Back up and restore Anytype spaces#

    anyr backup creates, restores, and inspects Anytype archives. Creating, exporting, or applying a restore requires gRPC access. Archive inspection works offline; a restore dry run uses HTTP only to resolve its destination space.

    Create a backup#

    Write a timestamped ZIP archive beneath an existing directory:

    anyr backup create --space "Work" --dir ./backups --include-files

    Use --dest when a script needs an exact, non-existing output path:

    anyr backup create --space "Work" \
  --dest ./backups/work.zip --include-files

    Useful selection options include:

    • --objects FILE reads one object ID per line. Use --objects - for standard input.
    • --types page,note selects object types.
    • --include-files includes file objects and their payloads.
    • --include-nested, --include-archived, and --include-backlinks include related content that the default selection omits.
    • For an incremental backup, use --mode incremental --since TIMESTAMP.

    Run anyr backup create --help for the complete selection and archive options.

    Check an archive#

    List objects and file payloads before restoring:

    anyr backup list ./backups/work.zip --files --table
anyr backup manifest ./backups/work.zip --pretty

    Compare two archives or extract one payload:

    anyr backup diff ./backups/old.zip ./backups/new.zip --table
anyr backup extract ./backups/work.zip "$OBJECT_ID" ./object.md

    list, manifest, diff, extract, and inspect accept ZIP archives. The commands that traverse archive contents also accept unpacked archive directories.

    Open the interactive archive browser with:

    anyr backup inspect ./backups/work.zip

    The inspector owns the terminal until you quit it.

    Restore a backup#

    Validate the archive and target without importing:

    anyr backup restore ./backups/work.zip \
  --space "Restored Work" --dry-run

    Restore and write a machine-readable report:

    anyr backup restore ./backups/work.zip \
  --space "Restored Work" --log ./restore.json

    The default --import-mode ignore-errors continues after an object error. --import-mode all-or-nothing stops after the first error, but does not roll back objects already imported. Use --replace only when restored objects may overwrite matching objects in the destination.

    Export portable Markdown#

    backup export uses Anytype's native exporters. Use it for interchange or indexing; use backup create when you need the protobuf representation for a later restore. This command requires gRPC access. The Markdown export guide covers selection, attachments, and front matter.

    Output and deadlines#

    Non-interactive backup commands follow the global anyr output contract: compact JSON by default, --pretty, --table, --quiet, or --output FILE. Progress and diagnostics use stderr.

    Create and restore share one outer deadline. Set ANYBACK_WORKFLOW_TIMEOUT_SECS to decimal seconds up to 7200; 0 disables only this outer boundary. Lower-level request and process deadlines still apply. A timeout after an import was dispatched leaves that mutation's outcome indeterminate, so inspect the destination before retrying.