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

TL;DR: # 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).

Fix

1. 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.

   Expected: this specific failure stops.

2. You pick a root branch and a point in its history (within your history window). Expected: this specific failure stops.

3. Neon creates a new branch at that point. Expected: this specific failure stops.

4. backup until you have verified the restore, then delete it to stop paying for its storage. Expected: this specific failure stops.

Details

2. 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. _old_head_

When to use

You hit exactly this: Neon instant restore: root branches only, and the original is kept in Neon instant restore.

When not to use

A different error, or the same symptom in a different tool. This page only covers the failure above.

Compatibility

Neon instant restore.

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.