Google Drive backup fails with “stdout maxBuffer length exceeded” despite recent remote files

Support
1

Hello Local community,

I’m troubleshooting repeated Local Cloud Backup failures to Google Drive for my staging-ssg site.

Environment:

  • Local version: 10.1.2+7004
  • macOS, Intel/x64
  • Backup destination: Google Drive
  • Backup-ignore file excludes Git directories, caches, wp-content/upgrade, node_modules, and generated test reports

I retried after reconnecting Google Drive. In Google Drive I can now see the site’s LocalBackups folder and files with recent modification times. Local’s log also says the Restic repository already exists remotely. However, the backup still reports failure.

Latest attempt, according to the Local log:

  • 2026-10-06T20:37:34Z — backup started; Restic repository reported as existing remotely
  • 2026-10-06T20:37:44Z — database dump started
  • 2026-10-06T20:37:48Z — database dump created successfully; Restic backup started
  • 2026-10-06T20:40:51Z — backup failed: stdout maxBuffer length exceeded

Afterward, Local again failed to retrieve repository metadata from:
LocalBackups/metadata/6b0190ba-27bb-40d5-ba17-f493d42e9772

The error says that this metadata directory was not found. I have not deleted or reinitialised the remote repository. Earlier attempts failed with the same maxBuffer error, including after I expanded the backup-ignore list and signed into my Local account.

Could you advise:

  1. Does seeing recently modified files mean Restic may have uploaded data before the backup command failed, or can the repository still be incomplete without a committed snapshot?
  2. How can I safely verify whether the latest Restic snapshot is complete and restorable?
  3. Why is Local looking for the separate metadata directory, and can it be safely regenerated or repaired without deleting/reinitialising the existing repository?
  4. Is “stdout maxBuffer length exceeded” a known Local 10.1.2+7004 issue, and is there a supported fix or workaround?
  5. Which logs or diagnostics would help identify why this output buffer is exceeded?

I can provide screenshots of the Local error and the recent Google Drive file timestamps. I will not modify or delete the existing backup repository while investigating.

Thank you.

2

Hi @TheFamilyGeek! We can investigate this a bit further. Would you be able to share your Local Logs with us? From the Mac top bar you should be able to clicl Help and Download Local Logs then pass along that zip.

Keep us posted and we’d be happy to help further!

3

Thanks Nick, I’ve attached the logs as requested. Look forward to resolving this!

local-logs2.zip (86.2 KB)

5

Thanks for sharing the log here @TheFamilyGeek! We’ve had some other reports of this, but it’s been tricky to replicate consistently on our end. We’ll dig in and keep you posted on any updates!

6

Thanks again for the report, @TheFamilyGeek.

We’ve made a fix for this that will be out in the next release (10.2.1 or 10.3). I don’t yet have a timeline to share for that version, but Local will let you know when it’s available.

7

Many thanks Nick, et al, for this solution and for a brilliant app! I’ll be sure to keep my eye out for the update!