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Backup and restore

A graph is a folder of ordinary files, so any file backup works. Two things make a backup trustworthy: nothing should be writing while you copy, and the copy should be complete.

A sync service is not a backup

A sync client copies deletes and mistakes to every device within seconds. If a file is deleted or replaced on one device or in the cloud, the sync client will usually remove or replace it everywhere. Keep at least one copy that the sync client does not manage.

Option 1: copy the folder

  1. Stop processes that write to the graph on this device (graph-ted-db serve, your app).
  2. Wait until your sync client shows the folder as up to date.
  3. Copy the whole graph folder somewhere outside the synced folder, for example a dated zip archive.

The copy includes every writer's files and the full history. Restoring is copying the folder back. Restoring an old copy into a folder that still syncs brings back old files, so restore into a new location, or pause sync first. You don't need to back up local app data: indexes and the write-ahead log are rebuilt from the folder.

Option 2: export

graph-ted-db export path/to/graph backup-2026-10-09.jsonl
graph-ted-db import backup-2026-10-09.jsonl path/to/restored-graph

export writes the current state (the live version of every node, edge and embedding) to one JSONL file. It leaves out history, tombstones and conflict copies, and it takes the local lock, so it is consistent even while other processes on the device write. The export must be written outside the graph folder.

import creates a new graph folder, with a new graph id, from an export file. Records keep their ids and timestamps. It refuses to write into an existing graph.

In Python:

from graph_ted_db import GraphStore
from graph_ted_db.store import import_export

store = GraphStore.open("path/to/graph")
store.export("backup.jsonl")
restored = import_export("backup.jsonl", "path/to/restored-graph")

Check a backup

graph-ted-db info --check path/to/restored-graph
graph-ted-db doctor path/to/restored-graph

info --check exits with status 1 if any lines were skipped or any files look incomplete.