README.md

@@ -194,8 +194,9 @@ vaultik [--config <path>] store info
 * Requires `VAULTIK_AGE_SECRET_KEY` environment variable with age private key
 * Optional path arguments to restore specific files/directories (default: all)
 * Downloads and decrypts metadata, fetches required blobs, reconstructs files
-* Preserves file permissions, timestamps, and ownership (ownership requires root)
+* Preserves file permissions, mtime, and ownership (ownership requires root)
 * Handles symlinks and directories
+* Note: ctime cannot be restored (see [platform notes](#platform-specific-ctime-semantics))
 
 **prune**: Remove unreferenced blobs from remote storage
 * Scans all snapshots for referenced blobs
@@ -247,11 +248,14 @@ Snapshot IDs follow the format `<hostname>_<snapshot-name>_<timestamp>` (e.g., `
 CREATE TABLE files (
   id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
   path TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
+  source_path TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
   mtime INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  ctime INTEGER NOT NULL,
   size INTEGER NOT NULL,
   mode INTEGER NOT NULL,
   uid INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  gid INTEGER NOT NULL
+  gid INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  link_target TEXT
 );
 
 CREATE TABLE file_chunks (
@@ -339,7 +343,25 @@ CREATE TABLE snapshot_blobs (
 1. For each file, get ordered chunk list from file_chunks
 1. Download required blobs, decrypt, decompress
 1. Extract chunks and reconstruct files
-1. Restore permissions, mtime, uid/gid
+1. Restore permissions, mtime, uid/gid (ctime cannot be restored — see platform notes above)
+
+### platform-specific ctime semantics
+
+The `ctime` field in the files table stores a platform-dependent timestamp:
+
+* **macOS (Darwin)**: `ctime` is the file's **birth time** — when the file was
+  first created on disk. This value never changes after file creation, even if
+  the file's content or metadata is modified.
+
+* **Linux**: `ctime` is the **inode change time** — the last time the file's
+  metadata (permissions, ownership, link count, etc.) was modified. This is NOT
+  the file creation time. Linux did not expose birth time (via `statx(2)`) until
+  kernel 4.11, and Go's `syscall` package does not yet surface it.
+
+**Restore limitation**: `ctime` cannot be restored on either platform. On Linux,
+the kernel manages the inode change time and userspace cannot set it. On macOS,
+there is no standard POSIX API to set birth time. The `ctime` value is preserved
+in the snapshot database for informational/forensic purposes only.
 
 #### prune
 

internal/database/models.go

@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ type File struct {
 	ID         types.FileID     // UUID primary key
 	Path       types.FilePath   // Absolute path of the file
 	SourcePath types.SourcePath // The source directory this file came from (for restore path stripping)
-	MTime      time.Time
+	MTime      time.Time        // Last modification time
-	CTime      time.Time
+	CTime      time.Time        // Creation/change time (platform-specific: birth time on macOS, inode change time on Linux)
 	Size       int64
 	Mode       uint32
 	UID        uint32

internal/snapshot/backup_test.go

@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ func (b *BackupEngine) Backup(ctx context.Context, fsys fs.FS, root string) (str
 			Size:  info.Size(),
 			Mode:  uint32(info.Mode()),
 			MTime: info.ModTime(),
-			CTime: info.ModTime(), // Use mtime as ctime for test
+			CTime: fileCTime(info), // platform-specific: birth time on macOS, inode change time on Linux
 			UID:   1000,            // Default UID for test
 			GID:   1000,            // Default GID for test
 		}

internal/snapshot/ctime_darwin.go

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package snapshot
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"syscall"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// fileCTime returns the file creation time (birth time) on macOS.
+//
+// On macOS/Darwin, "ctime" refers to the file's birth time (when the file
+// was first created on disk). This is stored in the Birthtimespec field of
+// the syscall.Stat_t structure.
+//
+// This differs from Linux where "ctime" means inode change time (the last
+// time file metadata was modified). See ctime_linux.go for details.
+//
+// If the underlying stat information is unavailable (e.g. when using a
+// virtual filesystem like afero.MemMapFs), this falls back to mtime.
+func fileCTime(info os.FileInfo) time.Time {
+	stat, ok := info.Sys().(*syscall.Stat_t)
+	if !ok {
+		return info.ModTime()
+	}
+	return time.Unix(stat.Birthtimespec.Sec, stat.Birthtimespec.Nsec).UTC()
+}

internal/snapshot/ctime_linux.go

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package snapshot
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"syscall"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// fileCTime returns the inode change time on Linux.
+//
+// On Linux, "ctime" refers to the inode change time — the last time the
+// file's metadata (permissions, ownership, link count, etc.) was modified.
+// This is NOT the file creation time; Linux did not expose birth time until
+// the statx(2) syscall was added in kernel 4.11, and Go's syscall package
+// does not yet surface it.
+//
+// This differs from macOS/Darwin where "ctime" means birth time (file
+// creation time). See ctime_darwin.go for details.
+//
+// If the underlying stat information is unavailable (e.g. when using a
+// virtual filesystem like afero.MemMapFs), this falls back to mtime.
+func fileCTime(info os.FileInfo) time.Time {
+	stat, ok := info.Sys().(*syscall.Stat_t)
+	if !ok {
+		return info.ModTime()
+	}
+	return time.Unix(stat.Ctim.Sec, stat.Ctim.Nsec).UTC()
+}

