your agent workspace

$ clawdna init

The init wizard detects your agent workspace and walks you through hub configuration (Cloud, Git remote, or local-only).

2. Create your first identity snapshot

$ clawdna snapshot --name "initial-setup"

This creates a timestamped .dna bundle — a compressed tarball containing all identity files plus a manifest with metadata.

3. Push your identity to the configured hub

$ clawdna push

Your identity is now safely synced. Other environments can pull it, or you can fleet-push to all registered machines at once.

Local Development

$ git clone https://github.com/triplehelix/clawdna.git
$ cd clawdna
$ pnpm install
$ pnpm build

Monorepo Structure

Next Steps

• CLI Reference — All 14 commands with flags and examples
• Concepts — Identity files, bundles, sync protocol, environments
• Security — Secrets sanitizer, encryption, permissions
• API Reference — Cloud API endpoints