Canifi Backup

Overview

The Canifi Backup skill creates comprehensive backups of your entire LifeOS system with a single command. It packages your configuration, skills, and Claude settings into a timestamped ZIP file stored at your preferred destination.

Why This Skill is Required:

• Protects your custom skills and configurations from loss
• Enables easy migration to new machines
• Provides restore points before major changes
• Ensures your LifeOS investment is never lost

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Privacy & Authentication

Your credentials, your choice. Canifi LifeOS respects your privacy.

Option 1: Manual Browser Login (Recommended)

If you prefer not to share credentials with Claude Code:

1. Complete the Browser Automation Setup using CDP mode
2. Login to the service manually in the Playwright-controlled Chrome window
3. Claude will use your authenticated session without ever seeing your password

Option 2: Environment Variables

If you're comfortable sharing credentials, you can store them locally:

canifi-env set SERVICE_EMAIL "your-email"
canifi-env set SERVICE_PASSWORD "your-password"

Note: Credentials stored in canifi-env are only accessible locally on your machine and are never transmitted.

What Gets Backed Up

The backup includes three critical directories:

1. Claude Configuration (~/.claude/)

• CLAUDE.md - Your global Claude instructions
• settings.json - Claude Code settings
• projects/ - Project-specific configurations
• All custom configurations

2. Global Skills (~/.claude/skills/)

• All installed skills (including auto-generated ones)
• Custom skill modifications
• Skill configurations

3. Canifi Scripts (~/canifi/)

• iMessage integration scripts
• Helper scripts
• Custom automation scripts

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First-Time Setup

On your first backup request, Canifi will ask for your backup destination:

User: "canifi backup"

Canifi: "This is your first backup. Where would you like to store backups?

Please provide a full path, for example:
- ~/Backups/canifi
- ~/Documents/CanifiBackups
- /Volumes/ExternalDrive/Backups

I'll remember this location for future backups."

User: "~/Backups/canifi"

Canifi: "Got it! I'll store backups at ~/Backups/canifi

Saving this to your global CLAUDE.md...
Creating your first backup now..."

The destination is stored in your global ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md file:

## Canifi Backup Configuration

CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION="~/Backups/canifi"

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Usage

Create a Backup

canifi backup

Creates a timestamped backup at your configured destination:

~/Backups/canifi/canifi-backup-2026-01-09-143022.zip

Backup with Custom Name

canifi backup before-major-update

Creates:

~/Backups/canifi/canifi-backup-before-major-update-2026-01-09.zip

Change Backup Destination

canifi backup set destination ~/NewLocation/backups

Updates the destination in your global CLAUDE.md.

List Recent Backups

canifi backup list

Shows recent backups with sizes and dates.

Restore from Backup

canifi backup restore ~/Backups/canifi/canifi-backup-2026-01-09-143022.zip

Restores files from a backup (with confirmation prompts).

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Backup Workflow

Step 1: Check for Destination

First, check if CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION exists in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md:

grep "CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION" ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

If not found, prompt user for destination.

Step 2: Store Destination (First Time Only)

Append to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md:

cat >> ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md << 'EOF'

## Canifi Backup Configuration

CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION="[USER_PROVIDED_PATH]"
EOF

Step 3: Create Backup Directory

mkdir -p "$CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION"

Step 4: Generate Timestamp

TIMESTAMP=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d-%H%M%S")
BACKUP_NAME="canifi-backup-${TIMESTAMP}.zip"

Step 5: Create ZIP Archive

cd ~
zip -r "$CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION/$BACKUP_NAME" \
  .claude/ \
  canifi/ \
  -x "*.DS_Store" \
  -x "*node_modules/*" \
  -x "*.git/*"

Step 6: Verify and Report

# Check file was created
ls -lh "$CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION/$BACKUP_NAME"

# Report to user
echo "Backup complete: $BACKUP_NAME"
echo "Location: $CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION"
echo "Size: $(du -h "$CANIFI_BACKUP_DESTINATION/$BACKUP_NAME" | cut -f1)"

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Restore Workflow

Step 1: Confirm with User

WARNING: Restoring will overwrite existing files:
- ~/.claude/
- ~/canifi/

Current files will be backed up to ~/.canifi-restore-backup/ first.

Proceed? (yes/no)

Step 2: Backup Current State

mkdir -p ~/.canifi-restore-backup
cp -r ~/.claude ~/.canifi-restore-backup/
cp -r ~/canifi ~/.canifi-restore-backup/

Step 3: Extract Archive

cd ~
unzip -o "$BACKUP_FILE"

Step 4: Verify Restore

echo "Restore complete!"
echo "Your previous configuration was backed up to ~/.canifi-res

...