I have a script that seems to work for taking back-ups based on categories assigned in AGOL. I run the script via a notebook in ArcGIS Pro and this works for some of the layers, for other layers I get a return of
INFO:root:2025-09-24 15:06:54 - Backup process started.
INFO:root:2025-09-24 15:07:05 - Searching for items in category: 'Category name'
INFO:root:2025-09-24 15:07:05 - No items found in the category 'Category name'.
INFO:root:2025-09-24 15:07:05 - Script completed successfully.
The obvious thing to me would be to check the categories, I have and the layers have been categorised and I appear to be using the exact category in the script query. I have removed categories and then re-assigned and I get the same issue.
I have ran another script to check which layers have categories assigned and then provides a summary count for each category. Which itself doesn't seem to count everything correctly, but I'll take that as a sidebar for now and ignore that.
What is strange is this worked for a number of categories I initially tested it with and then just returns nothing for others despite them being categorised.
Any suggestions on where this script falls down would be greatly appreciated.
from time import strftime
from arcgis.gis import GIS
import logging
import os
# Initialize logging
log_file = r"C:\ArcGIS_Pro_backups\backup_log.txt"
logging.basicConfig(filename=log_file, level=logging.INFO)
def log_message(message):
logging.info(f"{strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')} - {message}")
# Input Variables
base_output_dir = r"C:\ArcGIS_Pro_backups"
date_str = strftime('%Y_%m_%d')
categories_to_backup = ["Category 1"] # <-- Add your categories here
# Create Backup Function
def backup_feature_services():
try:
# Log into AGOL
gis = GIS('https://arcgis.com', 'Username', 'Password')
# Create a folder for today's date
date_folder_path = os.path.join(base_output_dir, date_str)
if not os.path.exists(date_folder_path):
os.makedirs(date_folder_path)
# Loop through each category
for category in categories_to_backup:
log_message(f"Searching for items in category: {category}")
search_query = f"categories:{category}"
items = gis.content.search(query=search_query, item_type='Feature Service')
if not items:
log_message(f"No items found in the category '{category}'.")
continue
# Create a subfolder for this category
category_folder_path = os.path.join(date_folder_path, category.replace(" ", "_"))
if not os.path.exists(category_folder_path):
os.makedirs(category_folder_path)
for item in items:
try:
log_message(f"Processing item: {item.title} (ID: {item.id}) in category '{category}'")
# Export the item to File Geodatabase
tempfile = f"{item.title}_{date_str}"
export_item = item.export(tempfile, 'File Geodatabase', parameters=None, wait=True)
# Search and download the exported File Geodatabase
myexport = gis.content.search(tempfile, item_type='File Geodatabase')
if myexport:
fgdb = gis.content.get(myexport[0].id)
fgdb.download(save_path=category_folder_path)
fgdb.delete()
log_message(f"Successfully backed up: {item.title} to {category_folder_path}")
else:
log_message(f"Error: Export for {item.title} not found.")
except Exception as e:
log_message(f"Error processing item {item.title}: {str(e)}")
log_message("Script completed successfully.")
except Exception as e:
log_message(f"General error: {str(e)}")
# Execute the script
if __name__ == "__main__":
if not os.path.exists(base_output_dir):
os.makedirs(base_output_dir)
log_message("Backup process started.")
backup_feature_services()
