name: dex-rollback description: Undo the last Dex update if something went wrong
What This Command Does
Restores Dex to the version before your last update. Use this if something broke after updating.
When to use:
- Feature you relied on stopped working
- Data looks wrong after update
- System feels unstable
- Want to go back for any reason
Safe to use: Your notes, tasks, and projects are never at risk.
Process
Step 1: Check if Rollback is Possible
A. Verify Git repository
Run: git --version
If Git not found:
❌ Git not detected
Rollback requires Git. Your data is safe, but automated rollback isn't available.
**To manually restore:**
1. If you have a backup folder, copy your data back
2. Or re-download Dex and copy your folders (00-07, System/)
[Show manual restore guide]
B. Check for backup tag
Run: git tag | grep backup-before
If no backup found:
❌ No backup found
Looks like you haven't updated recently, or the backup wasn't created.
Your current version: v1.3.0
Options:
[Download previous version manually]
[Cancel]
C. Identify what version to restore to
Run: git tag | grep backup-before | tail -1
Example: backup-before-v1.3.0 means restore to before v1.3.0 update.
Step 2: Confirm Rollback
🔙 Rollback Dex Update
You're about to restore Dex to the version before your last update.
Current version: v1.3.0
Will restore to: v1.2.0 (last backup)
**What happens:**
✓ Dex features restored to v1.2.0
✓ Your notes, tasks, projects stay as they are
✓ Any new skills from v1.3.0 will be removed
**This is safe:**
• Your data folders (00-07) are not affected
• Your configuration (user-profile, pillars) stays
• You can update again later if you want
[Confirm rollback]
[Cancel]
Step 3: Save Current State
Before rolling back, save any uncommitted changes:
💾 Saving current state...
Run:
git add .
git commit -m "Auto-save before rollback to v1.2.0" || true
Create a "before rollback" tag in case they want to undo the rollback:
git tag before-rollback-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
✓ Current state saved
Step 4: Perform Rollback
🔄 Rolling back to v1.2.0...
Run:
git reset --hard backup-before-v1.3.0
This restores all Dex files to the state before update.
Note: User data folders (00-07) remain untouched because:
- They're gitignored (not tracked)
git resetonly affects tracked files
Step 5: Cleanup
A. Remove dependencies from newer version
📦 Cleaning up...
Run:
npm install
pip3 install -r core/mcp/requirements.txt
This ensures dependencies match the older version.
B. Remove migration markers (if exist)
rm -f .migration-v*-complete
rm -f .migration-version
Step 6: Verification
✓ Rollback complete! Now testing...
Quick checks:
-
Verify version in package.json:
cat package.json | grep version -
Check key files:
03-Tasks/Tasks.mdSystem/user-profile.yaml.claude/skills/daily-plan/SKILL.md
-
Test user profile loads:
Read System/user-profile.yaml
If all pass:
✅ Rollback successful!
If issues:
⚠️ Rollback completed but found an issue
[Details]
Your data is safe. You may want to:
[Report this issue]
[Try rolling back again]
[Continue anyway]
Step 7: Summary
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✅ Rolled Back: v1.3.0 → v1.2.0
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Dex restored to: v1.2.0
Your data: All preserved (notes, tasks, projects)
You're back to the version from before your last update.
**What now?**
• Everything should work as before
• You can try updating again later with /dex-update
• If issues persist, try /setup to verify configuration
**Want to report what went wrong?**
[Open issue on GitHub] — Help improve future updates
Undo Rollback (Advanced)
If user rolled back by mistake and wants to go forward again:
Did you roll back by mistake?
We saved your state before rollback. You can restore it:
[Restore to v1.3.0] — Undo this rollback
[Stay on v1.2.0] — Keep rollback
If user chooses restore:
RESTORE_TAG=$(git tag | grep before-rollback | tail -1)
git reset --hard $RESTORE_TAG
Manual Rollback (No Git)
If Git not available or no backup tags:
📥 Manual Rollback Method
To restore an older version without Git:
1. **Download your desired version:**
For v1.2.0:
https://github.com/davekilleen/dex/releases/tag/v1.2.0
Click "Source code (zip)"
2. **Copy your data:**
From CURRENT Dex, copy to DOWNLOADED Dex:
✓ System/user-profile.yaml
✓ System/pillars.yaml
✓ 00-Inbox/
✓ 01-Quarter_Goals/
✓ 02-Week_Priorities/
✓ 03-Tasks/
✓ 04-Projects/
✓ 05-Areas/
✓ 07-Archives/
✓ .env (if exists)
3. **Replace folders:**
• Move current Dex folder to trash (or rename to dex-old)
• Rename downloaded folder to 'dex'
• Open in Cursor
4. **Verify:**
Run /setup to check everything works
[See version history] — All Dex releases
[Copy instructions]
Rollback Limitations
What rollback restores:
- ✓ Dex skills
- ✓ MCP servers
- ✓ Core features
- ✓ Documentation
What rollback preserves (doesn't touch):
- ✓ Your notes (00-Inbox, 04-Projects, 05-Areas)
- ✓ Your tasks (03-Tasks/)
- ✓ Your configuration (user-profile, pillars)
- ✓ Your API keys (.env)
What you might lose:
- ⚠️ New features added since v1.2.0
- ⚠️ Bug fixes introduced in v1.3.0
- ⚠️ New skills that came with update
Troubleshooting
"Rollback completed but /daily-plan doesn't work"
Likely MCP servers need restart:
- Close Cursor completely
- Reopen your Dex folder
- Try /daily-plan again
"My tasks look different after rollback"
Your task data is unchanged. What might look different:
- Task display format (if update changed rendering)
- Task sorting (if update changed logic)
Your actual tasks are safe. Check 03-Tasks/Tasks.md directly - everything is there.
"Can I rollback multiple versions?"
Yes, if backups exist:
git tag | grep backup-before
Shows all available backups:
backup-before-v1.1.0
backup-before-v1.2.0
backup-before-v1.3.0
To rollback to specific version:
git reset --hard backup-before-v1.1.0
But easier: tell /dex-rollback which version you want, and it handles it.
Prevention Better Than Cure
To avoid needing rollback:
-
Read release notes before updating
- Run
/dex-whats-newfirst - Check for breaking changes warning
- Understand what's changing
- Run
-
Update during low-stakes time
- Not right before important meeting
- Not during crunch deadline
- Give yourself time to test
-
Test after updating
- Run
/daily-plan - Open a person page
- Check key workflows
- Run
-
Keep regular backups
- Use Time Machine (Mac) or File History (Windows)
- Or manually copy Dex folder weekly
Related Commands
/dex-update- Update to latest version/dex-whats-new- Check what's available/setup- Verify Dex configuration
Philosophy
Rollback should be:
- One command away
- Always available
- Completely safe
- No data loss ever
User confidence: "I can try updates knowing I can undo them instantly"
No shame in rolling back: Updates should improve things. If they don't for you, rolling back is the right choice. Help us by reporting what went wrong.