Lost entire database after running migration down --last 1 command

[nilaish]

Hi All,

I am new to Supabase development. I am using the free tier along with Bolt.new for my app development. Today, I wanted to roll back the last couple of SQL migrations that had been implemented as they were causing issues with the application. I ran the following command:

npx supabase migration down --last 1 --linked

and it just deleted my entire database with all the data in there. I have no backups and would love to understand how can I get it back?

What did I do wrong here? Isn't this command supposed to rollback only the last migration sql that was run?

[GaryAustin1]

I see a bit of info there is supposed to be a warning about it removing data. If I read this correctly it does a db-reset.
supabase/cli#3635
But I don't use migrations so could be wrong.

If you don't have a backup then only way would be to go to Pro for min one month and get the last daily backup which even though not documented every user that has done it says they are there.

[nilaish]

There is a warning, the command instructions are to rollback that SQL migrationn, it doesn't talk at all about DB reset in any manner.

I figured that was a standard message for loss of data (:

[GaryAustin1]

Sorry, I don't use the CLI so can't comment on that.
But If your data is gone, all you can do is get a back up.
If there is something unclear with the CLI process then generate an issue in supabase/cli or leave comment here, but these are not normally monitored by Supabase staff.

[nilaish]

I am new to supabase too. Thanksfully I have all the SQL migration scripts from my project, so I will just have to run them again in the right scripts and I can create new data again. But the documentation should be really clear that a migration down command does a complete db reset and doesn't just rollback the last command.

[GaryAustin1]

If you have feedback for Supabase on this then either supabase/supabase issues for docs or supabase/cli github as related to the CLI.

[manimovassagh]

The supabase migration down --last 1 --linked command runs the down migration against your linked remote project (your live database). The critical thing to understand: Supabase's down migrations don't magically "undo" your last migration. They execute whatever is in the corresponding down migration SQL, and if no explicit down migration exists, the CLI may generate one that drops the objects created in the up migration — tables included, along with all their data.

So what likely happened: the down migration dropped tables (not just altered schema), and the data in those tables went with them.

Can you recover?

On the free tier, Supabase does not provide point-in-time recovery (PITR). Your options:

1. Contact Supabase support via the dashboard — even on free tier, they sometimes have daily backups they can restore from. No guarantees, but worth asking.
2. Check if you have any local data — if you ever ran supabase db dump or have seed files from Bolt.new, you might be able to recreate things.
3. Check Bolt.new's project history — it may have the SQL statements that seeded your data.

Preventing this in the future

1. Always test migrations locally first: supabase migration down --last 1 (without --linked) runs against your local database.
2. Take a dump before destructive operations: supabase db dump --linked -f backup.sql
3. Write explicit down migrations so you control exactly what gets rolled back — don't let the CLI guess.
4. Consider upgrading to Pro if your data matters — Pro includes daily backups and PITR.

The --linked flag is the dangerous part. It tells the CLI to run against your live remote database. Treat it like running DDL in production — always have a backup first.

[LoordhuJeyakumar]

Hit something similar a while back a restore that looked fine but wasn't, and no way to know until it actually mattered. I'm building a small tool that backs up Supabase projects and then actually restores them on a schedule to prove the backup is good, instead of just assuming a scheduled backup means you're safe. Still early. If that's something you'd want to try once it's ready, happy to add you to an early access list no pitch, just trying to figure out if this is worth building for people who've actually hit this.