Infinite Vault Loading Screen & Offline Note Recovery After Relocating Self-Hosted Server

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1

What do you need help with?

After moving a self-hosted Anytype server to a new location on a university network, logging out of the desktop vault resulted in an infinite loading screen when attempting to log back in using the 12-word recovery phrase. The primary goal is to fix server authentication and recover notes taken offline on the Windows desktop app during the sync downtime.

Additional Context

Environment & Context
Server: Minimal Linux install on a mini PC running the any-sync Docker compose stack on a university campus network.
Clients: Windows 11 Pro desktop app, plus mobile devices (Android).
Timeline: The server was moved on campus in January. Notes were continually taken offline on the laptop while self-host sync was down. During troubleshooting, I logged out of the vault on the laptop and am now locked out.

Current Status & Observations
Server Status: Core containers (nodes, coordinator, MongoDB, Redis, MinIO) are running, but the diagnostic netcheck container reports unhealthy.
Network Connectivity: Direct network connection between the laptop and the server across the university network is verified working.
Device Behavior: Mobile apps display “No access to the space” under the self-hosted setup, though they still sync with each other via local peer-to-peer. The notes on these devices are synced up to January, as expected.
Data Backup: A full copy of the “\anytype” folder was saved on the laptop after being logged out. Note: My anytype folder was located on my OneDrive.

Troubleshooting Attempted
Network & Config Updates: Reconfigured stack network settings to (try) match the server’s current network IP and imported the updated client.yml into the desktop client.
Desktop App Update (v0.56.5): Updated the Windows app to v0.56.5, but the app launcher gets stuck on a loading screen before reaching the self-host setup or key entry screen.
Clean Reinstall: Performed a full uninstall of Anytype, deleting all local Anytype application folders before reinstalling (retaining the manual offline database backup). I am able to open new vaults using identical self-host settings, though sync status shows a red symbol and “Error” and later a gray “offline” symbol in these new vaults (unsurprisingly).

Questions
How can I resolve the infinite loading screen?
What is the correct process to recover or read notes from the offline %APPDATA%\anytype database backup without overwriting or losing the data?

OS

Windows 11 Pro

Anytype Version

v0.56.4

Network Mode

Self-hosted

Technical Information

From my phone, since I cannot access info on desktop:
Device: CPH2399 OnePlus
Android version: 34
App version: 0.49.0
Build number: 4900
Library version: 0.51.0-rc1
Account ID: A9YULogvwJEhpZ9eauVpfms6Uu97WQrBJo3wU34BpepnVMHJ
Device ID: 12D3KooWNDhrA4U3nNJcgCWpPd8NJRsa9vfKztc64yA9XTm37Sdg
Analytics ID: MZaGK563BLEQ9oMDJhKFML7zg69A4SazHJEurXRXXWUaFYEv
Ethereum key ID: 0xf0972aA5bA5B289a54e0a0c070b8c51D4cAF96bb

2

Firstly, you should export backups from all of the spaces during that sync downtime to ensure you have copies of the data.

Instead of moving the folder location, have you tried a fresh install and then restoring your Anytype instance into the new self-hosted container?

3

I am unsure about the dependencies for authentification here. Should I be able to open my vault from any device I copy the /anytype folder to using the key? Does it have some dependency on the self host server or could I use a fresh one instead, or even the anytype or local only setting?

I have tried entering my vault using local only or anytype network (and setting the vault data location), but still get stuck on the loading screen for entering the vault.

Thanks for your support.

4

Before digging into the vault itself, let’s split this into two separate problems: the server side and the local data side.

1. Server first: netcheck

The unhealthy netcheck container is the most useful signal you have right now, so let’s start there rather than guessing at the client. Netcheck validates that the nodes are actually reachable at the addresses advertised in the config, so if it’s failing it usually means the addresses in your config don’t match what’s genuinely reachable on the new network, or the ports aren’t open where the coordinator thinks they are. That would explain both the “No access to the space” on mobile and the client hanging on load.

Could you post the output of:

docker compose logs netcheck

Ideally the full log rather than just the last few lines, since the early startup output tends to show which address it tried and how it failed. If you can also share your client.yml (with any secrets redacted) alongside it, that saves a round trip.

2. Local data: restore selectively, don’t restore the whole folder

Once you’re back in, don’t copy the entire backed-up \anytype folder over a fresh install. Mixing a full old profile into a new one is how people end up with a broken vault and no clean copy to fall back on. Restore only these paths from the backup:

%APPDATA%\anytype\data\
%APPDATA%\anytype\Session Storage\
%APPDATA%\anytype\Local State
%APPDATA%\anytype\localStorage-.json

data\ holds the actual object database, the rest is what lets the app recognise the existing profile rather than treating it as a first run.

Two practical notes. Close Anytype completely before copying anything in, and keep your original backup untouched. Also, since the folder lived in OneDrive, check that the backup is a fully downloaded local copy rather than placeholder files. OneDrive on-demand placeholders look like a complete folder in Explorer but contain no data, and that would silently give you an empty database.

5

I did end up just wiping the self-host server and opening a new vault, loading an old backup. Thanks for your support!