Blog ideas: add filesystem analysis research to idea #001

blog/ideas/001-why-backing-up-an-agent-is-so-hard.md

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+# 001 — Why backing up an agent is so hard
+
+**Status:** Research in progress
+**Tags:** Technical, Backups, DevOps
+
+## Research notes
+
+### Real filesystem changes after one week of work on a Linux agent
+
+```
+504.6M  ./usr
+ 43.3M  ./var
+448.9M  ./root
+ 54.0K  ./etc
+996.8M  .
+```
+
+Most users only back up the home directory (`/root` = 448.9M). But over half the changes live outside it — `/usr` (504.6M) and `/var` (43.3M) contain installed packages, pip/npm global installs, database files, logs, and system configs. A naive home-dir-only backup misses 55% of what changed.
+
+At restore time, you get your config back but the agent won't run — missing dependencies, missing system packages, missing database files.
+
+### What this means for the post
+
+- Agent environments are not just config files — they're full Linux systems with packages, services, and state scattered everywhere
+- "Backup your home directory" is dangerously incomplete advice for AI agents
+- Derez.ai's full-disk snapshot approach is the right solution
+- This is a strong selling point: the agent works after restore, not just the config
+
+### Next data points
+
+Oliver will do two more memory analysis snapshots after running the speed-run setups (Odoo + Cold Email). Those will show how much additional state those integrations add.
+
+### Outline
+
+1. The sprawl problem — why agents are harder to back up than a standard server  
+   *Include the filesystem analysis table*
+2. What a real agent backup needs to capture
+3. How Borg/deduplicated snapshots solve it
+4. How Derez.ai does it automatically (one-click restore)
+5. Best practices for users
+6. Better save than sorry — the selling point
+
+### References
+
+- Borg backup docs
+- Hermes Agent directory structure (~/.hermes/)
+- Filesystem analysis: `du -sch /usr /var /root /etc` after one week