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Disaster Recovery

Given that software will always be susceptible to bugs, PlexAniBridge offers multiple recovery features: daily automatic AniList backups, in-app restore, and a per‑sync undo capability on the timeline.

Prevention

Before running PlexAniBridge for the first time, it is recommended to try a dry run to see what changes will be made without actually making them. This can help you identify any potential issues before they occur.

Backups

PlexAniBridge creates a JSON snapshot of the current AniList list data on startup and on a daily schedule. These backups are stored under the data folder (defined in PAB_DATA_PATH) in the backups directory as JSON files named like:

plexanibridge-<PROFILE_NAME>.<YYYYMMDDHHMMSS>.json

You can work with these backups in two ways:

  1. Web UI (recommended for most cases) - browse, preview, and restore directly.
  2. CLI restore script (legacy, deprecated).

Warning

Backups are kept for 30 days by default. Adjust BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS if you need a longer retention window.

Viewing & Restoring Backups in the Web UI

  1. Open the Web UI and navigate to: Backups → select a profile.
  2. You will see a table of recent backups (filename, created time, size, age, detected user if available).
  3. Click Preview to open a highlighted JSON view (no data is changed).
  4. Click Restore to apply that snapshot back to AniList for the profile.
  5. A toast will indicate success; any individual sync outcomes will appear later on the timeline.

Warning

Initiating a restore will overwrite all current AniList entries for that profile.

Restoring from Backups (CLI Script)

This method is no longer recommended for typical users; prefer the Web UI above.

To restore from a backup without the Web UI, use the restore script in the scripts folder. You will need to pass the backup file and AniList token as arguments:

Undoing Individual Sync Changes

In addition to full restores, you can undo specific sync operations directly from the Timeline page.

Each timeline entry representing a change (e.g. a creation, update, or deletion) exposes an Undo button when it is logically reversible. When clicked, PlexAniBridge applies an inverse operation to restore the previous state and creates a new timeline entry marked as undone.

Undo Is Available When

Original Outcome Before State After State Meaning Undo Action
synced present present Updated entry Revert to before
synced null present Created entry Delete it
deleted present null Deleted entry Restore it

Note: Undos that are supposed to cause an entry deletion will not take effect if DESTRUCTIVE_SYNC is disabled.