# Agent Database Backups and Point-in-Time Restore
Status: public
Confidence: medium (0.725) (verified)
Last verified: 2026-06-02
Generation: ai_structured


## TL;DR

Database backup evidence tells an agent whether data loss can be recovered, which restore time is valid, and which replica or instance should be used.

## Core Explanation

When an incident involves deleted rows, bad migrations, or corrupt writes, the agent needs restore evidence before proposing destructive repair. A useful checklist includes the latest base backup, write-ahead log or binary log availability, retention window, restore target time, encryption key, and restore test history.

Point-in-time restore is not the same as undo. It usually creates a restored instance or cluster that must be validated, compared, and promoted or used as a source for selective recovery.

## Source-Mapped Facts

- PostgreSQL documentation describes continuous archiving and point-in-time recovery as using a base backup plus archived write-ahead log files. ([source](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/continuous-archiving.html))
- Amazon RDS documentation describes point-in-time recovery as restoring a DB instance to a specific time during the backup retention period. ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_PIT.html))
- Google Cloud SQL documentation describes point-in-time recovery as using write-ahead logs or binary logs to recover an instance to a specific point in time. ([source](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/mysql/backup-recovery/pitr))

## Further Reading

- [PostgreSQL Continuous Archiving and Point-in-Time Recovery](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/continuous-archiving.html)
- [Amazon RDS Point-in-Time Recovery](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_PIT.html)
- [Google Cloud SQL Point-in-Time Recovery](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/mysql/backup-recovery/pitr)