Database-powered · FUSE · PITR

aifs
A time-machine filesystem

Your Files, Protected Forever. Every change recorded, every deletion recoverable, nothing lost.

In the AI Agent era, agents autonomously read, write, and modify files at scale. aifs turns your filesystem into a time machine. Rewind to any moment, recover deleted files, and let agents work fearlessly. Store your code and agent sessions on aifs — pick up exactly where you left off, from any machine.

Whether you're a researcher, engineer, lawyer, teacher, or student — use aifs to protect your most important data. Every change to every file is precisely recorded and recoverable. Never worry about accidental deletion again. aifs aims to be essential software on every personal computer in the world, making data protection as simple, reliable, and accessible as possible.

🐧 Linux 🍎 macOS 🪟 Windows

Get Started View on GitHub

aifs quick start

# 1. Initialize global config

$ aifs config init --base-dir /aifs

[OK] config saved

# 2. Create a project instance

$ aifs create -i my-project

[OK] instance "my-project" created

# 3. Start database + backup containers

$ aifs start -i my-project

$ aifs status -i my-project

[OK] database accepting connections

# 4. Format filesystem & mount

$ aifs format -i my-project

$ aifs mount -i my-project ~/mnt -d

[OK] background mount pid 12345 at ~/mnt

# 5. Snapshot before risky work

$ aifs snapshot create -i my-project --type full

[OK] snapshot 20260626-083000F created

# Start your project, agent does work... something goes wrong

# 6. Unmount → restore → remount

$ aifs umount ~/mnt

$ aifs restore -i my-project --time "2026-06-26 08:30:00" --promote

$ aifs mount -i my-project ~/mnt -d

[OK] filesystem restored ✓ nothing lost

Core capabilities

Built for the age of autonomous agents

Everything you need to make file operations reliable, reversible, and observable.

⏱️

Point-in-Time Recovery

PostgreSQL WAL-based PITR lets you rewind the entire filesystem to any timestamp — seconds, hours, or weeks ago.

📸

Instant Snapshots

Full, differential, and incremental backups. Take a snapshot before any risky operation, delete old ones to reclaim storage.

🌐

Direct PostgreSQL URL

Mount any PostgreSQL database directly with --url. No local containers needed — just a connection string.

🔗

Shared Multi-machine Access

Same database, multiple machines. Mount the same filesystem on Linux, macOS, and Windows simultaneously — PostgreSQL handles concurrency.

🖥️

Cross-platform

Native FUSE on Linux and macOS. WinFsp drive-letter mounts on Windows (Z:, X:, etc.). One binary, one config.

📦

Zero-dependency deploy

aifs manages its own PostgreSQL and backup containers via Podman. No server setup, no DBA required.

🤖

AI Agent Session Storage

Store your AI agent sessions — ~/.claude, ~/.codex and more — on a remote aifs instance or cloud PostgreSQL. Mount from home, office, or anywhere. Your context follows you.

Workflow

How it works

A filesystem backed entirely by PostgreSQL — simple to deploy, powerful to recover.

Create & Start

Spin up a PostgreSQL container with aifs create + aifs start.

Format & Mount

Initialize the filesystem with aifs format, then mount it as a local drive.

Snapshot

Take a full snapshot before risky work. aifs handles WAL archiving continuously.

Restore anytime

Rewind to any timestamp. Inspect read-only, then promote back to read-write when ready.

Get started

Install in one command

Pre-built binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Installation and upgrade use the same command.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mars-base/aifs/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Prepare the Windows runtime environment — run once before installing:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mars-base/aifs/main/scripts/aifs-setup.ps1 | iex

Then install aifs:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mars-base/aifs/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Multi-machine

Shared storage, zero infrastructure

Mount the same PostgreSQL-backed filesystem on multiple machines simultaneously.

One database, many machines

Because all filesystem state lives in PostgreSQL, any machine with network access can mount the same database. Use a local aifs instance as the backend, or connect directly to a cloud PostgreSQL service.

Perfect for teams sharing a data archive, AI agents running across multiple nodes, or anyone who needs the same files accessible from different locations.

--url mount

# One-time format

$ aifs format \

--url "postgresql://user:pass@db.example.com:5432/archive"

# Machine A (Linux)

$ aifs mount ~/archive -d \

--url "postgresql://..."

# Machine B (Windows)

> aifs mount Z: -d \