TraderMemosBackup & restore
Everything lives in one volume — the SQLite database and the attachments directory. Back them up together.
Your journal is two things on disk, and they must be backed up together:
| What | Default location (Docker) |
|---|---|
| Database | /data/tradermemos.db (SQLite) in the tm_data volume |
| Attachments & note media | /data/attachments in the same volume |
Attachment metadata lives in the database — restoring one without the other leaves broken screenshots or orphaned files.
Option 1 — App-level export (works everywhere)
Import → Export in the app (or GET /api/v1/exports) produces:
| Format | Contents |
|---|---|
| ZIP | export.json + all screenshots under attachments/ — the complete portable backup |
| JSON | Trades, fills, journal notes, cash transactions, playbook setups (no images) |
| CSV | Closed-trade journal spreadsheet, for analysis elsewhere |
Restore by importing the ZIP/JSON on any TraderMemos instance — the setup wizard's optional import step accepts it on a fresh install, and Import handles it any time after. Fills are deduplicated server-side, so re-importing is safe.
This is the right choice for moving between hosts, switching databases (SQLite ↔ Postgres), or an offsite copy you can actually open.
Option 2 — Volume snapshot (Docker, exact copy)
SQLite runs in WAL mode, so don't copy the live database file — stop the API first (a few seconds of downtime), or you may lose the most recent writes:
cd TraderMemos
docker compose stop api
docker run --rm --volumes-from "$(docker compose ps -aq api)" -v "$PWD":/backup alpine \
tar czf "/backup/tradermemos-$(date +%F).tar.gz" -C /data .
docker compose start apiRestore onto a fresh host:
cd TraderMemos
make up # creates containers + empty volume
docker compose stop api
docker run --rm --volumes-from "$(docker compose ps -aq api)" -v "$PWD":/backup alpine \
sh -c "rm -rf /data/* && tar xzf /backup/tradermemos-2026-08-01.tar.gz -C /data"
docker compose start apiAutomate it with cron and ship the tarball offsite (rclone, restic, etc.). The
tradermemos.db.migrate.lock file in the volume is transient and safe to exclude.
Postgres
Dump the database and copy the attachments volume:
docker compose exec postgres pg_dump -U tm tradermemos > tradermemos-$(date +%F).sql
# attachments still live in the tm_data volume → back up /data/attachments as in Option 2Restore with psql -U tm tradermemos < backup.sql into an empty database, then start the API
(migrations reconcile automatically).
Before every upgrade
Take a snapshot before bumping versions — schema migrations run automatically on boot and there is no automatic downgrade. See Updating.