To make a portable backup of a Turso Cloud database, export its contents as SQL with the Turso CLI, then keep the resulting file somewhere access-controlled and separate from the database. Turso’s documented sqlite3 pipeline restores that dump into a local SQLite database; it is not documented as a Cloud-to-Cloud restore command. Managed point-in-time recovery is a separate option, and you should confirm its current availability and terms in your Turso account before relying on it.
Choose the recovery path you need
A SQL dump and managed point-in-time recovery solve different problems. The .dump command emits database contents as SQL statements, which you can save as a file and use in a SQLite-compatible workflow. Turso Cloud’s managed recovery, when available for your account, is a service feature with its own eligibility, retention, and recovery controls.
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| Path | What it provides | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| User-created SQL dump | A portable file of SQL statements created with Turso’s documented dump command. The example below restores it to local SQLite. | Where the file is stored, whether the export completed, and whether you have rehearsed restoring it to a separate database. |
| Managed point-in-time recovery | A Turso Cloud recovery feature described in an older announcement; current account availability and behavior are not established by that announcement. | Current availability, retention window, recovery point options, and plan eligibility in Turso’s documentation or dashboard. Historical announcement: Turso’s point-in-time restore announcement. |
A database branch is a database-management feature, not evidence that you have an independent backup. Keep an exported copy if you need a file you can store separately.
Export a Turso database to a SQL file
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Install and authenticate the Turso CLI, and identify the database name you intend to export. The Turso CLI repository documents the Cloud CLI and SQL shell.
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Run the documented export command, replacing
your-databasewith the database name:turso db shell your-database .dump > dump.sqlThis writes the SQL statements to
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Choose a storage location with access controls appropriate for the data. You can copy the file to separate storage, including an optional offline drive, but the destination does not create, schedule, encrypt, or validate backups for you.
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Check that the command completed and that the file exists before treating it as a usable backup. Establish a repeatable schedule appropriate to your recovery needs; this command is a manual export, not an automatic backup schedule.
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The export example comes from Turso’s local-development guide. It documents an SQL export, not a binary snapshot or a backup of operational metadata.
Restore the dump into local SQLite
The documented restore example imports the SQL file into a local SQLite database. Use a separate destination path for a recovery rehearsal so you do not unintentionally run the import against a database you meant to preserve.
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cat dump.sql | sqlite3 local.dbHere, local.db is the local SQLite destination. The Turso guide’s example demonstrates restoring locally; it does not establish that this pipeline restores a dump into Turso Cloud. For Cloud recovery, check the current Turso controls and documentation rather than assuming the local command applies.
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Keep at least one copy of the SQL file separate from the database it came from, with access limited to people and systems that need it.
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Periodically rehearse the import into a separate local or test database, then verify that the restored database contains the data and schema your application needs.
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For managed recovery, confirm the current feature availability, retention period, eligible plan, and recovery procedure for your own account before an incident. The older announcement is historical context, not a guarantee of current terms.
Turso describes Turso Cloud as a managed SQLite-compatible database service in its overview. Its CLI repository also documents database branching, but a branch should not be treated as a substitute for a separately stored dump unless Turso’s current documentation explicitly establishes that role.
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