Backups and recovery

Create a backup

Open This device → Backups and create a manual snapshot. Download the archive to a location you control. You can also configure scheduled local backups. Backups cover all projects on the device.

A backup on the same device is useful for undoing a change but does not protect against losing that device. Keep a separate protected copy when needed.

What is included

Snapshots include workspace settings, projects, workflow definitions, and run history. They exclude managed secrets and their decryption keys, run output log directories, and this device’s GUI login and API key hashes.

The archive is not encrypted. Settings can contain SMTP passwords and Slack webhook URLs, and workflow definitions can contain values entered directly. Treat downloaded snapshots as sensitive.

External scripts, their input files, Docker volumes, mounted directories, and third-party services are not copied into a Runstead backup. Back those up separately. Cloud device credentials are excluded from workspace backups.

Restore

Finish active work, open This device → Backups, and choose Restore backup for a saved snapshot. Restore creates a safety backup, replaces workspace data and settings, and reloads the workspace. This device keeps its GUI login, API keys, and which projects are stopped.

Managed secrets are not restored. Enter the credentials needed by your workflows and project resources again, and review anything reported as needing attention. Archives are limited to 2 GiB of uncompressed data.

Find local data

On macOS, Runstead stores its data under:

~/Library/Application Support/Runstead

The data, backups, runtime, and logs folders serve different purposes. Quit Runstead before manually moving its data. Do not delete that directory to fix an installation problem without preserving a backup.