Short answer
Replit says to avoid saving and relying on data written to a published app’s file system. A publish is a snapshot of your project’s files, so treat anything the running app writes as temporary, not as part of the next publish. Keep records in a database, such as Replit’s managed PostgreSQL, and uploaded files in object storage, such as Replit’s App Storage.
Where the data went, and the fix
01
Records saved to a file in the project
A JSON file, a SQLite file or any file the running app writes to lives on the deployment’s file system. Replit’s docs say not to rely on it. Move the records into a database: Replit’s Database is a fully managed PostgreSQL that the app connects to over the network, so republishing doesn’t touch it.
02
Uploads written to a folder
Saving uploads to a folder such as uploads/ has the same problem. Store each file in object storage instead (Replit’s App Storage is backed by Google Cloud Storage), and keep only the file’s key or URL in your database.
03
Data kept only in memory
Anything held in a variable, an in-memory cache or a session store without a database behind it is lost whenever the server stops. Autoscale deployments scale down to zero servers when idle, and a stopped server loses anything held only in memory. Write anything you need to keep to the database.
Checked against the vendor’s docs on : Replit docs: About deployments; Replit docs: Deployment types; Replit docs: Storage and databases.
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