Backup failed: The cloud can only support backup up to 12 sn

Error message

Backup failed: The cloud can only support backup up to 12 snapshots

What it means

The cloud snapshot upload was rejected because the cloud provider enforces a hard limit of 12 stored backup snapshots. When dejavu's UploadTagIndex detects that uploading a new snapshot would exceed this ceiling, it returns ErrCloudBackupCountExceeded, which the UploadCloudSnapshot function wraps into a user-facing 'Backup failed: The cloud can only support backup up to 12 snapshots' message (Language 84 template + Language 154 text). This is a deliberate quota enforced server-side by the cloud storage backend.

Source

Thrown at kernel/model/repository.go:1482

	switch Conf.Sync.Provider {
	case conf.ProviderSiYuan:
		if !IsSubscriber() {
			util.PushErrMsg(Conf.Language(29), 5000)
			return
		}
	case conf.ProviderWebDAV, conf.ProviderS3, conf.ProviderLocal:
		if !IsPaidUser() {
			util.PushErrMsg(Conf.Language(214), 5000)
			return
		}
	}

	util.PushEndlessProgress(Conf.Language(116))
	defer util.PushClearProgress()
	uploadFileCount, uploadChunkCount, uploadBytes, err := repo.UploadTagIndex(tag, id, map[string]any{eventbus.CtxPushMsg: eventbus.CtxPushMsgToStatusBarAndProgress})
	if err != nil {
		if errors.Is(err, dejavu.ErrCloudBackupCountExceeded) {
			err = fmt.Errorf(Conf.Language(84), Conf.Language(154))
			return
		}
		err = fmt.Errorf(Conf.Language(84), formatRepoErrorMsg(err))
		return
	}
	msg := fmt.Sprintf(Conf.Language(152), uploadFileCount, uploadChunkCount, humanize.BytesCustomCeil(uint64(uploadBytes), 2))
	util.PushMsg(msg, 5000)
	util.PushStatusBar(msg)
	return
}

func RemoveCloudRepoTag(tag string) (err error) {
	if 1 > len(Conf.Repo.Key) {
		err = errors.New(Conf.Language(26))
		return
	}

	repo, err := newRepository()

View on GitHub (pinned to 251596fc0d)

Solutions

Delete one or more existing cloud snapshots via RemoveCloudRepoTag before uploading a new one, freeing a slot under the 12-snapshot limit
Use GetCloudRepoTagSnapshots to list current cloud snapshots and remove the oldest or least important ones
Switch to a sync-based workflow (syncRepo) instead of discrete cloud backups if you need more version history, since sync snapshots are managed differently from backup snapshots

Example fix

// before
err = model.UploadCloudSnapshot(tag, id)

// after
logs, _ := model.GetCloudRepoTagSnapshots()
if len(logs) >= 12 {
    // remove oldest cloud tag to make room
    model.RemoveCloudRepoTag(logs[len(logs)-1].ID)
}
err = model.UploadCloudSnapshot(tag, id)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Before calling UploadCloudSnapshot, check cloud snapshot count
logs, listErr := model.GetCloudRepoTagSnapshots()
if listErr == nil && len(logs) >= 12 {
    // remove oldest snapshot to free a slot
    model.RemoveCloudRepoTag(logs[len(logs)-1].ID)
}

Prevention

Monitor cloud snapshot count periodically and prune old snapshots before hitting the 12-snapshot ceiling
Implement a rotation policy: when creating a new cloud backup, automatically remove the oldest one
Document the 12-snapshot limit for users who configure automatic cloud backup workflows

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the UploadCloudSnapshot API (or the frontend cloud-backup action behind it) when the cloud repo already holds 12 snapshots. The dejavu repository engine compares the current cloud snapshot count against the constant 12 and returns ErrCloudBackupCountExceeded before the upload begins.

Common situations: A user who has been creating cloud backups regularly without cleaning up old ones eventually hits the 12-snapshot ceiling. This is common for paid subscribers on SiYuan cloud or WebDAV/S3 who rely on frequent automatic backups and never manually prune cloud snapshots.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@251596fc0d (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/db2c4243d671414b. Report an issue: GitHub.