---
title: doctl databases fork
description: Creates a new database cluster from an existing cluster. The forked database contains all of the data from the original database at the time the fork …
product: Reference
url: https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/databases/fork/
last_updated: "2026-08-03"
---

> **For AI agents:** The documentation index is at [https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt](https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of pages use the same URL with `index.html.md` in place of the HTML page (for example, append `index.html.md` to the directory path instead of opening the HTML document).

# doctl databases fork

Generated on 3 Aug 2026 from `doctl` version [`v1.166.0`](https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl/releases/tag/v1.166.0)

## Usage

```shell
doctl databases fork <name> [flags]
```

## Aliases

```shell
f
```

## Description

Creates a new database cluster from an existing cluster. The forked database contains all of the data from the original database at the time the fork is created.

## Example

The following example forks a database cluster with the ID `f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6` to create a new database cluster. The command also uses the `--restore-from-timestamp` flag to specifically fork the database from a cluster backup that was created on 2023 November 7:

```shell
doctl databases fork new-db-cluster --restore-from-cluster-id f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6 --restore-from-timestamp 2023-11-07 12:34:56 +0000 UTC
```

## Flags

| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| `--help`, `-h` | Help for this command |
| `--restore-from-cluster-id` | The ID of an existing database cluster from which the new database will be forked from (required) |
| `--restore-from-timestamp` | The timestamp of an existing database cluster backup in UTC combined date and time format (2006-01-02 15:04:05 +0000 UTC). The most recent backup is used if excluded. |
| `--wait` | A boolean that specifies whether to wait for a database to complete before returning control to the terminal, Default: `false` |

## Related Commands

| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| [doctl databases](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/databases) | Display commands that manage databases |

## Global Flags

Option Description

`--access-token`, `-t` API V2 access token

`--api-url`, `-u` Override default API endpoint

`--config`, `-c` Specify a custom config file, Default:

`--context` Specify a custom authentication context name

`--http-retry-max` Set maximum number of retries for requests that fail with a 429 or 500-level error , Default: `5`

`--http-retry-wait-max` Set the minimum number of seconds to wait before retrying a failed request , Default: `30`

`--http-retry-wait-min` Set the maximum number of seconds to wait before retrying a failed request , Default: `1`

`--interactive` Enable interactive behavior. Defaults to true if the terminal supports it (default false) , Default: `false`

`--output`, `-o` Desired output format \[text|json], Default: `text`

`--trace` Show a log of network activity while performing a command, Default: `false`

`--verbose`, `-v` Enable verbose output, Default: `false`