Real story · Digital preservation
We backed up years of photos, email, and devices
Long backups ran across several apps and computers without losing track of the files.
Why this gets messy
A personal archive is not one download. Cloud exports take hours. Photo copies can miss files. Devices disconnect halfway through.
The hard part is knowing what exists, what copied, where it went, and whether it still opens. Terminal history and handwritten notes are not enough.
Put the whole job in one place
October kept every source, destination, copy job, check, and error on one canvas. Agents worked on different machines but shared the same file list.
Give each agent one clear job
Device inventory
Gemini · Primary laptop. Listed devices, accounts, storage, and missing items.
Transfer worker
Goose · Backup server. Ran long copies and reported progress, failures, and checksums.
Email export
Codex · Archive worktree. Processed email exports and checked that the files opened.
Source research
Browser Use · Browser workspace. Found the official export steps for each account.
Keep every handoff visible
List everything first
Inventory agent. We listed every account, device, date range, and file type before copying anything.
Choose where it goes
Person running it. A person chose the storage, file names, access rules, and what had to stay on the device.
Copy and check
Transfer agents. Agents reported progress and errors. Separate checks counted files, compared checksums, and opened samples.
Write down the result
Archive agent. The final list showed where each collection lived, when it copied, how it was checked, and what was missing.
You still make the important calls
Account credentials stayed on the machine that owned them.
Backup agents were never allowed to delete source files.
A person reviewed missing items before marking a collection complete.
What changed
Anyone in the family could see which copy was running and what still needed checking without reading terminal logs.
The work survived closed laptops and handoffs because the shared canvas held the state.