Budibase/budibase · error

App export does not appear to be valid - no DB file found.

Error message

App export does not appear to be valid - no DB file found.

What it means

importApp validates the extracted package contains DB_EXPORT_FILE (the database dump, e.g. db/dump.txt). If absent the archive is not a valid app export and the import aborts with this message, preventing creation of a broken app without database contents.

Source

Thrown at packages/server/src/sdk/workspace/backups/imports.ts:283

    template.file && (await fsp.lstat(template.file.path)).isDirectory()
  let tmpPath: string | undefined = undefined
  if (template.file && (isTar || isDirectory)) {
    tmpPath = isTar ? await untarFile(template.file) : template.file.path
    if (isTar && template.file.password) {
      await decryptFiles(tmpPath, template.file.password)
    }
    const contents = await fsp.readdir(tmpPath)
    const stillEncrypted = !!contents.find(name => name.endsWith(".enc"))
    if (stillEncrypted) {
      throw new Error("Files are encrypted but no password has been supplied.")
    }
    const isPlugin = !!contents.find(name => name === "plugin.min.js")
    if (isPlugin) {
      throw new Error("Supplied file is a plugin - cannot import as app.")
    }
    const isInvalid = !contents.find(name => name === DB_EXPORT_FILE)
    if (isInvalid) {
      throw new Error(
        "App export does not appear to be valid - no DB file found."
      )
    }
    // have to handle object import
    if (importOpts.importObjStoreContents) {
      const promises = []
      const excludedFiles = [GLOBAL_DB_EXPORT_FILE, DB_EXPORT_FILE]

      for (let filename of contents) {
        const path = join(tmpPath, filename)
        if (excludedFiles.includes(filename)) {
          continue
        }
        filename = join(objectStoreProdAppId, filename)
        if ((await fsp.lstat(path)).isDirectory()) {
          promises.push(
            objectStore.uploadDirectory(ObjectStoreBuckets.APPS, path, filename)
          )

View on GitHub (pinned to a81a902e9a)

Solutions

1. Re-export the app from the source environment using the standard export feature and import that archive
2. Verify the archive contains the DB dump path (db/dump.txt) with `tar -tzf export.tar.gz`
3. Re-upload the file if the transfer was truncated/corrupted and confirm sizes match
4. Check Budibase version compatibility between exporting and importing environments

Example fix

// before
tar -czf bundle.tar.gz assets/   // no db dump inside
// after
budibase export --output export.tar.gz  // contains db/dump.txt

const listing = execSync(`tar -tzf ${archivePath}`).toString()
if (!listing.includes("dump.txt")) {
  throw new Error("Archive lacks the app DB export")
}

try {
  await importApp(template)
} catch (err: any) {
  if (err.message.includes("no DB file found")) {
    // obtain a fresh valid export
  } else {
    throw err
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: importApp called with an archive that lacks the expected DB export file — e.g. a zipped folder of assets, an object-store-only export, an archive from an incompatible/older format, or a truncated upload that lost the db directory.

Common situations: Hand-crafted or third-party archives renamed to .tar.gz and imported; exports from very old Budibase versions with a different layout; uploads truncated in transit so files are missing after extraction; importing a workspace backup file through the app import endpoint.

Related errors

• Invalid import url
• Only HTTP(S) URLs are allowed for query import
• Import url must not contain credentials
• Import data or url is required
• Unsupported import type

AI-assisted analysis of Budibase/budibase@a81a902e9a (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5cb612d85fa02071. Report an issue: GitHub.