---
title: "Portability and Rebuild"
description: "The markdown mirror, and rebuilding the database from it."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.loggo.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Portability and Rebuild

1. **Every save writes to SQLite first**

   Inside a transaction — that commit is what makes the save real.
2. **Then mirrors to a .md file**

   A plain markdown file with full YAML frontmatter, written next to
   the database.
3. **Rebuild from it any time**

   `npm run rebuild` restores anything missing from the database,
   straight from the mirror.

SQLite is where Loggo actually reads and writes from, but it isn't the only copy of your data. Every Log is also mirrored to disk as a plain `.md` file with full YAML frontmatter:

```
data/workspaces/personal-demo/2026/09/06/01JBX7Q2K9V3-postgres-tuning.md
data/workspaces/personal-demo/2026/09/06/_files/screenshot.png
```

```yaml
---
id: 01JBX7Q2K9V3
title: Postgres tuning notes
day: 2026-09-06
created: 2026-09-06T10:12:00.000Z
updated: 2026-09-06T11:40:00.000Z
author: Demo
workspace: personal-demo
workspace_name: Personal
workspace_color: bg-blue-500
workspace_icon: gallery
tags: ["postgres","perf"]
pos_x: 24
pos_y: 24
---
Bumped `work_mem` and re-ran the slow query report. #postgres #perf
```

`pos_x`, `pos_y`, `width`, `height`, and `z_index` are only written when set — a log that's never been dragged or resized on the canvas omits them.

> **Loggo never runs git**
>
> The mirror is just written to disk. Pointing that directory at a git repo and committing it — on a schedule, or by hand — is entirely up to you.

## Write ordering

A save commits to SQLite first, inside a transaction — that commit is what makes the save real. The `.md` file is written afterward, outside the transaction. If that write fails (a full disk, a storage outage), the Log is **still saved**, just flagged `mirrorDirty` for a background retry. A save should never fail because the filesystem is unhappy.

Dragging or resizing a card on the canvas skips the mirror write entirely — position, size, and z-index are pure UI arrangement, not content, so moving a card around never touches its file.

On the Cloudflare Workers demo the mirror is off; it's a read-only environment anyway.

## Rebuilding from the mirror

Because the frontmatter is complete — id, day, author, workspace, even workspace color/icon — the mirror directory is a real backup, not just a convenience copy. Running:

```sh
npm run rebuild
```

reads every `.md` file under the storage backend's `workspaces/` prefix and restores any log missing from the database: recreating users (as disabled placeholder accounts, since passwords aren't in the mirror) and workspaces on demand from the frontmatter, and skipping any log ID that already exists. Point it at an empty database and a directory of `.md` files, and you get your data back.

Source: https://docs.loggo.dev/features/portability/index.mdx