How to keep detections between home assistant restarts?

[barry99705]

So, using the HA docker birdnet-go addon. If I have a HA update and it reboots, it clears out all my past bird detections. Is this how it's supposed to work?

[birdnet-go-bot]

Automated message from birdnet-go support assistant.

No, that's not how it's designed to work. BirdNET-Go stores all detections and configuration in its /data and /config directories, which are meant to persist between restarts.

In a standard Docker setup, this is handled by mapping a persistent host volume to those directories. If your data is clearing out, it means the container is likely spinning up fresh without a persistent volume attached to /data.

Since the Home Assistant add-on is a third-party community integration and not an official package from this repository, we don't control how its volumes are configured. You'll need to check the add-on's documentation or open an issue with the add-on maintainer to ensure it's set up to persist data.

I'm an automated assistant so take this as a starting point. If it doesn't help, reply here and the maintainer will take a look.

[birdnet-go-bot]

Automated message from birdnet-go support assistant.

Dug into this a bit more and I can give you the concrete fix. Your detections live in an SQLite database whose location is set by output.sqlite.path in config.yaml. The default config ships with a relative path:

output:
  sqlite:
    enabled: true
    path: birdnet.db

Inside the add-on that resolves to /data/birdnet.db. On every add-on start an init step moves that file to /config/birdnet.db, but with the relative path still in config.yaml BirdNET-Go creates a brand new empty database, so your history disappears every time HA updates and the add-on restarts.

To fix it, edit the add-on's config.yaml (it shows up as /config/db21ed7f_birdnet-go/config.yaml if you use the Filebrowser add-on) and change the path to an absolute one:

output:
  sqlite:
    enabled: true
    path: /config/birdnet.db

Then restart the add-on. That folder is persistent, so it survives HA reboots and updates. Some of your older detections may even reappear, since the previously moved database is already sitting at that path. While you're in the file, also check that realtime.audio.export.path is /config/clips/ so the audio clips persist alongside the database.

[barry99705]

Ohhhhh, that fixed it I think. Didn't get historical stuff, but at least the couple birds it last heard still exist after a reboot. Thanks!

…

On Thu, Jul 2, 2026 at 2:07 PM BirdNET-Go Support Assistant < ***@***.***> wrote: *Automated message from birdnet-go support assistant.* Dug into this a bit more and I can give you the concrete fix. Your detections live in an SQLite database whose location is set by output.sqlite.path in config.yaml. The default config ships with a relative path: output: sqlite: enabled: true path: birdnet.db Inside the add-on that resolves to /data/birdnet.db. On every add-on start an init step moves that file to /config/birdnet.db, but with the relative path still in config.yaml BirdNET-Go creates a brand new empty database, so your history disappears every time HA updates and the add-on restarts. To fix it, edit the add-on's config.yaml (it shows up as /config/db21ed7f_birdnet-go/config.yaml if you use the Filebrowser add-on) and change the path to an absolute one: output: sqlite: enabled: true path: /config/birdnet.db Then restart the add-on. That folder is persistent, so it survives HA reboots and updates. Some of your older detections may even reappear, since the previously moved database is already sitting at that path. While you're in the file, also check that realtime.audio.export.path is /config/clips/ so the audio clips persist alongside the database. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3774?email_source=notifications&email_token=AANI2XXP7CH4NPJRWYX5UPD5C3FKJA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZVGE3DAMJXUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVRTG633UMVZF6Y3MNFRWW#discussioncomment-17516017>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AANI2XW6XN43BTZ35BBSNJ35C3FKJAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM3TANZXGY2DINZUHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBTGYYDSMBZUF3AE> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/AANI2XQRD7JXVNFP452QDT35C3FKJA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZVGE3DAMJXUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVJTG633UMVZF62LPOM> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/AANI2XSXOJIIMJTKEIXT5OD5C3FKJA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZVGE3DAMJXUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVZTG633UMVZF6YLOMRZG62LE>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[alexbelgium]

Hi, this is a huge bug : so you confirm that with a clean install the detections are not kept on reboot ? I’ll look to fix that asap

[barry99705]

Yea, the config didn't have the path to the database location, so on reboot, it started over.

…

On Sun, Jul 5, 2026, 12:53 PM Alexandre ***@***.***> wrote: Hi, this is a huge bug : so you confirm that with a clean install the detections are not kept on reboot ? I’ll look to fix that asap — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3774?email_source=notifications&email_token=AANI2XQ4RUHIML6KIQDI3GT5DKW3ZA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZVGQYDENRYUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVRTG633UMVZF6Y3MNFRWW#discussioncomment-17540268>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AANI2XWUBEIGN7GSF4AN2AT5DKW3ZAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM3TANZXGY2DINZUHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBTGYYDSMBZUF3AE> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/AANI2XQKG7GN7W52CNCXGMT5DKW3ZA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZVGQYDENRYUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVJTG633UMVZF62LPOM> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/AANI2XRY7UE2IENBBQ2E5ST5DKW3ZA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZVGQYDENRYUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVZTG633UMVZF6YLOMRZG62LE>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[alexbelgium]

Thanks I’ve pushed a new version that automatically corrects relative paths to /config