# Syncing across devices & backing up This page covers how to keep your vault in sync across machines, how to create a portable encrypted backup, and why you need more than just your git remote to have a full backup. --- ## Syncing your vault between devices Relicario stores your vault in a git repo. Every item you add, edit, or delete is committed there. To push your latest changes to another machine (or pull a teammate's changes), run: ``` relicario sync ``` Under the hood, this does a `git pull --rebase` followed by a push to your configured git remote — the same remote you set up when you initialized your vault. Any machine that has the vault cloned and a copy of your reference image can sync and stay up to date. **Check what's in your vault at a glance:** ``` relicario status ``` This prints a summary: how many items and attachments you have, and the timestamp of the last commit. --- ## Why your git remote alone is NOT a full backup Here is the catch: your reference image — the photo that carries your second factor — is **gitignored**. It never gets committed to your git repo, by design. If someone stole your git remote, they still could not decrypt anything without that image. But that also means: **if you back up only your git remote and lose your reference image, you cannot unlock your vault.** The two factors travel separately by design. A complete backup has two parts: 1. Your git remote (all the encrypted vault data). 2. A safe copy of your reference image (the second factor). --- ## Creating a portable encrypted backup For the safest kind of backup — one you can carry on a USB drive or store in a separate location — use `relicario backup export`. This packs your entire vault into a single encrypted `.relbak` file. You set a **separate backup passphrase** that is independent of your vault passphrase, so the `.relbak` file can be kept and shared separately without revealing your vault credentials. **Export a backup:** ``` relicario backup export vault-backup.relbak ``` You will be prompted to set a backup passphrase. This is not the same as your vault passphrase — choose something strong and store it safely. **Include your reference image in the backup** (making it fully self-contained): ``` relicario backup export vault-backup.relbak --include-image ``` With `--include-image`, the `.relbak` file contains everything needed to restore and unlock the vault. If your reference image lives somewhere other than the default `reference.jpg` in the vault directory, point to it explicitly: ``` relicario backup export vault-backup.relbak --include-image --image /path/to/your/reference.jpg ``` **Skip the git history** (smaller file, useful for quick snapshot backups): ``` relicario backup export vault-backup.relbak --no-history ``` **Restore from a backup:** ``` relicario backup restore vault-backup.relbak ``` Or restore into a specific directory: ``` relicario backup restore vault-backup.relbak /path/to/new-vault/ ``` The target directory must not already contain a `.relicario/` folder — Relicario will stop and tell you if it does. --- ## Importing from LastPass If you are migrating from LastPass, Relicario can import your data directly from a LastPass CSV export. Unlock your vault first, then run: ``` relicario import lastpass lastpass-export.csv ``` Each row in the CSV becomes a new item. If a row cannot be parsed, it is skipped and the reason is printed to the terminal — the rest of the import continues. Title collisions are kept as separate items (no automatic deduplication). --- ## Backup checklist > **Before you feel safe, make sure you have all four of these:** - [ ] **Your git remote** is reachable and has your latest sync (`relicario sync` before stepping away from a machine). - [ ] **A safe copy of your reference image** stored somewhere independent of the vault — a USB drive, an encrypted cloud folder, or a printed recovery QR (see [Recovery](recovery.md)). - [ ] **Optionally, a `.relbak` file with `--include-image`** stored somewhere offsite. This is the most convenient full restore path — one file, one backup passphrase. - [ ] **Your vault passphrase** memorized. There is no reset and no backdoor. For the full picture on what happens if you lose a factor, and how to generate a recovery QR for your reference image, see [Recovery](recovery.md). --- **Next:** [The browser extension](the-browser-extension.md)