# FlowHistory: a backup and restore tool for Node-RED

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flowhistory-a-backup-and-restore-tool-for-node-red/101859>\
**Category:** Share Your Projects\
**Tags:** docker\
**Created:** [5 October 2026 18:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flowhistory-a-backup-and-restore-tool-for-node-red/101859 "2026-10-05T18:06:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ljmerza](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/ljmerza/32/108519_2.png) [@ljmerza](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ljmerza)\
**Post date:** [5 October 2026 18:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flowhistory-a-backup-and-restore-tool-for-node-red/101859/1 "2026-10-05T18:06:43Z")

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> **[GitHub - FlowHistory/FlowHistory: Backup and restore tool for Node-RED flow files....](https://github.com/FlowHistory/FlowHistory)**
>
> Backup and restore tool for Node-RED flow files. Scheduled backups, visual diffs, multi-instance support, and notifications

A self-hosted backup and restore tool for Node-RED flow files. Runs as a Docker container that manages backups for one or more Node-RED instances, local (file-based) or remote (API-based). Automatically detects flow changes, creates compressed backups, and provides a web UI for managing backups, viewing diffs, and restoring.

Features

- Multi-instance support - manage backups for multiple Node-RED instances from a single deployment

- Local and remote instances - watch local files via inotify or poll remote instances via the Node-RED Admin API

- Automatic backups on change - file watching (local) or API polling (remote) with configurable intervals

- Scheduled backups - hourly, daily, or weekly via APScheduler

- Manual backups - one-click from the dashboard

- Visual diff viewer - see which tabs, subflows, and nodes changed between any two backups, with field-level diffs

- One-click restore - restores files (local) or deploys flows via API (remote), optionally restarts the container

- Pre-restore safety backup - always created before overwriting current flows

- Checksum deduplication - skips backup if flows haven't changed (SHA256)

- Retention policies - by max count and max age, with protection for pinned and recent safety backups

- Backup import/export - upload backup archives from other instances or download them for offline storage

- Credentials and settings backup - optionally include flows\_cred.json and settings.js (local only)

- Labels and notes - annotate backups with descriptions

- Notifications - alerts via Discord, Slack, Telegram, Pushbullet, or Home Assistant for backup failures, restores, and more

- Dark mode - with system preference detection and manual toggle

- Optional password auth - simple shared password via environment variable

- Health check endpoint - for Docker healthcheck integration

- Prometheus /metrics endpoint - HTTP and per-instance backup metrics for scraping

> **[GitHub - FlowHistory/FlowHistory: Backup and restore tool for Node-RED flow files....](https://github.com/FlowHistory/FlowHistory)**
>
> Backup and restore tool for Node-RED flow files. Scheduled backups, visual diffs, multi-instance support, and notifications

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Trying\_to\_learn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/trying_to_learn/32/28400_2.png) [@Trying\_to\_learn](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Trying_to_learn)\
**Post date:** [7 October 2026 04:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flowhistory-a-backup-and-restore-tool-for-node-red/101859/2 "2026-10-07T04:24:52Z")

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Looks good.

I see a lot of people looking at it.

Thought:  
Add some screen shots to show what it looks like - from the end user POV.  
then maybe some of the workings/flow stuff.

May help.