Agent skill

Idrive Backup

A skill your agent uses whenever the user wants you to manage, discuss or diagnose iDrive Backup configuration on macOS

Apache-2.0Auto-check: notesDevOps & Cloud

Install Idrive Backup

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sammcj/agentic-coding idrive-backup --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup .claude/skills/idrive-backup && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "idrive-backup" agent skill from https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding/tree/main/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup into .claude/skills/idrive-backup/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idrive-backup", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding/tree/main/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sammcj/agentic-coding idrive-backup --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup .agents/skills/idrive-backup && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "idrive-backup" agent skill from https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding/tree/main/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup into .agents/skills/idrive-backup/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idrive-backup", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sammcj/agentic-coding idrive-backup --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup .cursor/skills/idrive-backup && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "idrive-backup" agent skill from https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding/tree/main/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup into .cursor/skills/idrive-backup/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idrive-backup", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git --path Skills_disabled/idrive-backup

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sammcj/agentic-coding idrive-backup --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup .gemini/skills/idrive-backup && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "idrive-backup" agent skill from https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding/tree/main/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup into .gemini/skills/idrive-backup/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idrive-backup", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sammcj/agentic-coding idrive-backup

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup .github/skills/idrive-backup && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "idrive-backup" agent skill from https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding/tree/main/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup into .github/skills/idrive-backup/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idrive-backup", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install sammcj/agentic-coding idrive-backup --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup .opencode/skills/idrive-backup && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "idrive-backup" agent skill from https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding/tree/main/Skills_disabled/idrive-backup into .opencode/skills/idrive-backup/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "idrive-backup", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: idrive-backup
GitHub stars: 162
Token cost: ~1.7k tokens
SKILL.md length: 604 words
Files: 3 (incl. scripts, references)
Skills in repo: 64
Repo updated: Oct 9, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

A skill your agent uses whenever the user wants you to manage, discuss or diagnose iDrive Backup configuration on macOS

Works in 6 steps: Back up before modifying. The tool does… → Only modify User Specified exclusions.… → Preserve plist key quirks exactly. Two… → …
The user wants you to manage
SKILL.md covers The Tool, Safety Rules, Five Exclusion Maps and Key Gotchas, plus 1 more section
Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python3

What it does

Idrive Backup is an agent skill from sammcj/agentic-coding. Use this skill whenever the user wants you to manage, discuss or diagnose iDrive Backup configuration on macOS

Its SKILL.md is about 1.7k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 4 other files, including scripts and reference files (for example `references/idrive-config.md` and `scripts/idrive_tool.py`).

It sits in DevOps & Cloud, covering Backup and disaster recovery. It works with macOS. The repository describes itself as: Agentic Coding Rules, Templates etc... The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

The user wants you to manage
Diagnose iDrive Backup configuration on macOS

Example prompts

“/idrive-backup”

Requirements

Python 3
Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Edit, Write, Bash, Glob, Grep

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

Back up before modifying. The tool does this automatically. Manual changes must copy both appDefaultSettings.plist and…
Only modify User Specified exclusions. The other four maps (Default, Partial File, User Profile, Propagated) are system-managed and will…
Preserve plist key quirks exactly. Two keys have trailing spaces: ShowHiddenFilesKey and PowerAfterScheduledJob . One has a typo…
Never modify IDLoginDetails.plist, Sync.plist, LDB_NEW/*.ib databases, or anything under Operation/ (root-owned daemon files).
Exclusion values are always int(1). Presence in the map means excluded. Never write a 0 value; delete the key instead.
All User Specified paths must be absolute. No tildes, no trailing slashes, no relative paths.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 2f25ced. 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
- Edit
- Write
- Bash
- Glob
- Grep
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Ships 1 file in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- python3
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 no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Idrive Backup loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs, and up to ~5.2k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 31 tokens; SKILL.md has 604 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~31
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.7k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them: ~5.2k

