No lock-in
What you can take with you if you leave Rootsy, how to take it, and what stays behind.
Standard Linux underneath
A Rootsy computer runs Ubuntu with systemd. It comes with nginx, Node.js, Docker and git, and you have root. See Your computer.
Your apps run as ordinary processes behind your own nginx, as systemd services you write. The one piece of Rootsy code an app imports is the schedule verifier, and only if it receives schedules. Serve an app shows the setup. On another server, the apps and nginx configs carry over, with small changes such as the port nginx listens on. You’d set up HTTPS yourself, since Rootsy handles it in front of your nginx.
Your code, any git host
Your code lives on your computer’s disk and in its backups. Outbound connections are open, so you can push to any git host.
Your domain stays yours
A custom domain connects with a CNAME record you create at your DNS provider. Rootsy never edits your DNS or email records. To move, point the record somewhere else. See Addresses and custom domains.
Your computer’s rtsy.dev address belongs to Rootsy. When you delete the computer, the address goes with it. Give people a custom domain for anything they should still reach after a move.
Your AI, any MCP client
Claude Code signs in with your own Claude account. Rootsy doesn’t read or log your Claude token or your prompts. Claude Code stores both on the computer’s disk, so they’re in backups like any other file. See Security.
Outside tools reach Rootsy over MCP, an open protocol. Any client that supports remote MCP servers with OAuth can connect. See Connect with MCP.
How to take your files
The Files window downloads one file, a folder as a zip, or a selection as one zip. From the terminal, you can push to git or upload an archive to storage you own. Your data has the steps. Do this before your plan ends.
Dump databases and Docker volumes to files in your home directory first. The Files window works as dev, so it can’t read them where they live, and a live database’s files don’t copy cleanly.
Over MCP, export_file moves one file at a time, up to a size limit. For a whole project, use git or the Files window.
What stays behind
Backups stay with their computer. You can restore one only onto the computer it came from, and you can’t take one with you. Deleting a computer deletes its backups. See Your data.
There’s no export of a whole computer. You take files. Packages you installed and systemd services you added have to be set up again on the next machine. If you keep a setup script in your home directory, that’s one command.
Schedules are Rootsy’s. A schedule sends a signed request to your app. Your endpoint imports a verifier Rootsy ships on the computer to check it. Elsewhere you’d use another scheduler. Drop that import and the nginx block for the schedule hostname. rootsy schedules list prints each schedule as JSON, so you keep a record. See Scheduled tasks.
The rootsy command exists only on Rootsy computers. A server that never sleeps has no use for rootsy keep-awake.
Leaving
Download your files before the plan ends. After it ends, an organization’s computers go dormant. A personal account’s extra computers go dormant too, and the rest park once its leftover credits are spent. A dormant or parked computer’s workspace and MCP tools don’t open, so you can’t reach its files until the account has a plan again. Older backups are deleted unless they’re pinned. See Plans and Runtime Credits.
Cancel your plan from Billing. Canceling deletes nothing, and the plan runs to the end of the paid period. See Plans and Runtime Credits.
Your CNAME records stay at your DNS provider when you delete a computer or leave. Remove or repoint them.
Deleting a computer is permanent, and Rootsy staff can’t bring it back. Download what you want first. Your data lists what to do before you delete your account.