The Problem

After running OpenClaw for a while, you might notice disk space creeping up. Here’s how to identify what’s using space and safely clean it up.

Finding What’s Using Space

Check OpenClaw Directory Size

du -sh ~/.openclaw/

Breakdown by Subdirectory

cd ~/.openclaw
du -h --max-depth=1 | sort -hr

Typical output:

2.1G    ./node_modules
450M    ./completions
120M    ./logs
85M     ./subagents
12M     ./cron
8.2M    ./config

Safe Cleanup Targets

1. Old Completions

Completions (AI-generated responses) accumulate over time:

# Check size
ls -lah ~/.openclaw/completions/

# Remove completions older than 30 days
find ~/.openclaw/completions/ -type f -mtime +30 -delete

2. Log Files

Logs can grow indefinitely:

# Check current logs
ls -lah ~/.openclaw/logs/

# Truncate large logs
> ~/.openclaw/logs/commands.log

# Or archive and clear
tar czf ~/openclaw-logs-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ~/.openclaw/logs/
rm -rf ~/.openclaw/logs/*

3. Subagent History

Subagent sessions store message history:

# Check subagent storage
du -sh ~/.openclaw/subagents/

# Review and remove old sessions
ls -lt ~/.openclaw/subagents/
rm -rf ~/.openclaw/subagents/old-session-id

4. Cache Files

Various caches can be cleared:

# Clear tool result cache
rm -rf ~/.openclaw/.cache/

# Clear any application caches
rm -rf ~/.cache/openclaw/

What NOT to Delete

Never delete:

  • ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json – Your main configuration
  • ~/.openclaw/credentials/ – Stored credentials
  • ~/.openclaw/agents/ – Agent configurations
  • ~/.openclaw/cron/jobs.json – Scheduled tasks

Automated Cleanup Script

Create ~/.openclaw/cleanup.sh:

#!/bin/bash
# OpenClaw maintenance cleanup

echo "Starting OpenClaw cleanup..."

# Clean completions older than 30 days
echo "Cleaning old completions..."
find ~/.openclaw/completions/ -type f -mtime +30 -delete 2>/dev/null

# Rotate logs if over 100MB
LOG_SIZE=$(du -m ~/.openclaw/logs/ 2>/dev/null | cut -f1)
if [ "$LOG_SIZE" -gt 100 ]; then
    echo "Rotating logs (current: ${LOG_SIZE}MB)..."
    tar czf ~/openclaw-logs-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ~/.openclaw/logs/ 2>/dev/null
    > ~/.openclaw/logs/commands.log
fi

# Clean temp files
rm -rf ~/.openclaw/.tmp/* 2>/dev/null

echo "Cleanup complete!"
du -sh ~/.openclaw/

Make executable and run:

chmod +x ~/.openclaw/cleanup.sh
~/.openclaw/cleanup.sh

Setting Up Log Rotation

Using logrotate

Create /etc/logrotate.d/openclaw:

/home/warwick/.openclaw/logs/*.log {
    daily
    missingok
    rotate 7
    compress
    delaycompress
    notifempty
    create 644 warwick warwick
}

Using systemd timer

Create ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-cleanup.service:

[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw Cleanup

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/home/warwick/.openclaw/cleanup.sh

Create ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-cleanup.timer:

[Unit]
Description=Run OpenClaw cleanup weekly

[Timer]
OnCalendar=weekly
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

Enable:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable openclaw-cleanup.timer
systemctl --user start openclaw-cleanup.timer

Expected Storage Usage

ComponentTypical SizeGrowth Rate
Core files~50MBStable
node_modules~2GBPer version
Completions100MB-2GBDepends on usage
Logs10-100MBLinear with activity
Subagents50-500MBDepends on history

Monitoring Disk Usage

Add to your shell profile:

# Show OpenClaw size on login
if [ -d ~/.openclaw ]; then
    SIZE=$(du -sh ~/.openclaw 2>/dev/null | cut -f1)
    echo "OpenClaw storage: $SIZE"
fi

Regular maintenance keeps your OpenClaw installation lean and responsive.