Backups

A backup is an engine-native logical dump — pg_dumpall output, not a disk image — captured from a running instance and stored on the platform's backup pool. Everything on this page is on the instance page's Backups panel.

PostgreSQL instances can be backed up from the dashboard today. Every other engine still has its public endpoint, so its own tooling (mysqldump, valkey-cli --rdb, and friends) works against it from anywhere; more engines join the panel as their dump scripts ship.

Take a backup

On a running PostgreSQL instance, open the Backups panel and hit Backup now. The dump is captured asynchronously: the row appears immediately as pending, moves through creating while the platform dumps the database, and lands on ready with its size filled in. A stopped instance can't be backed up — there is no engine to dump from — so start it first.

Backups don't count against your quota, and there's no artifact download from the dashboard yet — restoring into an instance is how you get the data back out.

Restore

Restoring never touches the source instance. It provisions a new instance seeded from the backup: same engine and size as the source, on your workspace's private network, with no public endpoint until you decide it needs one. The new instance runs through the normal provisioning steps plus a restore step that loads the dump after the engine is installed — you can watch it on the provisioning log like any other launch.

Because the restore reads the source instance for its engine and size, it needs the source to still exist. Restore what you need before deleting an instance, not after.

The new instance counts against your quota like any other — a restore is a create, and the form's quota rules apply.

Delete a backup

Delete on a backup row marks it for removal and the platform cleans up the artifact asynchronously. Deleting an instance does not delete the backups it already took.

Who can do this

Backup, restore, and delete all sit behind the workspace's instance:backup permission: owners, admins, and developers hold it, viewers don't. See Workspaces & roles for the full matrix.

Next steps

• Instances — sizes, lifecycle, and the provisioning steps a restore runs through
• Connecting — reach the restored instance once it's running