Backups & restores

Alchemy doesn’t manage PlanetScale backup schedules — create backups in the PlanetScale dashboard or via the API. What it gives you is the restore side: point a new branch at a backup and it comes up with that backup’s schema and data.

Both MySQLBranch and PostgresBranch accept the same two props: backupId restores a specific backup, seedData restores the parent branch’s last successful backup.

Restore a branch from a backup

Pass the backup’s ID as backupId. clusterSize is required when restoring from a backup:

const restored = yield* Planetscale.MySQLBranch("restored", {
  database,
  parentBranch: "main",
  isProduction: true,
  backupId: "backup-123",
  clusterSize: "PS_10",
});

The branch is created from parentBranch with the backup’s schema and data restored into it, then waits until it’s ready like any other branch. Grab the ID from the backup’s page in the PlanetScale dashboard or the backups API, and make sure the backup has completed (state success) before deploying.

Seed from the last successful backup

When you don’t care which backup — just “recent production data” — use seedData instead of pinning an ID:

const preview = yield* Planetscale.MySQLBranch("preview", {
  database,
  parentBranch: "main",
  isProduction: false,
  seedData: "last_successful_backup",
});

This is the usual choice for preview and development branches that want realistic data without tracking backup IDs in code.

Create-only semantics

Both props apply only when the branch is first created. If the branch already exists, backupId and seedData are ignored — subsequent deploys sync the branch’s other settings (production status, clusterSize, safeMigrations) but never re-restore data. Changing backupId on a deployed branch is a no-op, not a replacement.

To restore again, create a new branch: give the resource a new logical ID (or a new name) so the next deploy creates a fresh branch from the backup.

Where next

• MySQL — databases, branches, and passwords.
• Postgres — the PostgreSQL side, including roles.
• Migrations — schema migrations and seed files per branch.

Reference:

• MySQLBranch · PostgresBranch