Restore a backup to a new branch

backups & data

// what it does

Materializes a backup as a brand-new branch — production is never overwritten in place. Inspect the restored branch, copy the rows you need back, or repoint the app at it. This restore-to-branch model is PlanetScale's answer to "someone just deleted the wrong rows."

// shell

$ pscale backup restore mydb recovery-branch <backup-id>
$ pscale branch create mydb recovery-branch --restore <backup-id>

// gotcha

The restored branch runs at a production-grade cluster size (--cluster-size, default PS-10) and bills while it exists — do the recovery, then delete it. Restoring is not instant for large datasets; the data has to be loaded.

// resources