Problems and limits

The messages that Pahest prints, what to do, and what Pahest does not do.

The messages on this page are the real text that Pahest prints. Only the user name is changed, to you.

The command is not found

The Terminal prints zsh: command not found: pahest when Pahest is not installed. Install Pahest, open a new Terminal window, and run pahest again.

Another run is in progress

Another pahest run is still working (lock file /Users/you/pahest-backups/.pahest.lock). Try again later.

Pahest permits one run at a time.

Find the Terminal window of the other run.
Wait until that run stops.
Run pahest again.

There is no terminal

pahest asks questions before it starts, but there is no terminal to ask them in. Run it in a terminal, or use --profile to run with saved answers.

A script started pahest, and Pahest cannot ask its question. Save a profile, then use pahest --profile in the script.

The profile is not found

  ✗ profile "nightly" not found (/Users/you/pahest-backups/profiles/nightly.json). Run pahest once without --profile and answer "y" when it offers to save your answers.

No profile has this name. Save a profile with this name.

The backup folder cannot be used

Pahest prints the cause after the words The backup folder cannot be used:.

Cause in the message	What to do
`does not exist; make that folder first`	Make the parent folder, then type the path again.
`the disk “Backup” is not connected`	Connect the disk, then run `pahest` again.
`cannot write to`	Choose a folder that you can write to. If macOS asks, permit access to the disk or folder.
`it is inside`	Choose a folder that is not in the data of an app.

This is the message when the folder Papers does not exist:

  ✗ The backup folder cannot be used: /Users/you/Papers does not exist; make that folder first, or choose another one

Use another folder or disk has the rules for the folder.

The disk is full

The Free space line of the start screen has a ✗ when the disk has too little free space. If the disk becomes full during a run, Pahest stops with this message:

The backup disk is full (/Users/you/pahest-backups). The backup stopped; free some space and run it again.

Delete files, or an old backup folder. Keep the newest backup.
Run pahest again.

The backup completed with problems

The last part of the run says Backup completed with problems, and the exit code is 1.

Hold Cmd and click the Report address at the end of the run.
Read the part Problems of the report. It names each file or part.
Correct the cause, for example a folder that you cannot read.
Run pahest again.

Claude Code deletes old sessions

The start screen can show this line:

  ! Claude Code deletes sessions older than 30 days by default. Backups keep them, but to stop the deletion add  "cleanupPeriodDays": 3650  to /Users/you/.claude/settings.json

Your backups keep these sessions if you make a backup before Claude Code deletes them. Pahest does not change the settings file. You can add the setting yourself.

The pages look old after an update

An update of Pahest does not change the pages of your backups. Rebuild the pages, then load the page again in the browser.

A session is not in the list

Look at these causes in this sequence:

A filter or a search hides the session. Click Reset.
The session is a chat on claude.ai or chatgpt.com. These chats are not on your Mac.
The app deleted the session before your first backup.

Limits

Pahest runs on macOS only.
Pahest does not back up your projects. Keep another backup for your project folders.
Pahest saves only the files on your Mac. It does not save your chats on claude.ai and chatgpt.com, or sessions that run only on a server. Use Export data in the settings of Claude and of ChatGPT for these chats.
A part of the reasoning of the AI is encrypted by Anthropic or OpenAI. Pahest keeps it, but you cannot read it.
Pahest keeps the Cowork disk image of the Claude desktop app, but you cannot read its content without the app.
Pahest has no scheduler. It makes a backup only when you or your script run it.
Pahest has no command that puts a session back into an app.

Get more help

Open an issue on GitHub: github.com/pahest/pahest/issues. Add the last lines of the output. Read them first, because they can show the names of your folders.