Narrative Version History
Every time a narrative is saved, ArchRepo automatically archives a copy of it. These archived copies form the narrative’s version history — a complete record of how the narrative has changed over time, visible from the item’s History tab.
If a narrative is accidentally deleted or overwritten, you can restore any archived version with a single click. The restore is recorded in the audit trail, so there is a clear record of what was restored and when.
Narrative version history is separate from the item’s property history. Restoring a narrative version only affects the narrative content — properties, relationships, and other fields are not changed.
Viewing the History Tab
Open any model item and click the History tab. The tab lists every save event for the item in reverse chronological order. Each row shows:
- Version — the save number
- When — the date and time of the save
- Who — the user who saved
- Status — the item’s status at the time of the save
- What — the type of save (e.g. Updated Narrative, Restored Narrative)
- Restore — a Restore button appears on rows where the archived narrative is still available
Restoring a Previous Version
To restore a narrative to a previous version:
- Open the History tab for the model item.
- Find the row for the version you want to restore. Rows that show a Restore button have an archived copy available.
- Click Restore.
- A confirmation dialog opens, showing the version number and the exact date and time it was saved.
- Click Restore to confirm.
After confirmation, ArchRepo:
- Writes the archived narrative back through the normal save path, producing a new version number.
- Records a Restored Narrative event in the history with a reference to the original version that was restored.
- Archives the restored version itself, so the full chain of changes is preserved.
- Navigates you to the Overview tab so you can see the restored narrative in context.
Restoring a version overwrites the current narrative. Any unsaved changes in the editor will be lost. The confirmation dialog will tell you exactly which version and date you are restoring from before you confirm.
If another user saves the narrative between when you click Restore and when you confirm, ArchRepo will detect the conflict and show an error. Refresh the History tab and try again — no changes are made when a conflict is detected.
Which Rows Show a Restore Button?
A Restore button appears on a history row only when all of the following are true:
- The row represents a narrative save (the What column shows Updated Narrative or Restored Narrative).
- The archived copy for that version is still available (not yet thinned — see below).
- It is not the current version (you cannot restore the narrative to exactly what it already is).
Rows that represent property edits, status changes, or other non-narrative events do not show a Restore button.
Pre-history rows — saves that happened before version history was introduced — do not have archived copies and do not show a Restore button.
How Long Is History Kept?
ArchRepo keeps narrative versions according to the following retention policy, applied daily:
| Age of version | What is kept |
|---|---|
| Last 7 days | Every version is kept |
| 7 – 30 days old | The most recent version per item per calendar day is kept |
| Older than 30 days | Versions are removed |
Restore events are never automatically removed, regardless of age. If you restored a narrative version, that archived copy is kept permanently so the audit trail remains complete.
What this means in practice:
- For active work in the last week, every autosave and manual save is fully recoverable.
- For versions between one and four weeks old, one snapshot per day is available.
- Versions older than 30 days are not available for restore.
If a version has been removed by this process, the Restore button will not appear on that row — the row remains in the history for audit purposes, but the archived content is gone.
Tips
- Act quickly for recent accidents — if you accidentally delete narrative content, check the History tab straight away. The last few saves from the past 7 days are always available.
- Use the What column to identify narrative rows — only rows showing Updated Narrative or Restored Narrative have archived content. Rows for property changes do not.
- The restore is audited — the History tab records who restored which version and when, so there is always a clear trail.