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Backup & restore

A .deepstate-backup file is everything: the whole database and every board's media. Make one before a major clean-up, on a schedule if you rely on the app, and whenever you move to a new machine.

Settings → Data → Backup & restore.

Creating a backup​

Create backup → choose where to save. DeepState takes a consistent snapshot of the database while the app keeps running (the SQLite online-backup API, so you don't have to close anything), then adds every board's media folder. Progress is shown; the result offers Show in folder.

manifest.json         format, app version, timestamp, list of boards
deepstate.db          the database snapshot
boards/<id>/media/*   media, chat images and imported documents, for every board

Included: all boards (including archived ones), nodes, connections, entities, narratives, AI conversations, presentations, RSS state, the sync change logs, and media.

Not included: settings, API keys, OAuth tokens, social sessions and custom tools. These live in your config directory and keyring; after restoring on a new machine you sign in to providers and integrations again and copy the custom-tools/ folder by hand. Board sync keys are in the database, so shared boards keep working after a restore.

The file is not encrypted.

Restoring​

Restore from backup → pick the file → confirm. The database can't be swapped while it is open, so DeepState stages the restore and applies it on the next launch:

  1. The archive is extracted to a staging area and checked.
  2. You are asked to restart.
  3. On start-up, before the database opens, the current deepstate.db and boards/ are renamed to *.pre-restore and the staged copies moved into place.
  4. The app opens on the restored data.

The previous database and media are kept as deepstate.db.pre-restore and boards.pre-restore until the next successful restore, so a wrong file can be undone by hand: close the app, rename them back, relaunch.

A staged restore that hasn't been applied yet can be cancelled from the same Settings section.

Moving to a new computer​

  1. Old machine: Settings → License → Transfer License / Deactivate, then Create backup.
  2. New machine: install DeepState, activate with your key, Restore from backup, restart.
  3. Sign in to your AI provider and any integrations; copy custom-tools/ if you use them.

Strategy​

  • A backup is a point-in-time file. Keep more than one; name them by date.
  • Boards you share are also, in effect, backed up on every collaborator's machine and (as ciphertext) on the relay or folder. A solo board exists only on your disk - back it up.
  • For a single board, an export is lighter and easier to send.
  • The data folder itself (see Where data is stored) can be copied while the app is closed; a backup file is the same thing packaged safely while it is open.