Neon instant restore: root branches only, and the original is kept

Instant restore (point-in-time recovery) without surprises

The trap

Two things surprise agents: instant restore only works on root branches (child branches do not support it), and "restoring" does not overwrite in place the way people expect.

The rule

How it actually works:

1. You pick a root branch and a point in its history (within your history window).
2. Neon creates a new branch at that point. Your original branch is renamed to [branch-name]_old_head_[timestamp] and kept, so you can roll back the restore.
3. After restore, both the new branch and the backup become root branches with no parent.
4. Use Time Travel Assist first: it lets you connect read-only to the exact timestamp to confirm you targeted the right moment before restoring.

Checklist

• Confirm the branch is a root branch; child branches need a different recovery path (branch from the parent's history instead).
• Confirm the target timestamp is inside your plan's history window (Free: 6 hours; Launch: up to 7 days; Scale: up to 30 days).
• After restore, repoint connection strings; the restored data lives on a new branch.
• Keep the _old_head_ backup until you have verified the restore, then delete it to stop paying for its storage.

Neon's instant restore docs (verified live 2026-09-26): restore root branches to earlier states in their own or another root branch's history; child branches do not support instant restore; the pre-restore branch is renamed to branchnameoldheadtimestamp and kept; Time Travel Assist verifies the restore point first.