How to Migrate From Self-Hosted OpenClaw to Managed Hermes

How do you migrate from OpenClaw to myHermy?

You migrate from self-hosted OpenClaw to myHermy using the built-in one-click migration wizard, which moves your existing agent onto a managed, dedicated Hetzner VPS without a manual rebuild. Your agent's identity and configuration — including its SOUL.md persona file, MEMORY.md long-term memory, installed skills, and command allowlists — carry over, so the agent you've tuned keeps behaving like itself on the new infrastructure. You keep full root SSH and ownership of the machine; you stop running the servers yourself.

The goal of the migration is continuity: same agent, same memory, same permissions — now with daily backups, one-click version switching, and OAuth subscription bridging on top.

Why migrate off self-hosted OpenClaw?

Migrate when the operational overhead of self-hosting starts costing more than the convenience is worth. Self-hosted OpenClaw is free and fully open-source, and that's a real strength. But you're personally responsible for the server, OS hardening, TLS, backups, uptime, and every upgrade. Teams typically move when one of these becomes painful:

• Backups are ad hoc or missing. myHermy gives you daily snapshot backups with 7-day retention and one-click restore — no scripts to maintain.
• Inference costs are stacking up. On self-host you bring your own API key and pay per-token. myHermy lets you bridge an existing ChatGPT Plus, Claude Max, GitHub Copilot, or SuperGrok subscription instead.
• Upgrades are risky. myHermy offers one-click version switching, so moving between versions and rolling back is a button, not a build.
• Uptime is your problem. A managed VPS removes the on-call burden while still giving you root.

You don't give up control to get these — you keep root SSH and a VPS you own. You just stop doing the undifferentiated infrastructure work.

What actually transfers

The migration moves the parts of your agent that define how it thinks and what it's allowed to do:

• SOUL.md — your agent's persona. Its personality, tone, and behavioral instructions transfer so the migrated agent keeps the same character.
• MEMORY.md — long-term memory. The persistent context your agent accumulated comes across, so it remembers what it learned before the move.
• Skills. Installed capabilities transfer so the agent's toolset is intact on day one.
• Command allowlists. The commands your agent is permitted to run transfer too, preserving your guardrails rather than resetting them.

In short: persona, memory, capabilities, and permissions move together.

The migration, step by step

1. Start from the dashboard. Open the migration wizard and point it at your existing OpenClaw setup. The wizard handles the OpenClaw to Hermes path for you.
2. Review what transfers. The wizard surfaces SOUL.md, MEMORY.md, skills, and command allowlists so you can confirm before anything is applied.
3. Apply. Confirm and let the wizard provision your dedicated Hetzner VPS and bring your agent up with its identity and config in place.
4. Connect your inference source. Instead of pasting an API key, use OAuth subscription bridging to connect ChatGPT Plus, Claude Max, GitHub Copilot, or SuperGrok. (Bring-your-own-key remains an option.)
5. Verify and rely on backups. Confirm the agent behaves as expected via the web terminal, then rely on automatic daily snapshots going forward.

What to expect after you migrate

• You still have root. Full root SSH and a web terminal mean you can inspect, install, and tweak exactly as you did when self-hosting — migrating to managed does not lock you into a container the way container-based hosts do.
• Backups are automatic. Daily snapshots with 7-day retention and one-click restore replace whatever routine, or gap, you had.
• Versioning is one click. Move forward or roll back without rebuilding.
• Inference can get cheaper. Bridge an existing subscription and you stop paying per-token rates on top of hosting.
• You can still leave. With root SSH and full data export on a VPS you own, nothing about migrating traps your data.

What won't change: your agent's persona, memory, skills, and allowlists. That's the whole point.

Frequently asked questions

Will my agent lose its memory or personality? No. The migration transfers SOUL.md and MEMORY.md along with your skills and command allowlists, so the migrated agent keeps its identity, what it has learned, its capabilities, and its guardrails.

Do I have to run migration commands myself? No. myHermy exposes the OpenClaw to Hermes migration as a one-click dashboard wizard, so you don't run it from a shell unless you want to.

Do I lose root access by going managed? No. Unlike container-based managed hosts that provide no SSH, myHermy keeps full root SSH plus a web terminal on a dedicated VPS you own.

Can I keep using my own API key after migrating? Yes — bring-your-own-key still works. But the upgrade most people migrate for is OAuth subscription bridging, which runs your agent on an existing ChatGPT Plus, Claude Max, Copilot, or SuperGrok subscription instead of metered rates.

What if something goes wrong? You get daily snapshot backups with 7-day retention and one-click restore, plus root SSH and the web terminal to inspect the machine directly. One-click version switching lets you roll back a bad version.

Ready to migrate?

Move your OpenClaw agent to managed Hermes in one click — your SOUL.md, MEMORY.md, skills, and allowlists come with you, and you keep root SSH on a VPS you own. Start on myHermy or read why myHermy is the best OpenClaw alternative.