# Create an index from a backup

The restored index inherits the schema of the index the backup was taken from, including its full-text search fields and its integrated embedding configuration, and the request cannot override it. A backup that carries no `schema` restores an index whose fields are derived from the source index's dimension, metric, and vector type, and reported under the reserved `_values` / `_sparse_values` names.

For serverless backups, you can optionally set `read_capacity` so the restored index is created with dedicated read nodes (DRN) instead of defaulting to on-demand capacity.

:::code-group
```bash curl
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
BACKUP_ID="a65ff585-d987-4da5-a622-72e19a6ed5f4"

curl "https://api.pinecone.io/backups/$BACKUP_ID/create-index" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
        "name": "restored-index",
        "tags": {
          "tag0": "val0",
          "tag1": "val1"
        },
        "deletion_protection": "enabled"
      }'
```
:::

`POST /backups/{backup_id}/create-index`

:::code-group
```json title="202"
{
  "restore_job_id": "670e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "index_id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000"
}
```

```json title="400"
{
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",
    "message": "Bad request. The request body included invalid request parameters."
  },
  "status": 400
}
```

```json title="402"
{
  "error": {
    "code": "PAYMENT_REQUIRED",
    "message": "Request failed. Pay all past due invoices to lift restrictions on your account."
  },
  "status": 402
}
```

```json title="403"
{
  "error": {
    "code": "FORBIDDEN",
    "message": "Increase your quota or upgrade to create more indexes."
  },
  "status": 403
}
```

```json title="404"
{
  "error": {
    "code": "NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "Backup bkp_123abc not found."
  },
  "status": 404
}
```

```json title="409"
{
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",
    "message": "Index name must contain only lowercase alphanumeric characters or hyphens, and must not begin or end with a hyphen."
  },
  "status": 400
}
```

```json title="412"
{
  "error": {
    "code": "FAILED_PRECONDITION",
    "message": "Backup 670e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 is not completed"
  },
  "status": 412
}
```
:::

#### Authorizations

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Api-Key` | `string` | - |  |

An API Key is required to call Pinecone APIs. Get yours from the [console](https://app.pinecone.io/).

#### Headers

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `X-Pinecone-Api-Version` | `string` | `2026-07` | Required date-based version header |

#### Path Parameters

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `backup_id` | `string` | - | The ID of the backup to create an index from. |

#### Body

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `name` | `string` | - | The name of the index. Resource name must be 1-45 characters long, start and end with an alphanumeric character, and consist only of lower case alphanumeric characters or '-'. Required string length: 1 - 45. Example: example-index |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `tags?` | `object \| null` | - | Custom user tags added to an index, at most 20 per index. Keys must be 80 characters or less and alphanumeric, '', or '-'. Values must be 120 characters or less and consist of printable ASCII characters or spaces. To unset a key, set the value to be an empty string. null in responses when the index has no tags. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `deletion_protection?` | `string` | `disabled` |  |

Whether [deletion protection](/guides/manage-data-manage-indexes#configure-deletion-protection) is enabled/disabled for the index. Possible values: `disabled` or `enabled`.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `read_capacity?` | `object` | - |  |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `mode` | `string` | - | The mode of the index. Possible values: OnDemand or Dedicated. Defaults to OnDemand. If set to Dedicated, dedicated.node_type, and dedicated.scaling must be specified. |
:::

#### Response

`202` — The request to create the index has been accepted.

The response for creating an index from a backup.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `restore_job_id` | `string` | - | The ID of the restore job that was created. Example: 670e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `index_id` | `string` | - | The ID of the index that was created from the backup. Example: 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 |

## Related pages

- [Create a backup of an index](./database-control-plane-create-backup.md)
- [List backups for all indexes in a project](./database-control-plane-list-project-backups.md)
- [List backups for an index](./database-control-plane-list-index-backups.md)
- [Describe a backup](./database-control-plane-describe-backup.md)
- [Delete a backup](./database-control-plane-delete-backup.md)
- [List restore jobs](./database-control-plane-list-restore-jobs.md)
- [Describe a restore job](./database-control-plane-describe-restore-job.md)
- [List collections](./database-control-plane-list-collections.md)
- [Create a collection](./database-control-plane-create-collection.md)
- [Describe a collection](./database-control-plane-describe-collection.md)

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