Couchbase backup restore
Skill celticht32/Couchbase-Skills-for-Claude.ai/skills/couchbase/couchbase-backup-restore
This is a collection of skills I have created for Couchbase for Claude.ai
npx -y skills add celticht32/Couchbase-Skills-for-Claude.ai --skill couchbase-backup-restoreAssembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.
One thing to look at
- 4 stars4 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.
What its author says it does
Copied from the file, not written here
Plan and execute Couchbase backup and restore operations. Use whenever the user asks about backup, restore, cbbackupmgr, backup repository, backup archive, full backup, incremental backup, differential backup, backup schedule, retention policy, backup verification, Capella managed backup, backup to S3, backup to filesystem, restoring a bucket, restoring specific documents, admin_backup_* tools, or 'how do I back up / restore Couchbase.' Distinct from couchbase-migration-execution (one-time data migration to a new cluster) and couchbase-mcp (operating the tools). Use proactively for DR planning, RPO/RTO requirements, backup verification workflows, and pre-upgrade snapshots.
The file declares its own license as MIT. That is the author’s claim about this one file, and it is not the same thing as the license GitHub reports for the repository, which is listed with the other numbers below.
SKILL.md
4.3 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it
Couchbase Backup & Restore
A skill for planning and executing Couchbase backup and restore operations — both self-managed (cbbackupmgr) and Capella-managed.
Distinct from:
couchbase-migration-execution— one-time data migration, not recurring backupcouchbase-mcp— theadmin_backup_*tools that interact with the Backup service
When this skill applies
- "How do I back up Couchbase?"
- "What's cbbackupmgr?"
- "How do I set up a backup schedule?"
- "Full vs incremental backup — what's the difference?"
- "How do I restore from backup?"
- "How do I restore just one bucket, or just a few documents?"
- "How do I back up to S3?"
- "How do I verify my backups are actually working?"
- "What's the RPO/RTO I can achieve?"
- "How does Capella handle backups?"
Pick the right reference
| Question | Read |
|---|---|
| "cbbackupmgr commands — config, backup, restore, list, merge, examine" | references/cbbackupmgr.md |
| "Backup strategy — full vs incremental, schedules, retention, S3" | references/strategy.md |
| "How to restore — full cluster, single bucket, single document, point-in-time" | references/restore.md |
| "Capella managed backups — schedules, retention, restore" | references/capella-backups.md |
Three core principles
Principle 1 — An untested backup is not a backup.
Run a restore drill regularly — quarterly at minimum, monthly for production data. cbbackupmgr examine lets you inspect backup contents without a full restore. A restore drill to a staging cluster is the only way to know your backups are complete and your restore procedure works.
Principle 2 — Incremental backups depend on the full backup chain. Couchbase incremental backups are differential (each increment contains only mutations since the prior backup). To restore to a point in time, you need the full backup plus every increment up to that point. A corrupted full backup invalidates the entire chain. Keep multiple full backup generations, not just increments.
Principle 3 — Backup is not DR. Backup protects against data corruption, accidental deletion, and ransomware. It does not protect against site loss with your RPO — that's what XDCR active-passive is for. Most deployments need both: XDCR for RTO (fast failover), backup for RPO (data recovery from logical errors that XDCR would have replicated).
Quick tool map
| Task | Tool |
|---|---|
| List backup repositories | admin_backup_list_repositories |
| Get repository info | admin_backup_get_repository |
| Trigger a backup | admin_backup_trigger_backup |
| Get backup history | admin_backup_get_backup_info |
| Trigger a restore | admin_backup_trigger_restore |
| Get restore status | admin_backup_get_restore_status |
These tools interact with the Couchbase Backup Service (available in Couchbase 7.0+ EE). For older clusters or more control, use cbbackupmgr CLI directly.
RPO/RTO guidance
| Approach | RPO | RTO | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incremental backup hourly | ~1 hour | Hours (depends on data size) | Standard for most workloads |
| Incremental backup every 15 min | ~15 min | Hours | Increases backup storage and I/O |
| XDCR active-passive + backup | Near-zero (XDCR) / hours (backup) | Minutes (XDCR failover) | Best of both for production |
| Capella managed (daily + auto) | Up to 24 hours | Hours | Acceptable for non-critical data |
Related skills
couchbase-xdcr— XDCR for near-zero RPO / low RTO (complements backup, not a replacement)couchbase-mcp—admin_backup_*toolscouchbase-migration-execution— one-time migration (uses similar tooling)