Backups
Nightly backups to restore, full copies to download, and a change history that puts back what a database change deleted.
The Backups tab is where your Dedicated Cloud goes back in time. It has three parts: nightly backups of the whole database, full copies of the backend you can download, and a history of every change to your database's structure.
Find it under Backups in the Cloud workspace.
Daily backups
A backup of the database is taken every night and kept for 14 days. The list shows each one by date and time; the newest is tagged latest. The first backup appears after the backend's first night.
Restoring a nightly backup
Only the project owner can restore a backup. Other members see the list and the note "Only the project owner can restore a backup."
- Next to the backup you want, select Restore.
- Read the confirmation, then select Restore backup.
What a restore does:
- The whole database goes back to that night. Everything written since — new rows, sign-ups, changes — is replaced by the backup.
- A full copy of the database as it is now is saved first. It appears under Full copies as Before a restore, so you can download what you had.
- Uploaded files and server functions are not affected.
- The backend is offline for a few minutes. The workspace shows "Restoring your database…" and updates on its own when it's done.
One restore runs at a time. While it runs, the Restore buttons are unavailable.
Full copies
A full copy is one file with everything needed to move the backend elsewhere:
- your tables and their data,
- your users, with their passwords, so logins keep working after a move,
- uploaded files,
- server functions,
- a README that explains what is where.
Only the project owner can make and download copies.
- Under Full copies, select Make a full copy. The button shows Making a copy….
- When the copy is ready, it's listed with its size and what it holds, for example "4 tables, 120 users, 35 of 35 files".
- Select Download.
Each copy is kept for 30 days. The list labels where a copy came from:
| Label | Made when |
|---|---|
| Full copy | You selected Make a full copy |
| Before a restore | Right before a nightly backup was restored |
| Before deletion | Right before a cancelled backend was deleted |
A copy made before deletion stays downloadable after the backend is gone — see Cancelling.
Change history
Change history lists every change to your database's structure — tables and columns created, changed or dropped — and every query that cleared or rewrote a whole table. Each entry shows:
- the change's name, when it ran, and where it came from: AI, External agent, Console, SQL editor, Restore, Setup or System;
- what it destroyed, if anything, in red;
- SQL to see the exact statement (Hide SQL to close it);
- an error, if the change failed.
Select Older changes at the bottom to load more.
Putting back what a change deleted
Before a change deletes data, a copy of the affected tables is saved. The entry shows it as "Copy of orders (250 rows) · kept until …". You can put it back for 14 days; after that the entry reads "no longer kept".
- On the entry, select Restore.
- Confirm with Restore.
A change restore never deletes what's in the database now:
- missing rows come back,
- a dropped table or column is rebuilt,
- rewritten values are set back,
- rows added since stay as they are.
When there's no key to match rows on, the copy is saved beside the table under its own name instead, and the message says so. The restore itself is listed in the history, and the entry shows when it was restored.
Things worth knowing
- Nightly restore replaces; change restore adds back. Use change history to undo one mistaken change without losing newer data. Use a nightly backup only when the whole database must go back to a night.
- Not every change can be copied first. When the affected tables are too large to copy, ESTAGE asks before running the change, because it can't be undone.
- Full copies include up to 2 GB of uploaded files. Files beyond that are listed in the copy but not included.
- Databases larger than 8 GB can't be copied from the tab. Contact support for an export.
- Changes the AI makes are listed too. Tables Genesis creates for a backend task show in the history with the source AI.