Snapshots and Trash

Storyarn has two complementary recovery tools:

• Snapshots preserve a point-in-time state of the project.
• Trash holds supported entities that were soft-deleted from the project.

Use a snapshot before a broad migration or structural change. Use Trash when you only need to recover an individual deleted item.

Project snapshots

Open Project Settings > Snapshots. Enter an optional title and description, then choose Create Snapshot. Creation is subject to the current plan limit shown under Version Control and Usage Limits.

Snapshot creation continues in the background. Storyarn builds one private ZIP archive and only marks the snapshot ready after the archive and its manifest have been verified. The stored size is the ZIP plus that small manifest; Storyarn does not keep a second snapshot copy of every file beside the ZIP.

Each stored snapshot shows its version number, title, creator when available, creation time, stored size, and entity counts. Available actions are:

• Cancel build while a snapshot is pending, building, or being verified, until finalization begins.
• Restore a ready, verified snapshot that meets the current restore contract. This durable background operation replaces the active project graph and assets. Current Sheets, Flows, Scenes, and assets move to recoverable trash; the project and its memberships remain intact.
• Download a ready, verified snapshot as a private ZIP archive. Storyarn checks your permission for every request, then the browser downloads the persisted archive directly from private storage.
• Delete the snapshot permanently.

Only snapshots that satisfy the verified restore requirements show the restore action. A restore continues safely if you leave the page, and the Snapshots page shows its progress and result.

Manual snapshots and automatic entity versions

Project snapshots are created manually from Project Settings > Snapshots. Storyarn does not currently offer a daily project snapshot switch or production flow.

In Project Settings > Version Control, you can enable automatic versions independently for Sheets, Flows, and Scenes. Entity versions are useful for reviewing or restoring one content item. Project snapshots cover the whole project and are also downloadable backups. Their usage limits are tracked separately.

Automatic versions are kept for the same period as the trash, which depends on the plan of the workspace’s owner; the version history says how long. Once it has passed, Storyarn deletes them on its own within a few hours. Named versions are kept until you delete them, so naming an automatic version keeps it, within the plan’s limit of named versions.

Recover a project from a downloaded ZIP

A downloaded Storyarn snapshot ZIP can rebuild the captured project as a new project in a workspace. Open Workspace Settings > Imports for the destination workspace, choose the ZIP, then select Validate and import.

Storyarn validates the archive and checks the workspace’s project and storage capacity before starting the background import. The Imports page shows progress and import history, and lets you open the rebuilt project after completion. You need permission to manage the selected workspace.

Trash

Open Project Settings > Trash to inspect soft-deleted Sheets, Flows, Scenes, and other supported content types. You can:

• Search by name.
• Filter by item type.
• Move through paginated results.
• Restore an item.
• Permanently delete one item.
• Empty the entire trash.

Restore returns the item to active project content, under the parent it had. If that parent, or one above it, is still in the trash, restore it first. If a sheet, flow or scene would land more than 100 levels deep because its parent has moved down since, Storyarn won’t restore it and tells you why. A scene comes back with the scenes deleted along with it, and their levels count too. Move the parent higher, then restore the item again. Permanent deletion and Empty Trash cannot be undone through the Trash interface. These destructive actions are only available to users with management permission.

When a sheet goes to the trash, the scene pins and collection items that show it let go of it, so you can keep editing them. Restoring the sheet links each of them to it again, unless you have given it another sheet, or none, in the meantime. The subflow and exit nodes that lead to a flow let go of it the same way when the flow goes to the trash, and get it back when it is restored, unless you have pointed them somewhere else.

Each item shows the date until which it can be recovered. That period depends on the plan of the workspace’s owner. Once it has passed, Storyarn deletes the item permanently on its own, together with its version history, within a few hours.

Recommended recovery sequence

1. Check Trash when a single item is missing.
2. Inspect entity version history when the item exists but its content is wrong.
3. Restore a verified snapshot in place when you need to return the current project to an earlier complete state.
4. Import a downloaded snapshot ZIP from Workspace Settings when you need to rebuild the captured project as a new project.
5. Download important snapshots before deleting them or performing a high-risk migration.
6. Download the latest snapshot before deleting a project, or let the deletion back it up and download it for you. A deleted project cannot be restored, and importing that ZIP is the only way to rebuild it.