home-assistant/core · warning · BackupManagerError

Backup manager busy: {self.state}

Error message

Backup manager busy: {self.state}

What it means

Raised by BackupManager.async_receive_backup (the HTTP upload path for importing a backup file) when the manager's state is not BackupManagerState.IDLE. The manager is a single-flight state machine (IDLE/CREATE_BACKUP/RESTORE_BACKUP/RECEIVE_BACKUP...), so a second concurrent operation is rejected immediately.

Source

Thrown at homeassistant/components/backup/manager.py:967

            for backup_id, error_dict in zip(backup_ids, delete_results, strict=True)
            for error in error_dict.values()
            if error and not isinstance(error, BackupNotFound)
        }
        if agent_errors:
            LOGGER.error(
                "Error deleting old copies: %s",
                agent_errors,
            )

    async def async_receive_backup(
        self,
        *,
        agent_ids: list[str],
        contents: aiohttp.BodyPartReader,
    ) -> str:
        """Receive and store a backup file from upload."""
        if self.state is not BackupManagerState.IDLE:
            raise BackupManagerError(f"Backup manager busy: {self.state}")
        self.async_on_backup_event(
            ReceiveBackupEvent(
                reason=None,
                stage=None,
                state=ReceiveBackupState.IN_PROGRESS,
            )
        )
        try:
            backup_id = await self._async_receive_backup(
                agent_ids=agent_ids, contents=contents
            )
        except Exception:
            self.async_on_backup_event(
                ReceiveBackupEvent(
                    reason="unknown_error",
                    stage=None,
                    state=ReceiveBackupState.FAILED,
                )

View on GitHub (pinned to 58a3fdb3ea)

Solutions

1. Wait for the current operation to finish (watch the manager state / backup events) and retry the upload.
2. Check for in-progress operations via the backup websocket API or UI banner before uploading.
3. Serialize backup operations in scripts/automations (queue them) instead of firing concurrently.

from homeassistant.components.backup.manager import BackupManagerState

if manager.state is not BackupManagerState.IDLE:
    LOGGER.info("manager busy (%s); deferring upload", manager.state)
    return  # or subscribe to events and retry later

from homeassistant.components.backup.manager import BackupManagerError

try:
    backup_id = await manager.async_receive_backup(
        agent_ids=agent_ids, contents=contents
    )
except BackupManagerError as err:
    if "busy" in str(err):
        raise HTTPTooManyRequests from err
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: Uploading a backup file via the UI/API while another backup is being created, restored, or already uploading; two upload requests racing; retrying an upload before the previous attempt fully finished (state not yet reset to IDLE).

Common situations: User starts a second operation in another tab/device; automation triggers a backup while a manual upload is in progress; a restore still running in the background.

Related errors

• Failed to upload backup
• Upload timed out after {UPLOAD_TIMEOUT} seconds
• {result}
• Invalid filename: {suggested_filename}
• You need at least Home Assistant version {backup_meta_versio

AI-assisted analysis of home-assistant/core@58a3fdb3ea (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c9e80264167662bc. Report an issue: GitHub.