Automating Database Backups

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Working with automating database backups
• With automating

Example prompts

• “automate database backups”
• “schedule backups”
• “create backup script”
• “/automating-database-backups”

Requirements

• Python 3
• A Bash shell
• Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Claude Code
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Bash(pg_dump:*), Bash(mysqldump:*), Bash(mongodump:*), Bash(cron:*), Bash(gpg:*)

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

1. 1Gather Requirements
2. 2Generate Backup Script
3. 3Schedule with Cron
4. 4Validate Backup
5. 5Generate Restore Procedure

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit cfae287. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • Read
  • Write
  • Edit
  • Grep
  • Glob
  • Bash(pg_dump:*)
  • Bash(mysqldump:*)
  • Bash(mongodump:*)
  • Bash(cron:*)
  • Bash(gpg:*)

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Ships 6 files in scripts/ (Python and Shell), which the agent can run.

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • python3
  • pg_dump

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

  • MYSQL_PASSWORD

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

• Compatibility

  Designed for Claude Code

  From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Automating Database Backups loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs, and up to ~11k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 121 tokens; SKILL.md has 315 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~121

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.5k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~11k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace at commit cfae287, republished under its MIT licence (© jeremylongshore). 315 words, ~1,452 tokens.

name

automating-database-backups

description

Automate database backup processes with scheduling, compression, and encryption. Supports PostgreSQL (pg_dump), MySQL (mysqldump), MongoDB (mongodump), and SQLite. Generates production-ready backup scripts with retention policies and restore procedures. Trigger: "automate database backups", "schedule backups", "create backup script", "disaster recovery". Use when working with automating database backups. Trigger with 'automating', 'database', 'backups'.

allowed-tools

Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Bash(pg_dump:*), Bash(mysqldump:*), Bash(mongodump:*), Bash(cron:*), Bash(gpg:*)

compatibility

Designed for Claude Code

version

1.26.0

author

Jeremy Longshore <jeremy@intentsolutions.io>

license

MIT

tags

database, postgresql, mysql, mongodb

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/postgresql"
DB_NAME="mydb"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_FILE="${BACKUP_DIR}/${DB_NAME}_${DATE}.sql.gz"

pg_dump -h localhost -U postgres -d "$DB_NAME" \
  --format=custom \
  --compress=9 \
  --file="$BACKUP_FILE"

# Encrypt with GPG (optional)
gpg --symmetric --cipher-algo AES256 --batch --passphrase-file /etc/backup.key "$BACKUP_FILE"
rm "$BACKUP_FILE"

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/mysql"
DB_NAME="mydb"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mysqldump -h localhost -u root -p"${MYSQL_PASSWORD}" \
  --single-transaction \
  --routines \
  --triggers \
  "$DB_NAME" | gzip > "${BACKUP_DIR}/${DB_NAME}_${DATE}.sql.gz"

#!/bin/bash
mongodump --uri="mongodb://localhost:27017" \  # 27017: MongoDB port
  --db=mydb \
  --out=/var/backups/mongodb/$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S) \
  --gzip

python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/backup_script_generator.py \
  --db-type postgresql \
  --database mydb \
  --output /opt/backup-scripts/mydb-backup.sh \
  --compression gzip \
  --encryption gpg

python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/backup_scheduler.py \
  --script /opt/backup-scripts/mydb-backup.sh \
  --schedule "0 2 * * *" \
  --user postgres

python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/backup_validator.py \
  --backup-file /var/backups/postgresql/mydb_20250115.sql.gz \
  --db-type postgresql

python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/restore_script_generator.py \
  --db-type postgresql \
  --database mydb \
  --output /opt/backup-scripts/mydb-restore.sh

# Keep daily backups for 7 days
# Keep weekly backups for 4 weeks
# Keep monthly backups for 12 months

find /var/backups -name "*.gz" -mtime +7 -delete  # Daily cleanup
find /var/backups/weekly -mtime +28 -delete       # Weekly cleanup
find /var/backups/monthly -mtime +365 -delete     # 365: Monthly cleanup

© jeremylongshore, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 15 other files (scripts, references, assets) in skills/.curated/automating-database-backups of jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.

• SKILL.md
• assets/README.md
• config/settings.yaml
• references/README.md
• references/backup_best_practices.md
• references/cron_syntax.md
• references/mongodb_backup_restore.md
• references/mysql_backup_restore.md
• references/postgresql_backup_restore.md
• references/sqlite_backup_restore.md
• scripts/README.md
• scripts/backup-monitoring.sh
• scripts/backup_scheduler.py
• scripts/backup_script_generator.py
• scripts/backup_validator.py
• scripts/restore_script_generator.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit cfae287