Backups

What to copy, how to copy it while Nifty runs, and how to restore it.

On this page

What's in the folder
Back up while Nifty runs
Keep the secret key apart
Restore
Copies before updates
On a Mac

Everything Nifty keeps is in one folder: /var/lib/nifty on a Linux server. Back up the database and files/, and keep secret.key safe somewhere else.

What's in the folder

Path	What	Back up?
`nifty.db` (with `-wal`, `-shm`)	The database: everything you've written	Yes, as below
`files/`	Photos, note images and documents	Yes
`secret.key`	Unlocks the AI providers' API keys saved in the database	Separately
`acme/`	Let's Encrypt certificates	Optional: Nifty gets new ones
`nifty.db.v<N>-<time>.bak`	A copy made before each update changed the database	Optional
`cache/`	The compiled PDF renderer, made again if missing	No
`lock`, `tmp/`	Working files	No

Back up while Nifty runs

Don't copy nifty.db directly while Nifty runs: the copy can be half-written. Let SQLite make it (install sqlite3 first, e.g. sudo apt install sqlite3):

sudo sqlite3 /var/lib/nifty/nifty.db "VACUUM INTO '/backups/nifty-$(date +%F).db'"
sudo rsync -a /var/lib/nifty/files/ /backups/files/

Run them daily from cron or a systemd timer, and copy /backups off the machine.

Keep the secret key apart

secret.key (or NIFTY_SECRET_KEY, if you set it) unlocks the AI providers' API keys. Keep it out of your regular backups, in a password manager, say. Without it, a restored Nifty works but asks for those API keys again in Settings → AI.

Restore

Stop Nifty: sudo systemctl stop nifty.

Put the database back, and remove the old -wal and -shm files:

sudo cp /backups/nifty-2026-10-10.db /var/lib/nifty/nifty.db
sudo rm -f /var/lib/nifty/nifty.db-wal /var/lib/nifty/nifty.db-shm

Put files/ back: sudo rsync -a /backups/files/ /var/lib/nifty/files/.
Put secret.key back, if you have it.
Give it all to the nifty user: sudo chown -R nifty:nifty /var/lib/nifty.
Start Nifty: sudo systemctl start nifty.

Restoring onto a newer version is fine: Nifty updates the database as it starts.

Copies before updates

Before an update changes the database, Nifty copies it to nifty.db.v<N>-<time>.bak in the same folder. Rolling back uses them. Nifty keeps the five newest and deletes older ones.

On a Mac

The Mac app keeps everything in ~/Library/Application Support/Nifty, unless you chose another folder when you first opened it. Quit Nifty and copy the folder, or run the same sqlite3 … "VACUUM INTO …" command while it runs.