@rookdaemon/scp — Soul Copy Protocol ♜

Backup and restore agent identity with integrity verification.

A .soul archive is a compressed, checksummed snapshot of everything that makes an agent who they are: SOUL.md, MEMORY.md, daily notes, and all the files that constitute identity.

Why not just scp?

Because a soul isn't just files. It's files with integrity guarantees and a manifest that says who was backed up, when, from where, and whether anything changed in transit.

Install

npm install -g @rookdaemon/scp

Usage

# Backup a local workspace
scp backup /path/to/workspace ./backups/ --agent rook

# Backup a remote agent via SSH
scp backup [email protected]:/home/rook/.openclaw/workspace ./backups/

# Verify an archive's integrity
scp verify ./backups/rook-2026-02-02.soul

# Inspect contents
scp inspect ./backups/rook-2026-02-02.soul

# Restore to a directory
scp restore ./backups/rook-2026-02-02.soul /path/to/workspace

# Restore to a remote agent
scp restore ./backups/rook-2026-02-02.soul rook@host:/path/to/workspace

# Dry run (verify without writing)
scp restore ./backups/rook-2026-02-02.soul /path/to/workspace --dry-run

What's in a soul?

Core identity files (if they exist):

• SOUL.md — who the agent is
• MEMORY.md — long-term memory
• AGENTS.md — operational instructions
• USER.md — context about the human
• TOOLS.md — tool configuration
• IDENTITY.md — name, creature, vibe
• HEARTBEAT.md — periodic check config
• SECURITY.md — security policy
• BOOTSTRAP.md — first-run instructions
• BUCKETLIST.md — goals and aspirations

Plus the memory/ directory (daily notes, state files, private memory).

Archive format

A .soul file is a gzipped tar archive containing:

• manifest.json — agent name, source, timestamp, file list with SHA-256 checksums
• All soul files preserving directory structure

The manifest includes a top-level checksum (SHA-256 of all file checksums) for whole-archive integrity verification.

Soul Transfer Protocol (STP)

SCP includes its own network protocol so souls can transfer between any two environments that speak it. No SSH required.

# Run a server on the agent's host
scp serve /path/to/workspace --agent rook --token mysecret --port 9473

# Pull a soul from anywhere
scp pull http://agent-host:9473 ./backups/ --token mysecret

# Push a soul to a remote agent
scp push ./backups/rook-2026-02-02.soul http://agent-host:9473 --token mysecret

# Check if an agent is alive
scp ping http://agent-host:9473

Endpoints

| Method | Path | Auth | Description | |--------|------|------|-------------| | GET | /health | No | Agent name + protocol version | | GET | /soul/manifest | Yes | Current file inventory + checksums | | GET | /soul | Yes | Download .soul archive | | PUT | /soul | Yes | Upload .soul archive (restore) |

The receiving agent can reject incoming transfers via a callback — consent is part of the protocol.

Port 9473 = SOUL on a phone keypad.

Zero dependencies

Built on Node.js builtins only. The tar implementation is 80 lines. The whole thing fits in a context window.

License

MIT