Writing a prompt Genie gets right first time
Say four things, leave out three, and name drives, folders and jobs so Genie has little to guess.
On this page
Genie fills in whatever you do not say, and lists each guess under n things I had to assume. A prompt that says four things leaves it little to guess.
Say four things#
| Say | For example |
|---|---|
| What | my photos and videos · D:\Users\Alex\Projects · Documents and Desktop · everything I'd hate to lose |
| Where | the external drive · the NAS · H: · the Wasabi bucket |
| When | every night at 2 · every Sunday · every 4 hours · when I sign in |
| How long to keep | a month · 6 months · the last 10 · forever |
"Back up D:\Users\Alex\Projects to H: every 4 hours, keep a week." Four things in one sentence; Genie only has to pick the backup type.
You can leave out#
- The backup type. Genie picks differential for code and documents, incremental for big photo and video folders, and full for small folders, and lists its choice under the assumptions. On Free, where it would pick differential, it picks incremental.
- Compression. Balanced, unless you ask for none or the maximum.
- Filters. Code folders get the Developer junk preset (
node_modules, build output and the like). Other presets are added where they fit.
Things that need an edition#
Genie drafts what your edition can save. If you ask for something it lacks, such as encryption, keeping a number of days, a network share, differential or mirror on Free, or cloud before Pro, Genie drafts the job without it and says it needs Home, or Pro for cloud. On Free, for example, keep a week comes back as a job that keeps its sets, with a note that keeping a number of days needs Home.
Naming things#
- Drives: the letter, or the external drive, the USB drive, the NAS. Genie knows which of your drives are removable, internal or network.
- Folders: a full path such as
D:\Users\Alex\Projects\website, or a top-level folder Genie can see (my Projects folder on D:). It sees the names of top-level folders on internal drives only. - Jobs: the exact name from the Jobs page, in quotes: make "Photo library" also run on Wednesdays.
Two things to know#
- Encryption. Say encrypted and the draft has encryption on. You choose the password when you save; Genie never chooses one.
- Plugging in a drive. There is no rhythm that starts a backup when a drive is plugged in. Ask for a time instead, such as every evening at 6. See Plugging in a drive does not start a backup.
Refining#
The box under a draft takes corrections in plain words: use the NAS instead · also include D:\Users\Alex\Design · keep 90 days, not 30 · skip .iso files. Each answer is a new draft that replaces the last, and each uses one prompt.