> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.research.prbe.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Backfill

> Import work you have already done — a folder, saved coding sessions, or both.

Backfill is the no-connector path: it reads a folder on this machine, works out what is in it, uploads what it finds and describes it.

## Starting an import

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Wizard">
    ```bash theme={null}
    npx probe-research            # → Your research → Import research work
    ```

    The wizard is the better door for this, and not only because it has screens. It runs the import **in the background**, so a large folder does not hold your terminal; it survives a disconnect and resumes after a restart; and it shows you the plan before anything uploads.

    <CardGroup cols={2}>
      <Card title="Import research work" icon="box-archive" href="/wizard/import">
        The picker, the two run modes, and what gets reviewed before it writes.
      </Card>

      <Card title="Existing imports" icon="list-check" href="/wizard/imports">
        Watch one, read its result, resume what was interrupted.
      </Card>
    </CardGroup>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Command">
    ```bash theme={null}
    probe backfill /path/to/work --project existing-project
    probe backfill --transcripts-only
    ```

    Direct `probe backfill` is **synchronous** — it holds the terminal until it finishes.

    To drive the wizard's own background lane unattended instead:

    ```bash theme={null}
    probe wizard --action backfill --folder /srv/work/folding --yes
    probe wizard --action transcripts --yes
    ```

    `--folder` is required headless: without it the wizard opens a picker, which needs a TTY.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Both doors share the same file-coverage records and delivery receipts, so **completed uploads are reused whichever one you came through** — switching between them costs nothing.

## What it reads

| Kind                       | Becomes                                                                      |
| -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Files                      | Artifacts on the chosen anchor, deduplicated by content                      |
| A GitHub checkout          | Placement context from bounded commit history, plus the attached code source |
| Coding-agent transcripts   | Standalone sessions in the knowledgebase                                     |
| Local W\&B run directories | Runs and metric history — see [W\&B](/integrations/wandb)                    |

<Note>
  **References remain references.** A file recorded as a pointer to bytes you keep elsewhere is never silently turned into an upload.

  **Sessions import as standalone.** Backfill verifies their native session identity and preserves immutable retries, but it does not infer or create links to projects, experiments or runs. Nothing is guessed.
</Note>

## Reviewing before it writes

Folder imports either review placement before writing, or use the explicit automatic-approval option — which is never selected for you.

File and Git reconstruction drafts are saved for **explicit publication review**, and refreshing the AI summary is a separate step again. The agent's reading of your folder is a draft until you say otherwise.

## Resuming

```bash theme={null}
probe backfill /path/to/work --source-id <id>       # the folder moved, same destination
probe backfill /path/to/work --import-changed       # review files that changed since
probe backfill /path/to/work --import-unverified    # review unresolved legacy matches
```

Rerun to resume. Coverage of current files is reported **separately** from pending delivery, so "we read everything" and "everything arrived" are never conflated.

<Warning>
  A resume delivers the **saved plan and the saved file versions**. New or changed files are not silently added to that delivery — that is what `--import-changed` is for. A retry can never quietly widen its own scope.
</Warning>

## Transcripts only

```bash theme={null}
probe backfill --transcripts-only
```

Imports saved coding-agent histories without touching any folder. The picker detects them independently of which agents you currently have installed.

<Info>
  Protocol-2 transcript imports require a compatible engine, API and tap release. An older combination imports at the earlier protocol rather than failing.
</Info>