Commands

Set up the archive, run a sync, prove it is healthy, then find, read, or restore a session.

init

Set up archiving. With a terminal, the wizard detects harnesses, chooses the archive and optional off-box copy, installs the schedule, runs the first sync, then runs doctor. Use --yes for unattended setup, --no-activate to write without activating the schedule, or --uninstall to remove it.

Usage: packbat init --yes [--archive-root <abs>] [--offbox skip|remote]
       [--offbox-remote <rclone-dest>] [--age-recipient <age1…>]
       [--rclone-config default|managed] [--no-activate]
       packbat init --uninstall

sync

Run one archive sync now. The installed schedule calls the same command every hour. It reports archived, unchanged, and failed files, and copies encrypted changes off-box when configured.

Usage: packbat sync

doctor

Prove the schedule is installed and live, the last success is fresh, and nothing has been missed. Environment checks cover the stores, archive, disk, compression, and off-box state. Pass --json for structured output.

Usage: packbat doctor [--json]

restore

List archived sessions or restore one by id or unambiguous prefix. Use --machine for another source machine, --force only when overwriting a newer live file is intentional, and --from-remote with the identity from the recovery kit for an off-box restore. --remote chooses one configured destination.

Usage: packbat restore [--machine <name>] [--force] [--from-remote --identity <file> [--remote <destination>]] [<id-or-prefix>]

status

Print a one-screen health summary for this machine: archive root, schedule state, last run, last success, harness tallies, and off-box state. Pass --json for the report object.

Usage: packbat status [--json]

search

Find text across archived sessions. Narrow results by harness, machine, project, or time. Pass --json for structured results. Use --rebuild when the local retrieval database needs to be rebuilt from the archive.

Usage: packbat search <query> [--harness <id>] [--machine <name>] [--project <path>] [--since <RFC3339>] [--json]
       packbat search --rebuild [--json]

show

Read one archived session by unit id or result key. Show reads the raw archive, not the retrieval cache. Pass --json to return the parsed result.

Usage: packbat show <unit-or-key> [--json]