Backup and restore

tinystore backup writes the whole store into one checked zip while its program runs. tinystore restore puts a zip back into an empty directory, checking every byte, or leaves nothing.

tinystore backup ./data backups/2026-10-19.zip
tinystore backup ./data backups/full.zip --include app.json --include-encryption-key
tinystore restore backups/2026-10-19.zip ./restored

● ./restored  restored from backups/2026-10-19.zip · 3 files, 52 KiB

#backup

It reads beside a server or a program that holds the directory, and alone when none does. Each engine is copied as one moment of itself while it keeps working, and the zip is written beside its name and renamed once synced: a backup that fails leaves no zip.

#restore

It writes only into an empty or absent directory, holding its LOCK meanwhile, and checks each file's size, SHA-256 and CRC-32 before it names it. A file that does not match fails the restore corrupt and leaves the directory empty. A backup without the encryption key says so:

● ./restored  restored from backups/2026-10-19.zip · 1 files, 52 KiB
  its encrypted buckets open with the store's key, which the backup left out: put it back first

#Every night

#!/bin/sh
set -e
zip="/backups/chat-$(date +%F).zip"
tinystore backup /srv/chat "$zip"
tinystore restore "$zip" /tmp/restore-check && rm -rf /tmp/restore-check
find /backups -name 'chat-*.zip' -mtime +30 -delete

A restore into a scratch directory checks every byte of last night's zip. Keeping it in the Handbook does the same from a repeating job inside the program.

#See also

• The command line.
• Backup: the engine's guides, restore and the key.