Common Issues
data
I Lost All My App's Data
Your worst nightmare just happened — all the data in your app is gone. User accounts, orders, content, everything. The app might still load, but it's like starting from scratch. All the data your business depends on has vanished.
Data loss can happen in several ways: the database was accidentally deleted, a bad code update wiped tables clean, your free tier expired and the provider deleted your data, or someone with access (malicious or accidental) ran a delete command.
The first thing to know is: don't panic, and don't make changes to anything yet. In many cases, data can be partially or fully recovered — but only if you act quickly and don't overwrite the remnants.
Error Messages You Might See
Table does not exist
Relation 'users' does not exist
404 - Resource not found
No data to display
Database connection refused
Project has been paused
Common Causes
- Free tier database expired — Services like Supabase, Firebase, or Heroku delete databases after a period of inactivity on free plans
- Accidental deletion — Someone ran a delete or drop command without a WHERE clause, wiping entire tables instead of specific rows
- Bad migration — A database schema change (migration) went wrong and dropped tables or columns with data
- No backups configured — There were never any automatic backups set up, so there's nothing to restore from
- Hosting provider data loss — Rare, but hosting providers can have their own failures that affect your data
How to Fix It
- Don't make any changes yet — Stop all deployments and code changes. You don't want to overwrite any recoverable data
- Check if backups exist — Look in your database provider's dashboard for automatic backups, point-in-time recovery, or snapshots
- Check if the data is really gone — Sometimes the app loses connection to the database but the data is still there. Verify by logging into your database directly
- Contact your database provider — Providers like Supabase, Firebase, and AWS sometimes have recovery options. Reach out to their support immediately
- Set up backups going forward — Once you've dealt with the immediate crisis, configure automatic daily backups so this can never happen again
- Check if data exists in other places — Email receipts, CSV exports, logs, or cached API responses might have copies of your data
Real developers can help you.
Jacek Rozanski
Senior PHP/Symfony developer and DevOps engineer with 20+ years of professional experience, running opcode.pl (web development agency, est. 2004).
Day job: I'm the sole backend developer at merketing company where I own and maintain 11 PHP/Symfony microservices on AWS (ECS Fargate, RDS, S3, CloudFront), handle the full CI/CD pipeline (Bitbucket Pipelines, Docker), and manage monitoring with Sentry and CloudWatch. These services handle high request volumes in production every month.
What I bring to AI-built apps:
- I audit and fix security issues (OWASP methodology), performance bottlenecks, and architectural problems in codebases generated by Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable, Bolt, and v0
- I refactor AI-generated prototypes into production-grade applications with proper error handling, testing, and clean architecture (SOLID, DDD, hexagonal architecture)
- I set up the infrastructure AI tools don't touch: AWS hosting, CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, database optimization, monitoring, and alerting
- I integrate external services: payment providers, email systems, partner APIs, SSO/auth
Tech stack: PHP 8.x, Symfony, React, Next.js, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Docker, AWS (ECS, RDS, S3, SQS/SNS, CloudFront), Terraform, Supabase. I also use AI tools daily (Claude Code, Cursor) in my own workflow, so I understand both the strengths and the gaps in AI-generated code.
Based in Poland (CET timezone). Available for async work and calls during EU/US business hours.
ISHANTDEEP SINGH
Senior Software Engineer with 7+ years of experience in React, JavaScript, TypeScript, Next.js, and Node.js. I’ve also worked as a tech lead for startups, owning end-to-end technical execution including architecture, development, scaling, and delivery. I bring a strong mix of hands-on coding, product thinking, and technical leadership, and I’m comfortable building products from scratch as well as improving and scaling existing systems.
Bastien Labelle
Full stack dev w/ 20+ years of experience
Tejas Chokhawala
Full-stack engineer with 5 years experience building production web apps using React, Next.js and TypeScript.
Focused on performance, clean architecture and shipping fast.
Experienced with Supabase/Postgres backends, Stripe billing, and building AI-assisted developer tools.
Matthew Butler
Systems Development Engineer @ Amazon Web Services
David Olverson
Solo dev shipping production apps with AI-assisted development. I specialize in rescuing broken Lovable/Bolt/Cursor builds and taking them to production. 10+ apps shipped including SaaS CRMs, gaming platforms, real estate tools, and Discord bots. Stack: Next.js 16, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Prisma. I use Claude Code with 50+ custom skills for rapid delivery. Average turnaround: 2-4 weeks from broken prototype to production.
Basel Issmail
’m a Senior Full-Stack Developer and Tech Lead with experience designing and building scalable web platforms. I work across the full development lifecycle, from translating business requirements into technical architecture to delivering reliable production systems.
My work focuses on modern web technologies, including TypeScript, Angular, Node.js, and cloud-based architectures. I enjoy solving complex technical problems and helping teams turn product ideas and prototypes into working platforms that can grow and scale.
In addition to development, I often collaborate closely with product managers, business analysts, designers, and QA teams to ensure that solutions align with both technical and business goals.
I enjoy working with startups and product teams where I can contribute both as a hands-on engineer and as a technical partner in designing and delivering impactful software.
Stanislav Prigodich
15+ years building iOS and web apps at startups and enterprise companies. I want to use that experience to help builders ship real products - when something breaks, I'm here to fix it.
Yovel Cohen
I got a lot of experience in building Long-horizon AI Agents in production, Backend apps that scale to millions of users and frontend knowledge as well.
Franck Plazanet
I am a Strategic Engineering Leader with over 8 years of experience building high-availability enterprise systems and scaling high-performing technical teams. My focus is on bridging the gap between complex technology and business growth.
Core Expertise:
🚀 Leadership: Managing and coaching teams of 15+ engineers, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
🏗️ Architecture: Enterprise Core Systems, Multi-system Integration (ERP/API/ETL), and Core Database Structure.
☁️ Cloud & Scale: AWS Expert; architected systems handling 10B+ monthly requests and managing 100k+ SKUs.
📈 Business Impact: Aligning tech strategy with P&L goals to drive $70k+ in monthly recurring revenue.
I thrive on "out-of-the-box" thinking to solve complex technical bottlenecks and am always looking for ways to use automation to improve business productivity.
Describe what's wrong in plain English. No technical knowledge needed.
Get HelpFrequently Asked Questions
Can deleted data be recovered?
It depends. If your database provider has automatic backups (many paid plans do), you can restore from a recent backup. If you're on a free plan with no backups, recovery is very difficult or impossible. Contact your provider's support team immediately — the sooner the better.
How do I prevent this from happening again?
Set up automatic daily backups through your database provider, use a paid plan that includes backup features, and restrict who has permission to delete data. Also consider keeping regular CSV exports of your most important data as an extra safety net.