From 46a137316f4b6b2e87cabc4b46da36a70d849c1a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jarek Krochmalski <jkrochmalski@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2026 15:52:44 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] faster incremental backups when multiple stacks share one
 repository

---
 src/lib/server/backups/backup-script.ts |  7 ++++++-
 tests/backups/backup-script.test.ts     | 12 +++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/lib/server/backups/backup-script.ts b/src/lib/server/backups/backup-script.ts
index e587be3..ff05061 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/backups/backup-script.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/backups/backup-script.ts
@@ -114,7 +114,12 @@ export function buildBackupArgs(input: {
 	swapArtifacts: readonly string[];
 }): string[] {
 	const paths = input.hasVolumes ? ['/volumes/', '/metadata/'] : ['/metadata/'];
-	const args = ['backup', '--json', '--retry-lock', '5m', '--host', input.host, ...paths];
+	// Every stack backs up from the SAME host + paths (/volumes/, /metadata/), so restic's
+	// default parent selection (host,paths) picks the newest snapshot of ANY stack in the
+	// repo as the parent - making a stack look entirely new whenever another stack was
+	// backed up in between, forcing a full re-hash of its source (#1494). Group by the
+	// dockhand tags too so a stack's parent is its OWN previous snapshot.
+	const args = ['backup', '--json', '--retry-lock', '5m', '--group-by', 'host,paths,tags', '--host', input.host, ...paths];
 	for (const t of input.tags) args.push('--tag', t);
 	for (const a of input.swapArtifacts) args.push('--exclude', a);
 	for (const p of input.excludePatterns ?? []) if (p.trim()) args.push('--exclude', p.trim());
diff --git a/tests/backups/backup-script.test.ts b/tests/backups/backup-script.test.ts
index 4a81dd8..d6d9122 100644
--- a/tests/backups/backup-script.test.ts
+++ b/tests/backups/backup-script.test.ts
@@ -12,10 +12,20 @@ describe('buildBackupArgs', () => {
 
 	it('builds the core backup argv over /volumes and /metadata', () => {
 		const a = buildBackupArgs(base);
-		expect(a.slice(0, 6)).toEqual(['backup', '--json', '--retry-lock', '5m', '--host', 'dockhand.local']);
+		expect(a.slice(0, 4)).toEqual(['backup', '--json', '--retry-lock', '5m']);
+		const hostIdx = a.indexOf('--host');
+		expect(a[hostIdx + 1]).toBe('dockhand.local');
 		expect(a).toContain('/volumes/');
 		expect(a).toContain('/metadata/');
 	});
+	it('groups parent selection by the dockhand tags so a stack parents its own snapshot (#1494)', () => {
+		// Without this, every stack shares host+paths (/volumes/, /metadata/), so restic picks
+		// the newest snapshot of ANY stack as the parent and re-hashes the whole source.
+		const a = buildBackupArgs(base);
+		const i = a.indexOf('--group-by');
+		expect(i).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+		expect(a[i + 1]).toBe('host,paths,tags');
+	});
 	it('backs up ONLY /metadata when the target has no volumes (config-only snapshot)', () => {
 		const a = buildBackupArgs({ ...base, hasVolumes: false });
 		expect(a).toContain('/metadata/');