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

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
```
allowed-tools: Read, Edit, Write, Bash, Glob, Grep
```

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 sammcj/agentic-coding at commit 2f25ced, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© sammcj). 604 words, ~1,718 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/idrive-backup/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: idrive-backup
description: Use this skill whenever the user wants you to manage, discuss or diagnose iDrive Backup configuration on macOS
allowed-tools: Read, Edit, Write, Bash, Glob, Grep
disable-model-invocation: true

iDrive Backup for macOS

iDrive stores all configuration at ~/Library/Application Support/IDriveforMac/. The username is the iDrive account email (e.g. user@example.com), detected from the top-level key in appDefaultSettings.plist.

The Tool

This skill bundles scripts/idrive_tool.py which handles all iDrive operations with correct matching semantics, symlink resolution, and safety backups. Run it with:

bash

python3 <skill-path>/scripts/idrive_tool.py <command> [args...]

Commands

Command	Description
`check-exclusion <path>`	Check if a path is excluded and by which rules. Reports backup scope too
`check-scope <path>`	Check if a path falls under any backup reference path
`list-exclusions [--category <name>]`	List exclusion entries. Categories: Default, Partial File, User Profile, User Specified, Propagated
`add-exclusion <path>`	Add absolute path to User Specified exclusions (auto-backups config first)
`remove-exclusion <path>`	Remove path from User Specified exclusions
`show-settings`	Display all scalar settings with current values
`set-setting <key> <value>`	Modify a setting (auto-detects type from existing value)
`account-status`	Show quota, usage, encryption type, plan, app version
`last-backup`	Parse recent LOGXML files and show backup status/results
`find-redundant`	Find exclusion paths made redundant by a parent path in any map
`clean-redundant`	Remove redundant entries from User Specified exclusions
`list-backup-paths`	List all online backup reference paths
`add-backup-path <path>`	Add a directory to backup reference
`remove-backup-path <path>`	Remove a directory from backup reference
`backup-config`	Create timestamped backup copies of config files

Safety Rules

Back up before modifying. The tool does this automatically. Manual changes must copy both appDefaultSettings.plist and <username>/backupReferenceFile.plist to ~/.idrive-backup/backups/ with timestamps first.
Only modify User Specified exclusions. The other four maps (Default, Partial File, User Profile, Propagated) are system-managed and will be overwritten by iDrive.
Preserve plist key quirks exactly. Two keys have trailing spaces: ShowHiddenFilesKey and PowerAfterScheduledJob . One has a typo: NotifyFaiulreValue. The editable exclusion map key is User specified Exclusion (lowercase 's'). Getting any of these wrong creates orphaned keys.
Never modify IDLoginDetails.plist, Sync.plist, LDB_NEW/*.ib databases, or anything under Operation/ (root-owned daemon files).
Exclusion values are always int(1). Presence in the map means excluded. Never write a 0 value; delete the key instead.
All User Specified paths must be absolute. No tildes, no trailing slashes, no relative paths.

Show full SKILL.md (261 more words)Show less

Five Exclusion Maps

Map	Plist Key	Count	Matching	Editable
Default	`Default Exclusion`	~24	Exact/parent path	No
Partial File	`Partial File Exclusion`	~41	Substring of full path OR exact filename	No
User Profile	`User Profile Default Exclusion`	~7	Exact/parent path	No
User Specified	`User specified Exclusion`	100-2000+	Exact/parent path	Yes
Propagated	`Propagated Files Exclusion`	Usually 0	Exact/parent path	No (web console)

Partial File Exclusion is substring-based. This is the trickiest map. A pattern like .cache matches both /Users/foo/.cache and /path/to/download_cache. Patterns are relative names (never absolute paths), including dotfile dirs (.git, .venv), filename patterns (fp16.bin, safetensors), and one with a separator (pkg/mod).

