Workbench

Appearance

Restoring Projects ​

Bring archived projects back to life with a single command.

Restore a Project ​

Restore a project from your archive organization:

bash
wb restore my-project

This will:

  1. Clone the repository from the archive organization
  2. Optionally unarchive it on GitHub (make it writable again)
  3. Optionally remove it from the archive organization

Options ​

Custom Directory ​

Clone to a specific location:

bash
wb restore my-project ./projects/my-project

Unarchive on GitHub ​

Remove the archived status, making the repo writable:

bash
wb restore my-project --unarchive

Remove from Archive ​

Delete the repository from the archive org after restoring:

bash
wb restore my-project --rm

Full Restoration ​

Combine options for a complete restoration:

bash
wb restore my-project --unarchive --rm

This restores the project, makes it writable, and cleans up the archive.

Skip Confirmation ​

bash
wb restore my-project -y

Dry Run ​

bash
wb restore my-project --dry-run

Archive Organization ​

By default, projects are restored from markmals-archive. Specify a different organization:

bash
wb restore my-project --org my-archive-org

After Restoring ​

Once restored, the project is ready to use:

bash
cd my-project
mise install
mise run dev

The .workbench.toml file preserves all project configuration, so Workbench commands work immediately.

Workflow Example ​

Complete Archive & Restore Cycle ​

bash
# Archive a completed project
wb archive ./my-website -y

# ... months later ...

# Restore when needed again
wb restore my-website --unarchive --rm

# Back to development
cd my-website
mise run dev

Troubleshooting ​

Repository not found ​

Ensure the repository exists in the archive organization:

bash
gh repo list markmals-archive

Permission denied ​

Make sure GitHub CLI has permission to:

  • Clone from the archive organization
  • Delete repositories (if using --rm)
  • Modify repository settings (if using --unarchive)

Already exists locally ​

If the target directory already exists, Workbench will error:

Error: directory ./my-project already exists

Either remove it or specify a different path:

bash
wb restore my-project ./my-project-restored