openclaw/skills/tidb-sql/references/flashback.md

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TiDB Flashback (Recover from Drops/Truncates)

TiDB Flashback (Recover from Drops/Truncates)

Use flashback to recover from accidental DROP / TRUNCATE if you catch it before GC permanently removes the historical versions.

Important: Flashback is constrained by GC. Default tidb_gc_life_time is often short (for example, 10 minutes). Act quickly.

Before you try to recover

1. Confirm you are on TiDB (not MySQL): SELECT VERSION();
2. Check the GC safe point:

SELECT * FROM mysql.tidb WHERE variable_name = 'tikv_gc_safe_point';

If the drop/truncate happened before the safe point, flashback cannot recover it.

FLASHBACK TABLE (TiDB v4.0+)

Recover a dropped table:

FLASHBACK TABLE t;

Recover a truncated table:

• After TRUNCATE, the table name still exists, so you must recover to a new name:

FLASHBACK TABLE t TO t_recovered;

Notes:

• You cannot restore the same deleted table multiple times (the restored table reuses the same table ID).

FLASHBACK DATABASE (TiDB v6.4.0+)

Recover a dropped database:

FLASHBACK DATABASE test;

Recover and rename:

FLASHBACK DATABASE test TO test_recovered;

Notes:

• You cannot restore the same database multiple times (schema IDs must be globally unique).

FLASHBACK CLUSTER TO TIMESTAMP / TSO (high impact)

Use this to restore the whole cluster to a specific point in time.

Availability / safety gates:

• Not applicable to TiDB Cloud Starter/Essential clusters.
• Requires SUPER privilege.
• Must be within GC lifetime.
• Do not specify a future timestamp/TSO.
• During execution, TiDB disconnects related connections and blocks reads/writes. It cannot be canceled once started.
• It writes old data forward with a new timestamp (it does not delete current data). Ensure enough storage space.
• If you use TiCDC, metadata rollbacks are not replicated; plan to pause changefeeds and reconcile schemas after.

Syntax:

FLASHBACK CLUSTER TO TIMESTAMP '2022-09-21 16:02:50';
FLASHBACK CLUSTER TO TSO 445494839813079041;

Get a TSO for a precise point:

SELECT @@tidb_current_ts;