Safety tiers

Every pgbx command has a safety level. It is enforced in code and printed as safety in --json output: readonly, safe, guarded or destructive.

level	commands	rule
read-only	status, list, backups --from-s3, doctor, diagnose, logs, overview, policy commands with no arguments	never mutate anything
safe	now, verify, db-restore, resume, link, schedule TEXT, skill, db-restore --from-s3	queue jobs or write only somewhere new; db-restore refuses an existing database or the source
guarded	pause, lowering retention, narrowing scope, verify-schedule never	refused without --yes, with an explanation of what would be lost

No pgbx command overwrites a live database: every restore goes into a NEW database. Swapping names (ALTER DATABASE ... RENAME) or dropping the old one is left to a human.

For AI agents these flags are the human’s signature. See Safety for agents.