Key Gotchas

Mixed boolean types. Some settings use <true/>/<false/>, others use <integer>0</integer>/<integer>1</integer> for the same concept. The tool handles this; if modifying manually, match the existing type.
Symlinks/firmlinks. ~/Desktop may resolve to ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Desktop when iCloud Desktop is enabled. Always resolve with os.path.realpath() before comparing paths.
CDP log filenames have a leading space. iDrive bug: Continuous Data Protection logs in SessionLogsNew/Backup/ are named MM-DD-YYYY-00-00-00 (note leading space). Account for this when globbing or reading.
Some files are root-owned. Operation/Backup/IBThrottle, LDB_NEW/*.ib, and some plists are written by the iDrive daemon as root. Reading is fine; writing requires elevated privileges you shouldn't use.
The appDefaultSettings.plist can be large. User Specified Exclusion alone can have 1,800+ entries (mostly auto-populated ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.* paths). The plist file can exceed 170 KB.

Detailed Reference

For detailed file format information, all 22+ scalar settings with types and descriptions, secondary file formats (logs, size files, sync config), or the complete directory layout, read references/idrive-config.md.

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (scripts, references) in Skills_disabled/idrive-backup of sammcj/agentic-coding.

SKILL.md
references/idrive-config.md
scripts/idrive_tool.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 2f25ced

Compare with similar skills

Idrive Backup next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Idrive Backup compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Idrive Backup this skillsammcj/agentic-coding	162	—	~1.7k	Automated safety check: Notes	Apache-2.0	today
Computer Repair88lin/computer-repair-skill	352	1 repos	~1.2k	Automated safety check: Warn	AGPL-3.0	4 days ago
Openclaw Live Updateropenclaw/openclaw	392k	—	~3.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
OmniRoute Backup and Sync CLIdiegosouzapw/OmniRoute	74k	—	~948	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Reproduce macOS Python FlavorsNuitka/Nuitka	15k	—	~1.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	AGPL-3.0	yesterday
Pymobiledevice3 Device Operatordoronz88/pymobiledevice3	2.9k	—	~1.8k	Automated safety check: Notes	GPL-3.0	yesterday

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Questions about Idrive Backup

What does Idrive Backup do?

A skill your agent uses whenever the user wants you to manage, discuss or diagnose iDrive Backup configuration on macOS. Idrive Backup is an agent skill from sammcj/agentic-coding.

When should I use Idrive Backup?

Idrive Backup fits situations like: the user wants you to manage; diagnose iDrive Backup configuration on macOS.

How do I install Idrive Backup in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (Skills_disabled/idrive-backup in sammcj/agentic-coding) into .claude/skills/idrive-backup in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Idrive Backup in Codex?

Run `npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (Skills_disabled/idrive-backup in sammcj/agentic-coding) into .agents/skills/idrive-backup in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Idrive Backup in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill idrive-backup -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/idrive-backup, .gemini/skills/idrive-backup, .github/skills/idrive-backup and .opencode/skills/idrive-backup in your project.

What does Idrive Backup need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Idrive Backup needs Python for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (python3). Our summary lists: Python 3. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Edit, Write, Bash, Glob, Grep.

Does Idrive Backup access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Idrive Backup safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: bash)), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Idrive Backup use?

Idrive Backup is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Idrive Backup use?

About 1.7k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 3.4k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Idrive Backup?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Idrive Backup: Computer Repair (88lin/computer-repair-skill, 352 stars), Openclaw Live Updater (openclaw/openclaw, 392k stars), OmniRoute Backup and Sync CLI (diegosouzapw/OmniRoute, 74k stars) and Reproduce macOS Python Flavors (Nuitka/Nuitka, 15k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Idrive Backup?

sammcj (a GitHub user) maintains it in sammcj/agentic-coding, which has 162 GitHub stars. The repository holds 64 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

Source: sammcj/agentic-coding on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Idrive Backup

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

iDrive Backup for macOS

The Tool

Commands

Safety Rules

Five Exclusion Maps

Key Gotchas

Detailed Reference

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from sammcj/agentic-coding

Related

Questions about Idrive Backup