Backups and restore

A backup protects you from things a snapshot cannot cover: a lost server, a mistake that was noticed after the rollback window, or a big job that goes wrong. PowerWP AI builds the backup on your server, but you keep it. It is downloaded to your computer and then removed from the server.

What a backup contains#

You choose one of three types on the PowerWP AI › Backups screen:

Two options apply to files: Include uploads (on by default, often the largest part) and Include WordPress core (off by default, wp-admin and wp-includes, which can be downloaded again).

Left out of every backup:

• PowerWP AI's own data: its connections, activity log, change log, site memory and recipes. Export the memory on the Memory screen if you want a copy.
• PowerWP AI's private storage folder, symbolic links, and the paths listed under Settings › Backups › Excluded paths. By default these are cache folders, other backup plugins' archives, debug.log, node_modules and .git.
• Files larger than Skip files larger than (512 MB by default). They are listed as skipped.

A backup is a folder of files: a manifest.json, one or more db-0001.sql.gz files and one or more files-0001.tar.gz files. The manifest holds a SHA-256 checksum for each file.

Create a backup#

1. Open PowerWP AI › Backups and choose Create backup.
2. Pick Full, Database or Files, set the options and add a label such as "Before WooCommerce update".
3. Choose Start backup. Keep the page open: the backup then moves faster.

Your AI app can start one too, with the Backups & restore permission:

Make a database backup before we change anything, wait until it is ready, then download it to my Documents folder.

The server builds the backup in small steps of about 20 seconds, so a short PHP time limit does not stop it. The steps are driven while the Backups screen is open, when an AI app checks on the job, and by WP-Cron. If WP-Cron is switched off on your server, keep the screen open. Only one backup can run at a time.

Download it to your computer#

In your browser. Select Download links on a ready backup and save every file. The links are signed and expire. Check the SHA-256 checksums, then select Mark as downloaded. The browser cannot check the files for you, so the server copy is kept until it expires. Use Delete from server (the bin icon) once you have checked the files.

With an AI app that can run commands, such as Claude Code. backup_download_links returns signed links and a script that downloads the files and prints their checksums. The app then calls backup_confirm_downloaded with the checksums. When they all match, the server copy is deleted. The links last 2 hours unless the app asks for another time, between 5 minutes and 24 hours.

A server copy that is never downloaded is deleted when it expires, after 48 hours by default.

Restore from your computer#

1. Open PowerWP AI › Backups and choose Restore from your computer.
2. Select the manifest.json and every .sql.gz and .tar.gz file of one backup.
3. Check the summary: backup ID, date and the address it came from. Choose what to restore: Database, Files or both.
4. Type your site's host name to confirm, then choose Upload and restore.

While the restore runs, your site is in maintenance mode. PowerWP AI keeps its own data, the running plugin, its private storage, the rescue loader and wp-config.php. When the restore ends, maintenance mode is switched off (unless it was already on), and the site is checked once.

Good to know:

• If the backup comes from another address, URLs inside the database are not rewritten. Restore the files only, or ask your AI app to replace the old address afterwards.
• The table prefix must match, or the backup is refused. The restore needs free disk space of about 2.2 times the size of the backup.
• A restore that has started cannot be cancelled. If it fails, the site stays in maintenance mode, which ends by itself, so you can inspect it.

AI apps use restore_prepare to get upload links from the manifest, upload the files, and then call restore_start with the site's host name as confirmation. They should only do this when you explicitly ask.

Where backups are kept and limits#

Backups are written to PowerWP AI's private folder on the server. Unless you set another place, it is wp-content/wpai-mcp- followed by a random string. Set WPAI_MCP_STORAGE_DIR to move it outside the web root. See wp-config constants.

• The database is split into parts of about 64 MB of SQL, and files into parts of about 256 MB of content, so large sites make several files.
• A backup needs the PHP zlib extension. A job with no progress for 6 hours is marked as failed.

These settings are under Settings › Backups: