Back up Moonpool, roll back apps.json and recover a setup

Everything Moonpool keeps is in two places: the config folder and the dashboards folder. Paths for each mode are in Where the config lives.

The config folder

moonpool-config\
  apps.json            your apps                              back up
  apps.json.history\   the last 10 good apps.json files       back up (optional)
  settings.json        app settings                           back up
  icons\               icon overrides, <id>.png and so on     back up
  cli-output\<id>\     session logs                           disposable
  moonpool.log         debug log                              disposable
  state.json           live status snapshot                   disposable
  dumps\               files written by dump and read-config  disposable
  mcp_seen.json        which apps had an MCP helper           disposable
  window-state.json    hub window size and position           disposable
  AI-README.md         rewritten at every launch              disposable
  webview\             the window's browser profile (Windows) disposable

The dashboards folder is {MP_HOME}\dashboards: %USERPROFILE%\.moonpool\dashboards installed, <your .moonpool folder>\dashboards portable, and dashboards/ inside the config folder on Linux. Back up anything of your own in it. Its examples folder belongs to Moonpool and is rewritten on update.

The theme is kept in the window’s browser storage, not in a file you can copy. It does not travel with a backup; pick it again after a restore.

Back up

1. Quit Moonpool, so no file is half written.
2. Copy apps.json, settings.json and icons\ from the config folder, and your own files from dashboards\.

$cfg = "$env:USERPROFILE\.moonpool\moonpool-config"
Copy-Item "$cfg\apps.json", "$cfg\settings.json" D:\backup\
Copy-Item "$cfg\icons" D:\backup\ -Recurse

To restore, quit Moonpool, copy the files back, and start it.

Roll back apps.json

Every successful save, agent write and restore, and every Reload that finds changed content, copies the validated apps.json into apps.json.history\, keeping the newest 10. Each file is named by the time it was taken, for example 1767225600000.json. There is no apps.json.bak.

• By hand. Copy a snapshot over apps.json, then choose Reload.

  $cfg = "$env:USERPROFILE\.moonpool\moonpool-config"
  Copy-Item "$cfg\apps.json.history\<snapshot>" "$cfg\apps.json"

• From a script. moonpool.exe restore-config lists the snapshots; moonpool.exe restore-config 1 restores the newest. See Command line.

• From an agent. moonpool_restore_config. See MCP tools.

Nothing is restored automatically.

A broken file

• apps.json. Moonpool never overwrites a broken file. See If the file is bad.
• settings.json. Fix it, or delete it to reset every setting, then restart Moonpool. See settings.json.

Reset to the examples

Moonpool writes its example apps only when there is no apps.json. To start over, quit Moonpool (or keep it running), rename or delete apps.json, then start Moonpool or choose Reload. A fresh apps.json with the examples is written.

Installed to portable

A new portable copy starts with the example apps. To bring your own across, see Portable mode. Copy icons\ and settings.json the same way if you want them.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling the installed Moonpool deletes the whole %USERPROFILE%\.moonpool folder, including the config folder and dashboards. Back up first. See Uninstalling. A portable copy is removed by deleting its .moonpool\ folder.