# Backup Contents

Each Cloudback backup of a GitLab project creates an encrypted ZIP archive (unless password protection is disabled) containing a complete snapshot of your project. This page details everything that is included.

## Summary

A GitLab backup includes **two main components**:

| Component            | Description                                                                                                        |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Repository Clone** | Bare Git clone with all branches, tags, refs, and LFS objects                                                      |
| **Metadata JSON**    | Structured JSON files for project settings, issues, merge requests, labels, milestones, boards, members, and notes |

## Archive Structure

```
backup-archive-root/
├── repo/
│   └── {ProjectName}.git/              # Bare git repository
├── project.json                        # Project metadata
├── issues.json                         # All issues
├── issue-notes.json                    # Comments on issues
├── issue-links.json                    # Issue relationships
├── merge-requests.json                 # All merge requests
├── merge-request-notes.json            # Comments on merge requests
├── labels.json                         # Project labels
├── milestones.json                     # Project milestones
├── members.json                        # Project members
└── boards.json                         # Issue boards with lists/columns
```

## Component Details

### 1. Repository Clone

The repository is cloned as a **bare Git repository** (`git clone --bare`) into the `repo/` directory.

**What's included:**

* All branches (including remote tracking branches)
* All tags
* All Git refs
* **Git LFS objects** - Cloudback attempts `git lfs fetch --all` after cloning. If LFS fetch fails, the clone itself is still preserved (LFS failure is non-blocking).

### 2. Metadata JSON Files

Cloudback downloads structured metadata via the GitLab REST API and saves it as JSON files:

| File                         | Contents                                                                                                                                   |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **project.json**             | Project settings: name, description, visibility, default branch, feature flags (issues, MRs, wiki, CI/CD), merge request settings, topics  |
| **issues.json**              | All issues: title, description, state, labels, milestone, assignees, weight, time tracking (estimate + spent), due date, confidential flag |
| **issue-notes.json**         | All issue comments: body, author, timestamps, system/internal flags, diff note positions (for code-linked comments)                        |
| **issue-links.json**         | Issue relationships: relates\_to, blocks, is\_blocked\_by (deduplicated, same-project only)                                                |
| **merge-requests.json**      | All merge requests: title, description, state, source/target branches, labels, milestone, assignees, diff refs                             |
| **merge-request-notes.json** | All MR comments: body, author, timestamps, diff note positions (file path, line numbers for code review comments)                          |
| **labels.json**              | All project labels: name, color, description                                                                                               |
| **milestones.json**          | All milestones: title, description, state, start/due dates                                                                                 |
| **members.json**             | All project members: username, name, state, access level (Guest/Reporter/Developer/Maintainer/Owner)                                       |
| **boards.json**              | Issue boards with their columns/lists: board name, label-based columns with position ordering                                              |

## Backup Statistics

During the backup process, Cloudback collects the following statistics:

* Number of issues
* Number of issue notes (comments)
* Number of merge requests
* Number of merge request notes
* Number of labels
* Number of milestones
* Number of boards

These statistics are displayed on the **Project Details** page in the Cloudback dashboard.

## Learn More

* [GitLab: Getting Started](https://docs.cloudback.it/gitlab/installation-guide) - Connect your account
* [GitLab: Restoring Data](https://docs.cloudback.it/gitlab/restore) - How to restore from a backup
* [Cross-Platform Restore](https://docs.cloudback.it/data-restoration/cross-platform-restore) - GitHub ↔ GitLab restore
* [Password-Protected Archives](https://docs.cloudback.it/security-and-compliance/password-protected-archives) - Encryption details
* [Data Deduplication](https://docs.cloudback.it/managing-backups/data-deduplication) - How deduplication works