Managing backups is one of those tasks that is always important but rarely exciting. Checking job statuses, verifying that VMs are protected, or triggering a quick backup usually means logging into the Veeam console, clicking through menus, and knowing where to look. BackupPaw changes that.
The Idea
BackupPaw is an AI agent built on top of n8n that connects to your Veeam Backup & Replication environment via its REST API. Instead of navigating the UI, you chat with the agent and ask questions like:
- āIs VM web-prod-01 included in a backup job?ā
- Ā āWhat is the current status of my backup jobs?ā
- Ā āStart a quick backup of VM db-server-02.ā
- āAre there any malware events detected for host srv-exchange-01?ā
The agent understands your question, calls the right API endpoint, and gives you a clear answer.
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Why n8n?
BackupPaw is built on a foundation of custom n8n nodes that I developed for the Veeam Backup & Replication and VeeamONE REST APIs (see here). These nodes make it easy to interact with Veeam directly from the n8n workflow.Ā BackupPaw is the next step: Putting an AI agent on top of that integration.
This also means the user stays in full control. There is no vendor lock-in; you can switch the LLM at any time, whether to Anthropic, a local model via Ollama, or another supported provider. Since n8n runs in your own environment, you control what leaves your network and what doesnāt. New API calls can be added as additional tools at any time, and every workflow is fully visible and editable directly in n8n.
Safety by Design
BackupPaw follows a simple principle: The agent can only do what it has been given the tools to do. Currently, those tools are:
- Read the backup inventory
- Check backup job status
- Start a backup job
- Trigger a quick backup for a specific VM
- Get Malware Events
Disruptive actions, such as deleting jobs or modifying schedules, are not available. On top of that, the AI agentās system prompt defines clear boundaries for when and how actions are executed.
Whatās Next?
This is an early version, but the potential is clear. Future actions could include repository capacity checks, identifying unprotected VMs, or session history reporting.
Could you see yourself using something like BackupPaw in your environment? And what actions would be most valuable to you? What would you want to ask your backup assistant? Which channel would you prefer to interact with BackupPaw?
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