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Backups and Restore

docs/how-to/indexes/backups-and-restore.md

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Backups and Restore

Backups are point-in-time snapshots of an index. Use them to protect against data loss, create copies of an index, or restore a previous state.

Create a backup

Pass the name of the index you want to back up:

python
from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="your-api-key")

backup = pc.backups.create(index_name="product-search")
print(backup.backup_id)   # e.g. "bk-abc123"
print(backup.status)      # e.g. "Initializing"

Add a name and description for easier identification:

python
backup = pc.backups.create(
    index_name="product-search",
    name="pre-reindex-snapshot",
    description="Backup before schema migration on 2025-03-01",
)

The backup transitions through Initializing → Ready when complete.

List backups

List all backups in the project:

python
for backup in pc.backups.list():
    print(backup.backup_id, backup.name, backup.status)

Filter by index:

python
for backup in pc.backups.list(index_name="product-search"):
    print(backup.backup_id, backup.created_at)

list returns a {class}~pinecone.models.backups.list.BackupList with cursor-based pagination. Pass limit to control page size and pagination_token to advance pages:

python
page = pc.backups.list(limit=5)
if page.pagination and page.pagination.next:
    next_page = pc.backups.list(limit=5, pagination_token=page.pagination.next)

Describe a backup

python
backup = pc.backups.describe(backup_id="bk-abc123")
print(backup.source_index_name)
print(backup.status)
print(backup.dimension)
print(backup.metric)
print(backup.record_count)
print(backup.size_bytes)

Restore a backup to a new index

Use create_index_from_backup on the top-level client to restore a backup into a new index:

python
from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="your-api-key")

index = pc.create_index_from_backup(
    name="product-search-restored",
    backup_id="bk-abc123",
)
print(index.name)
print(index.status.state)

create_index_from_backup polls until the new index is ready. Pass timeout=-1 to return immediately:

python
index = pc.create_index_from_backup(
    name="product-search-restored",
    backup_id="bk-abc123",
    timeout=-1,
)

Enable deletion protection or add tags to the restored index:

python
index = pc.create_index_from_backup(
    name="product-search-restored",
    backup_id="bk-abc123",
    deletion_protection="enabled",
    tags={"env": "production", "team": "search"},
)

Monitor restore jobs

Each call to create_index_from_backup starts a restore job. List all restore jobs:

python
for job in pc.restore_jobs.list():
    print(job.restore_job_id, job.status, job.percent_complete)

Describe a specific job:

python
job = pc.restore_jobs.describe(job_id="rj-xyz789")
print(job.restore_job_id)
print(job.backup_id)
print(job.target_index_name)
print(job.status)         # e.g. "Running", "Completed"
print(job.percent_complete)
print(job.completed_at)

describe returns a {class}~pinecone.models.backups.model.RestoreJobModel.

Delete a backup

python
pc.backups.delete(backup_id="bk-abc123")

Deleting a backup does not affect the source index or any indexes restored from it.

See also

  • {class}~pinecone.models.backups.model.BackupModel — backup response model
  • {class}~pinecone.models.backups.list.BackupList — backup list response
  • {class}~pinecone.models.backups.model.RestoreJobModel — restore job model
  • {class}~pinecone.models.backups.list.RestoreJobList — restore job list response
  • {doc}/how-to/indexes/serverless — serverless index management
  • {doc}/how-to/indexes/pod — pod-based index management