Import and export

Export a copy

or --store ./ourcana.json export --format json --output ./backup.json
or --store ./ourcana.json export --format our --output ./backup.our

--format accepts only json and our; JSON is the default. Without --output, Orchard writes ourcana_export_<timestamp>.json or .our in the current directory. It does not stream the export to stdout. Existing output files can be overwritten.

JSON mode reports the written path. Captured output from the manual's synthetic fixture:

{"exported":"/tmp/orchard-manual-fixture/backup.json"}

A JSON export serializes Orchard's in-memory model. A .our export writes the archive form and can preserve archive content from its source. Do not assume a format conversion preserves every app-specific detail; keep your original backup.

Merge an import

or --store ./working-copy.json import ./incoming.our
or --store ./working-copy.json --json import ./incoming.json

The destination must already exist and be readable. import accepts .json, .our and .zip; the JSON reader also recognizes PluralKit and SimplyPlural export shapes. This is not a universal importer for every format the Ourcana app supports.

Members match by ID or exact name. For an existing member, the importer fills empty description, pronouns, color, avatar URL and PluralKit ID fields from the incoming record; it does not overwrite populated fields. It adds new members and front events, tags, custom fields and journal entries whose IDs are not already present. It saves the destination immediately.

Captured output when re-importing the synthetic fixture's own export:

{"format":"ourcana","new_fronts":0,"new_members":0,"source":"/tmp/orchard-manual-fixture/backup.json"}

The JSON report gives the source format and numbers of added members and front events. It is not a count of every updated field or imported record type.