Ephemeral Vs Persistent
Some parts of ScienceClaw are meant to be rebuilt. Other parts are meant to last.
| Layer | Persistence | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Container runtime | Ephemeral | running processes, temporary shell state |
| Image | Rebuildable | installed tools, startup scripts, branding defaults |
| Repository | Persistent | docs, seed workspace, tests, scripts |
| Volumes | Persistent while kept | OpenClaw state, notebooks, outputs |
| External storage | Persistent outside the repo | large data, durable derived artifacts |
| Secrets | Injected, not stored | Slack tokens, API keys |
Safe Rule
If you need it later, put it in one of these durable places:
- the repository,
- a mounted workspace folder,
- a named Docker volume,
- external storage with a manifest.
If it is sensitive, do not put it in git.