Publish Over Any App in Qlik SaaS: Real Backup and Rollback with Gitoqlok
In Qlik Cloud you can only republish an app from its original source. That single constraint quietly breaks the backup habit every BI developer relies on: the duplicate 'backup' copy you made before a big change cannot be published over the live app, and when a release goes wrong you're left picking between bad options — lose sheets and bookmarks, or break the app URL your users have already saved.
The manual way of backing up a published app
The usual routine is to duplicate the published app before you touch it, so you have something to fall back on. You rename it '…backup', park it in a personal space, and start editing the source. If the change turns out wrong, you go looking for that copy to restore it.
That's where it falls apart. Qlik SaaS won't let you publish the duplicate over the live app — publishing is tied to the original source app. So you either rebuild the broken sheets by hand, or delete and re-create the published app from the backup and hand out a brand-new app URL. Bookmarks users saved, existing links, and subscriptions are gone. And a folder of 'App_v3_final_FINAL' duplicates tells you nothing about what actually changed between them.
Gitoqlok brings Git version control, collaboration and change history to Qlik Sense and Power BI — right inside your browser. Try Gitoqlok Free
How Gitoqlok backs up and rolls back a published app
Gitoqlok versions the app in place instead of cloning it. Open the app in Qlik Cloud, click the Gitoqlok icon, and on the Local Changes tab hit Create Repository, then Save changes to make your first commit. Each commit is a restore point: sheets, master items, variables, the load script (as data_load_script/<section>.qvs), bookmarks and attached files are stored as JSON files in your own Git repository. Every time you save the app, reopen the popup and commit again — the change shows up under Changed objects with a details link listing exactly what differs.
To roll back, pick the earlier commit in the commit selector and click Update. The arrow next to Update lets you choose what to restore — load script, app objects, bookmarks, attached files or automations — so you can bring back deleted bookmarks or a broken sheet without rebuilding anything. Because the fix lands in the same source app, you then use the Publish App button (with Replace the existing app) to push the corrected version to the stream. The live app URL and its subscriptions stay intact. See Quick Start and Update and Roll Back.
TIP
Turn on the option to save a QVF with every commit in Repository Settings, and each restore point also exports the full app file into a build folder — a complete offline backup alongside the versioned JSON.
Setting up the whole cycle — branches, reviews, releases and CI? See DevOps for Qlik Sense and Qlik Cloud.