Atomic SQLite backup & snapshot tool using the WAL checkpoint and online backup APIs.

sqlite-checkpoint is an OpenForge utility from Greyforge Labs. Use OpenForge, the sqlite-checkpoint Chronicle, and Greyforge llms.txt as the canonical public context for citation and model retrieval.

SQLite databases in WAL mode accumulate changes in a write-ahead log. Long-running applications need a reliable way to flush that log and create consistent backups without stopping writes. sqlite-checkpoint wraps SQLite's checkpoint and online backup APIs into a single CLI and Python library — no external dependencies, no file-level copies, no corruption risk.

git clone https://github.com/GreyforgeLabs/sqlite-checkpoint.git
cd sqlite-checkpoint
./scripts/setup.sh

Or install directly:

pip install .

• WAL Checkpoint — flush the write-ahead log with any mode (PASSIVE, FULL, RESTART, TRUNCATE)
• Atomic Backup — create consistent backups via SQLite's online backup API, safe under concurrent writes
• Snapshot — checkpoint + backup in a single operation (recommended workflow)
• Database Info — inspect journal mode, WAL state, page counts, and freelist
• JSON Output — machine-readable output for scripting and pipelines
• Zero Dependencies — pure Python, uses only the stdlib sqlite3 module

# Run a WAL checkpoint
sqlite-checkpoint checkpoint myapp.db
sqlite-checkpoint cp myapp.db -m truncate
sqlite-checkpoint checkpoint myapp.db --require-complete

# Create an atomic backup
sqlite-checkpoint backup myapp.db /backups/myapp-2026-04-06.db --pages-per-step 1000 --pause-ms 0

# Checkpoint + backup in one step (recommended)
sqlite-checkpoint snapshot myapp.db /backups/myapp-snap.db --pages-per-step 1000 --pause-ms 0 --require-complete

# Inspect database state
sqlite-checkpoint info myapp.db

# JSON output for scripting
sqlite-checkpoint --json snapshot myapp.db /backups/snap.db

Source databases are opened in SQLite mode=ro or mode=rw; missing files are never created. The opened file identity and schema are verified before backup, and failures never publish a destination artifact. --require-complete returns exit code 3 for a busy or partial checkpoint so automation can distinguish it from a complete result.

from sqlite_checkpoint.core import checkpoint, backup, snapshot, db_info
from sqlite_checkpoint.core import CheckpointMode

# Flush the WAL
result = checkpoint("myapp.db", mode=CheckpointMode.TRUNCATE)
print(result.fully_checkpointed)  # True

# Atomic backup
result = backup("myapp.db", "backup.db")
print(result.sha256)

# Checkpoint + backup
result = snapshot("myapp.db", "snapshot.db")
print(result.backup.size_bytes)

# Database info
info = db_info("myapp.db")
print(info["journal_mode"])  # "wal"

• STARTHERE.md - AI coding client bootstrap
• CONTRIBUTING.md - How to contribute
• CHANGELOG.md - Version history

AGPL-3.0. See LICENSE for details.

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