Recover, diagnose, back up, compact, and restore.

Startup verifies before serving

Hyphae locks the data directory, validates formats, recovers the append-only log, and rebuilds replaceable indexes when required.

• Unsupported versions fail closed.
• Checksum or digest-chain failures are reported with location evidence.
• A second owner cannot open the same directory.

Doctor reports recovery evidence

The doctor command inspects the local durable state and reports the evidence needed to understand whether the data directory recovered completely.

hyphae doctor --json

Back up, verify, then retain

A backup is a portable logical artifact. Verify it immediately and again before restore. Store it under an operator-owned retention and media policy.

• Backup creation is atomic.
• Verification does not mutate the backup.
• Restore publishes only after complete validation.

hyphae backup --out ./backup-2026-07-16
hyphae backup-verify --backup ./backup-2026-07-16
hyphae restore --backup ./backup-2026-07-16 --data-dir ./restored-data

Compaction creates an anchored generation

Compaction does not rewrite the active authority in place. It prepares and validates a new generation, commits its anchor, and preserves crash recovery across the transition.

• Interrupted preparation cannot become active.
• The committed generation is checksummed.
• Retention follows documented policy.

Upgrade by format contract

Back up first, read compatibility notes, and let explicit migrations advance supported formats. Never copy a partially active data directory as an upgrade strategy.

• Downgrade support is not assumed.
• Migration versions are explicit.
• Compatibility fixtures prevent accidental format drift.