MangoTart offers two backup paths: a manual Hermes export that you download yourself, and optional encrypted cloud disaster backup. They protect similar agent state but serve different situations.
Compare the two backup paths
| Manual export | Cloud disaster backup | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Migration and a backup you control | Recovering after loss or hardware damage |
| Trigger | You click Export | Daily when enabled, plus Run now |
| Storage | Downloaded by you | Encrypted file in MangoTart-managed object storage |
| Encryption | The archive itself contains readable secrets; protect it yourself | Encrypted on the device before upload |
| Password | None added by MangoTart | Required; shown once and not stored in the cloud |
| Retention | You manage downloaded copies | Rolling daily, weekly, and monthly history |
Neither path backs up the browser profile or signed-in website sessions.
What a Hermes backup contains
The supported backup includes Hermes state such as:
- memory and user/persona files;
- skills and agent configuration;
- chat state and history;
- schedules and supported settings; and
- provider, messaging, and tool credentials stored in the Hermes state.
It does not include:
- the Chromium browser profile, cookies, or website logins;
- MangoTart device identity, registration, or Tailscale identity;
- the operating system and reinstallable program files; or
- unrelated data outside the supported Hermes state.
A manual export contains secrets
Treat a downloaded export like a password vault. It can contain API keys, login credentials, and conversation history in readable form. Do not email it casually or leave it in a shared downloads folder.
Create a manual export
- Open System → Backup & Migration in the local console.
- Select Export backup.
- Wait for the archive to finish.
- Download it and move it to storage you trust.
The export runs through Hermes' supported backup path and can be created while the agent is operating. MangoTart keeps only the latest local export for download, so your own copy is the durable one.
Enable cloud disaster backup
- Open System → Cloud disaster backup.
- Generate a password or enter your own password of at least eight characters.
- Copy the password when it is shown and save it somewhere separate from MangoTart.
- Enable Automatic backup (daily).
- Use Back up now if you want the first copy immediately.
Encryption happens on MangoTart before the file is uploaded. Storage receives ciphertext; MangoTart does not store or return the password.
If the device misses its normal backup time because it is off, the persistent timer attempts the job after it next starts. The System page shows the most recent success or error.
Cloud retention
Cloud backups use a rolling GFS-style history:
- the latest backup from each of the most recent 7 days;
- the latest backup from each of the most recent 13 weeks; and
- the latest backup from each of the most recent 12 months.
These sets overlap, so a device with continuous daily backups stabilizes at about 28 retained files rather than 32. Older daily copies are thinned into weekly and monthly recovery points.
Unbinding a device permanently deletes all of its cloud backups. Download any copy you need before unbinding.
Download a cloud backup when the device is damaged
- Sign in at
mangot.artwith the email that owns the device. - Open Dashboard, then select the device.
- Under Cloud backups, choose a dated encrypted file and select Download.
- Keep the
.zip.encfile together with—but not in the same insecure place as—the password you saved.
The website can list and deliver the encrypted file, but it cannot decrypt it for you.
Restore onto MangoTart
Before restoring, update the destination MangoTart so its software is not older than the device that created the backup.
- Open System → Restore from backup on the destination device.
- Choose a manual Hermes archive or an encrypted cloud-backup file.
- Enter the cloud-backup password if the file is encrypted.
- Confirm the overwrite.
- Wait while MangoTart stops agent services, imports the state, and restarts them.
Restore replaces the destination's current Hermes memory and settings. Active conversations pause during the operation.
After restore:
- sign back in to websites in the built-in browser;
- test the model provider and messaging channels;
- review schedules, skills, and command-approval settings; and
- take the old device offline before normal use, because two devices with the same bot/channel credentials can compete for messages.
Migrate to another MangoTart
MangoTart-to-MangoTart migration is the supported path:
- Update both devices.
- Export from the old device.
- Import into the new device.
- Re-authenticate website sessions.
- Test the agent and channels.
- Shut down and factory-reset the old device only after the new one works.
Importing into another machine running open-source Hermes may work, but it is best-effort; the MangoTart product promise covers migration between MangoTart devices.
If you lose the password
An encrypted cloud backup cannot be recovered without its password. MangoTart support cannot reset, retrieve, or bypass it because the password is not stored in the cloud. Changing the password on the device does not re-encrypt older backups; keep the old password for old files.
If backup or restore fails
- Confirm the device has internet access for cloud upload/download.
- Check the last backup error on the System page.
- Make sure the destination software is current.
- Confirm you selected the correct password for the date of the encrypted file.
- Do not repeatedly import into a device that contains unsaved newer state.
- Contact hello@mangot.art before factory-resetting or unbinding if the only copy of important state may still be on the device.
See Troubleshooting for the wider recovery checklist.