Does --selector in restore operate on backup labels or live cluster resources?

[Kozatoo]

Hi Velero team 👋

I’m looking for clarification regarding how --selector / --or-selector behaves during a restore operation, as the current documentation feels a bit ambiguous.

From the docs, it’s clear how selectors work for backup creation (i.e., selecting resources from the cluster based on labels at backup time). However, for restore, it’s not clear whether the selector is applied:

1. On the labels stored in the backup (i.e., snapshot of resources at backup time), or
2. On the current state of the cluster at restore time

For example:

velero restore create restore-test \
  --from-backup my-backup \
  --selector app=my-app

In this case, does Velero:

• Filter resources based on labels that were present when the backup was taken?
• Or evaluate labels on resources currently in the cluster during restore?

This distinction is important because it affects whether labeling must be done before backup or can be applied later before restore.

Additionally, it would be helpful if the documentation explicitly stated:

• Whether restore selectors operate purely on backup metadata
• Whether there are any cases where live cluster state is considered

Thanks in advance for the clarification!

[blackpiglet]

The restore's label filters are applied to the resources taken in the backup.

I didn't think about the other ways, because it seems nature to restore based on the backed-up resources instead of the resources in the cluster.