Obsidian Conversation Backup

Automatically backs up Clawdbot conversations to Obsidian with beautiful chat-style formatting. Prevents data loss from

/new

resets with hourly incremental snapshots.

Features

Incremental backups: Hourly snapshots of new messages only (no duplication)
Chat formatting: Obsidian callouts with emojis, timestamps, proper multi-paragraph support
Hourly breakdowns: Organize conversations by clock hour for easy reference
Zero token cost: Pure shell scripting, no LLM calls
Smart filtering: Skips empty messages and system notifications

Quick Setup

Installation

# Extract the skill (if downloaded as .skill file)
unzip obsidian-conversation-backup.skill
cd obsidian-conversation-backup
Run installer (interactive)

chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

The installer will ask for:

Obsidian vault path
Session directory location
Tracking files location

Or manual setup:

Copy
```
config.example
```
to
```
config
```
Edit
```
config
```
with your paths
Make scripts executable:
```
chmod +x scripts/*.sh
```

Enable Automatic Backups

Add to crontab for hourly backups:

crontab -e
Add this line (runs every hour at :00)

0 * * * * /path/to/obsidian-conversation-backup/scripts/monitor_and_save.sh

Customize Chat Appearance (Optional)

Edit

scripts/format_message_v2.jq

to change:

User emoji (default: 🐉)
Assistant emoji (default: 🦞)
Callout types (default:
```
[!quote]
```
for user,
```
[!check]
```
for assistant)

Usage

Automatic Incremental Backups

Once configured in cron, the system runs automatically:

Every hour:

Checks for new messages (≥10 lines)
Creates incremental snapshot if found
Saves to:
```
YYYY-MM-DD-HHmm-incremental.md
```
Skips if no new conversation

Example output:

2026-01-20-1500-incremental.md (messages from last save to now)
2026-01-20-1600-incremental.md (new messages since 15:00)
2026-01-20-1700-incremental.md (new messages since 16:00)

Protection: Max conversation loss = 1 hour

On-Demand Full Snapshot

Save complete conversation anytime:

scripts/save_full_snapshot.sh [topic-name]

Examples:

scripts/save_full_snapshot.sh important-decisions
scripts/save_full_snapshot.sh bug-fix-discussion
scripts/save_full_snapshot.sh  # uses "full-conversation" as default

Hourly Breakdown (Organization)

Create organized breakdown by clock hour:

scripts/create_hourly_snapshots.sh YYYY-MM-DD

Example:

scripts/create_hourly_snapshots.sh 2026-01-20

Output:

2026-01-20-1500-hourly.md (15:00-15:59 messages)
2026-01-20-1600-hourly.md (16:00-16:59 messages)
2026-01-20-1700-hourly.md (17:00-17:59 messages)

Use case: End-of-day organization for easy reference

Chat Format

Messages appear as colored Obsidian callouts:

User messages (blue

[!quote]

callout):

> [!quote] 🐉 User · 15:30
> This is my message

Assistant messages (green

[!check]

callout):

> [!check] 🦞 Zoidbot · 15:31  
> This is the response

Features:

Timestamps (HH:MM format)
Multi-paragraph support (uses
```
<br><br>
```
for paragraph breaks)
Proper line wrapping (all lines prefixed with
```
> 
```
)
Empty messages filtered out
System notifications excluded

Token Monitoring

The

monitor_and_save.sh

script also tracks token usage:

Warnings via Telegram:

800k tokens (80%): "Consider /new soon"
900k tokens (90%): "Run /new NOW"

Implementation:

# Sends warning only when crossing threshold (one-time)
# No repeated warnings
# Resets when back under 800k

File Structure

scripts/
├── monitor_and_save.sh           # Hourly incremental backup + token monitoring
├── save_full_snapshot.sh         # On-demand full conversation save
├── create_hourly_snapshots.sh    # Organize by clock hour
└── format_message_v2.jq          # Chat formatting logic

Configuration

Tracking Files

The system uses hidden files to track state:

/root/clawd/.last_save_line_count       # For token monitoring
/root/clawd/.last_snapshot_timestamp    # For incremental saves
/root/clawd/.token_warning_sent         # For warning deduplication

Note: Do not delete these files or incremental backups may duplicate content

Session File Location

Default:

/root/.clawdbot/agents/main/sessions/*.jsonl

If your session files are elsewhere, update the

SESSION_FILE

path in each script.

