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Tasks & Workflows

This page outlines the recurring operational workflows for Apple Juicer.

Discovering Backups

  1. Ensure backups exist under APPLE_JUICER_BACKUP_PATHS__BASE_PATH.
  2. Call POST /backups/refresh (or click “Refresh” in the UI) to scan the filesystem.
  3. Newly discovered backups are inserted or existing rows updated in Postgres, including size bytes, device name, and encryption flags. (@api/routes/backups.py#34-51)

Tip: run refresh on a schedule (cron, GitHub Actions, etc.) if new backups arrive regularly.

Unlocking & Session Handling

  1. User supplies the encryption passphrase in the UI.
  2. POST /backups/{id}/unlock calls UnlockManager → iphone_backup_decrypt to unlock the keybag and Manifest. (@api/routes/backups.py#53-69)
  3. The response includes session_token and TTL which must be set as X-Backup-Session for subsequent manifest/file calls.
  4. To revoke credentials early, call POST /backups/{id}/lock (idempotent). (@api/routes/backups.py#71-81)

Sessions are stored in memory, so rebooting the backend clears them automatically.

Browsing & Downloads

  1. Use GET /backups/{id}/files with domain, path_like, limit, and offset query params to page through Manifest entries. (@api/routes/backups.py#84-111)
  2. Download files with GET /backups/{id}/file/{file_id} – remember to set both API and session headers. The backend deletes temp files right after the response finishes. (@api/routes/backups.py#122-141)

Indexing Artifacts

  1. Trigger a job (currently via UI button) that enqueues index_backup_job with artifact bundle metadata.
  2. Worker pulls the job, parses SQLite DBs, and writes normalized tables. (@worker/tasks.py#40-332)
  3. Once finished, backups.status updates to INDEXED, and artifact tabs in the UI become available.

To reindex, simply enqueue another job. The worker truncates previous artifacts before ingesting new data. (@worker/tasks.py#72-90)

Purging Data

  • Delete a backup via SQL (DELETE FROM backups WHERE ios_identifier='...') or add API support if needed. Cascades clean the related artifacts automatically because of ON DELETE CASCADE.
  • Clean Redis queues with rq empty default.
  • Remove temp folders under backup_paths.temp_path whenever the backend or worker crashes mid-download.

Automation Ideas

  • Cron refresh – docker exec backend-1 curl -s -X POST http://backend:8080/backups/refresh.
  • Scheduled reindex – dispatch jobs nightly for recently modified backups.
  • Webhook integration – watch for new backups landing on the host and immediately call the refresh endpoint.