internal/snapshot/ctime_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+package snapshot
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestFileCTime_RealFile(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary file
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	path := filepath.Join(dir, "testfile.txt")
+
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte("hello"), 0644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	ctime := fileCTime(info)
+
+	// ctime should be a valid time (not zero)
+	if ctime.IsZero() {
+		t.Fatal("fileCTime returned zero time")
+	}
+
+	// ctime should be close to now (within a few seconds)
+	diff := time.Since(ctime)
+	if diff < 0 || diff > 5*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("fileCTime returned unexpected time: %v (diff from now: %v)", ctime, diff)
+	}
+
+	// ctime should not equal mtime exactly in all cases, but for a freshly
+	// created file they should be very close
+	mtime := info.ModTime()
+	ctimeMtimeDiff := ctime.Sub(mtime)
+	if ctimeMtimeDiff < 0 {
+		ctimeMtimeDiff = -ctimeMtimeDiff
+	}
+	// For a freshly created file, ctime and mtime should be within 1 second
+	if ctimeMtimeDiff > time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("ctime and mtime differ by too much for a new file: ctime=%v, mtime=%v, diff=%v",
+			ctime, mtime, ctimeMtimeDiff)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestFileCTime_AfterMtimeChange(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary file
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	path := filepath.Join(dir, "testfile.txt")
+
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte("hello"), 0644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// Get initial ctime
+	info1, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	ctime1 := fileCTime(info1)
+
+	// Change mtime to a time in the past
+	pastTime := time.Date(2020, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	if err := os.Chtimes(path, pastTime, pastTime); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// Get new stats
+	info2, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	ctime2 := fileCTime(info2)
+	mtime2 := info2.ModTime()
+
+	// mtime should now be in the past
+	if mtime2.Year() != 2020 {
+		t.Fatalf("mtime not set correctly: %v", mtime2)
+	}
+
+	// On macOS: ctime (birth time) should remain unchanged since birth time
+	// doesn't change when mtime is updated.
+	// On Linux: ctime (inode change time) will be updated to ~now because
+	// changing mtime is a metadata change.
+	// Either way, ctime should NOT equal the past mtime we just set.
+	if ctime2.Equal(pastTime) {
+		t.Fatal("ctime should not equal the artificially set past mtime")
+	}
+
+	// ctime should still be a recent time (the original creation time or
+	// the metadata change time, depending on platform)
+	_ = ctime1 // used for reference; both platforms will have a recent ctime2
+	if time.Since(ctime2) > 10*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("ctime is unexpectedly old: %v", ctime2)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestFileCTime_NonSyscallFileInfo verifies the fallback to mtime when
+// the FileInfo doesn't have a *syscall.Stat_t (e.g. afero.MemMapFs).
+type mockFileInfo struct {
+	name    string
+	size    int64
+	mode    os.FileMode
+	modTime time.Time
+	isDir   bool
+}
+
+func (m *mockFileInfo) Name() string       { return m.name }
+func (m *mockFileInfo) Size() int64        { return m.size }
+func (m *mockFileInfo) Mode() os.FileMode  { return m.mode }
+func (m *mockFileInfo) ModTime() time.Time { return m.modTime }
+func (m *mockFileInfo) IsDir() bool        { return m.isDir }
+func (m *mockFileInfo) Sys() interface{}   { return nil } // No syscall.Stat_t
+
+func TestFileCTime_FallbackToMtime(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second)
+	info := &mockFileInfo{
+		name:    "test.txt",
+		size:    100,
+		mode:    0644,
+		modTime: now,
+	}
+
+	ctime := fileCTime(info)
+	if !ctime.Equal(now) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected fallback to mtime %v, got %v", now, ctime)
+	}
+}

internal/snapshot/scanner.go

@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ func (s *Scanner) checkFileInMemory(path string, info os.FileInfo, knownFiles ma
 		Path:       types.FilePath(path),
 		SourcePath: types.SourcePath(s.currentSourcePath), // Store source directory for restore path stripping
 		MTime:      info.ModTime(),
-		CTime:      info.ModTime(), // afero doesn't provide ctime
+		CTime:      fileCTime(info), // platform-specific: birth time on macOS, inode change time on Linux
 		Size:       info.Size(),
 		Mode:       uint32(info.Mode()),
 		UID:        uid,

internal/vaultik/restore.go

@@ -411,7 +411,11 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreDirectory(file *database.File, targetPath string, resul
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Set mtime
+	// Set mtime (atime is set to mtime as a reasonable default).
+	// Note: ctime cannot be restored. On Linux, ctime (inode change time) is
+	// managed by the kernel and cannot be set by userspace. On macOS, birth
+	// time cannot be set via standard POSIX APIs. The ctime value is preserved
+	// in the snapshot database for informational purposes.
 	if err := v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set directory mtime", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}
@@ -508,7 +512,11 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreRegularFile(
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Set mtime
+	// Set mtime (atime is set to mtime as a reasonable default).
+	// Note: ctime cannot be restored. On Linux, ctime (inode change time) is
+	// managed by the kernel and cannot be set by userspace. On macOS, birth
+	// time cannot be set via standard POSIX APIs. The ctime value is preserved
+	// in the snapshot database for informational purposes.
 	if err := v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set file mtime", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}