Troubleshooting

No snapshots being created

Check cron is running:
```
crontab -l
```
Verify script has execute permission:
```
chmod +x scripts/*.sh
```
Check logs: Run manually to see errors

Messages breaking out of callouts

Ensure

format_message_v2.jq

has the

gsub("\n\n"; "<br><br>")

line

Check that all lines have
```
> 
```
prefix
Verify jq is installed:
```
jq --version
```

Duplicated content in snapshots

Delete tracking files and let system reset:

rm /root/clawd/.last_snapshot_timestamp

Empty callout boxes appearing

Update
```
format_message_v2.jq
```
to filter empty messages
Check for the
```
if ($text_content | length) > 0
```
condition

Requirements

jq: JSON parsing (
```
apt-get install jq
```
)
cron: For automatic backups
Obsidian vault: Target directory for markdown files

Advanced Customization

Change Backup Frequency

Edit crontab:

# Every 2 hours
0 */2 * * * /path/to/monitor_and_save.sh
Every 30 minutes
*/30 * * * * /path/to/monitor_and_save.sh
Specific times only (9am, 12pm, 6pm, 9pm)

0 9,12,18,21 * * * /path/to/monitor_and_save.sh

Change Minimum Message Threshold

Edit

monitor_and_save.sh

# Change from 10 to 5 messages minimum
if [[ $new_lines -lt 5 ]]; then

Add More Callout Styles

Obsidian callout types:

```
[!quote]
```
- Blue
```
[!check]
```
- Green
```
[!note]
```
- Cyan
```
[!tip]
```
- Purple
```
[!warning]
```
- Orange
```
[!danger]
```
- Red

Customize Telegram Notifications

Edit

monitor_and_save.sh

to change warning text or add custom notifications.

Best Practices

Run hourly breakdown at end of day - Use as organizational tool, not backup
Keep incremental backups running - This is your safety net
Test scripts after setup - Run manually first to verify output
Backup tracking files - Include
```
.last_snapshot_timestamp
```
in vault backups
Use descriptive topic names - For full snapshots, use meaningful names

Example Workflow

Daily routine:

Automatic incremental backups run hourly (no action needed)

At end of day:

scripts/create_hourly_snapshots.sh 2026-01-20

Review organized hourly files in Obsidian
Delete old incrementals if desired (hourly breakdown covers them)

Before /new reset:

Optional:

scripts/save_full_snapshot.sh before-reset

Run
```
/new
```
safely - conversation is backed up
Continue chatting - incrementals resume automatically

Integration with Clawdbot

This skill works with:

HEARTBEAT.md: Automatic token monitoring
MEMORY.md: Conversation archival system
Telegram integration: Warning notifications
Any Obsidian vault: Works with existing vaults

Credits

Created by the Clawdbot community for reliable conversation backup and beautiful Obsidian formatting.

Backup of conversations to Obsidian

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Obsidian Conversation Backup

Features

Quick Setup

Installation

Run installer (interactive)

Enable Automatic Backups

Add this line (runs every hour at :00)

Customize Chat Appearance (Optional)

Usage

Automatic Incremental Backups

On-Demand Full Snapshot

Hourly Breakdown (Organization)

Chat Format

Token Monitoring

File Structure

Configuration

Tracking Files

Session File Location

Troubleshooting

No snapshots being created

Messages breaking out of callouts

Duplicated content in snapshots

Empty callout boxes appearing

Requirements

Advanced Customization

Change Backup Frequency

Every 30 minutes

Specific times only (9am, 12pm, 6pm, 9pm)

Change Minimum Message Threshold

Add More Callout Styles

Customize Telegram Notifications

Best Practices

Example Workflow

Integration with Clawdbot

Credits

Quick Start

Manual Installation

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