Data and backups · Documentation

sOU stores cast data locally and compares shared data with your workspace. A separate backup is still useful: synchronization transmits the current status including desired changes and deletions. It is not a freely searchable archive of all previous versions.

This guide describes a file backup of your desktop profile and how to prepare for a computer change. For this, you copy the complete data folder to a safe place when the app is closed. A complete profile export or the automatic restoration of a previous status is not currently offered in the app.

Where the desktop data is located

The regular local data folder is:

%USERPROFILE%\.sou\local

You can insert this line into the address bar of the Windows Explorer. Windows replaces %USERPROFILE% with your user folder. It is the data profile, not the application installation folder. A copy of only the sOU program files therefore does not completely contain your library and settings.

Shared cast data is separated within the profile by logged in account and workspace:

accounts\<Kontokennung>\workspaces\<Workspacekennung>\

The identifiers are technical folder names and do not have to match the visible account or workspace name. Do not rename them by your own assumptions. In case of doubt, secure the entire profile folder so that the assignment and the associated media are preserved.

What a backup contains

Section	Content	Important for a security
Workspace: cast-library.json	Teams, players, competitive structure, maps, mappools, matches, results and common panel templates.	The file alone does not contain all the referenced images. Secure the associated media folder.
Workspace: cast-media	Local images such as team logos, player images, competition media and imported panel images.	File names are technical content identifiers. Manual renaming separates references from their files.
Workspace: startup-configs.json	Saved start configs.	The local selection and the CS2 path are additionally in the personal starting settings.
Workspace: hud-panels	Stored local cast values per HUD ID and version.	These values are separated from commonly synchronized panel templates.
Workspace: Synchronization and Result Files	Basics for conflict review, synchronization and the assignment of automatic results.	Do not delete or edit individually to force a desired cloud stand.
Profile: hud-packages	Installed HUD files, separated by package and version.	Fully back up the folders. A single HTML file is not enough for an installed HUD.
Profile: game-launch.json	Local CS2 start settings, including path, display mode and config selection.	A stored installation path may be invalid on another computer.
Profile: yaibo	Observer settings, required files and protected login data.	Sign in on a new computer regularly at yaibo. Secured login files do not replace this step.
Profile: hlae	Locally provided HLAE files.	Does not replace the installed CS2/Steam environment.
Other profile files	Connection data, local device allocation, account and HUD access statuses, and generated connection files.	Treat as private data; a copy does not confer any additional rights of use.

A profile may contain private connection information and protected login data. Keep the backup in a memory that is only accessible to you or authorized persons, as encrypted as possible. Do not upload the entire folder to a public error report or repository. This also applies to the generated file sou-radar.js.

What is synchronized and what remains local

The workspace compares the managed library data, start configs, common HUD panel templates and the media required for this purpose. Personal transferable options such as viewing mode, console option and yaibo exchange rules are synchronized separately through your account. The current live game data is not a cloud backup.

An active GSI/HLAE session and its fleeting events do not become a playable game recording due to a profile backup.
Installed HUD packages remain local installations. A workspace can specify a version whose files must first be installed on another computer.
The local panel values of an output are not automatically the common workspace template.
CS2 installation paths and machine-dependent login data are not a portable account profile.
The active match and a local manual page allocation are not equated with a complete takeover of the running cast on a second computer.

A copy of the data into a second workspace via Copy data and media generates an independent working copy. It is not a complete replacement for profile backup: local package files, device configuration and logins are separate from it.

Create a complete local backup

Choose the time. Safe between casts. Don’t end a running shipment just because of a scheduled routine copy.
Finalise drafts. Save needed changes in Team, Match, Config and Panel windows. Unstored forms are not reliably part of the stored profile files.
Check synchronization. Open Account & Workspaces → Workspace and check the status. If you want to secure the current common status, use Sync now and consciously clarify existing conflicts. In the case of an acute data problem, on the other hand, secure the existing status first before you make further changes.
Stop spending. Close the desktop overlay and the affected browser and OBS outputs and stop the yaibo Observer.
sOU regularly close. Confirm or discard open drafts consciously and wait until all sOU windows and the process are finished. Do not copy the profile during a download or ongoing storage.
Open profile folders. Open in Explorer %USERPROFILE%\.sou.
Copy the local folder. Copy the full folder to your private backup location, for example to a newly created folder with a date and a comprehensible cast or computer name. Use copy, not move.
Check the copy. Check if the expected account/workspace folders, media and HUD packages are available. Compare the total size and file count with the source. In the case of an archive file, additionally check whether it can be opened and unpacked to a separate location.
Determine the connection. Record date, installed sOU version, used HUD versions and the main visible workspace names separate from access data.

Keep more than one backup time if you don’t notice any accidental changes until later. Do not overwrite the only older copy immediately with each backup. The backup location should not be exclusively on the same data carrier, the failure of which you want to protect.

Before recovery

An older local copy can coincide with newer cloud data, newer packet booths, and a different device mapping. Copying back an old folder is therefore not an automatic return of the entire workspace to the backup date.

Finish sOU and all outputs regularly.
First, secure the current profile folder under its own name, even if it looks damaged. In this way, the initial state is maintained.
Check the backup you want in a separate location: Is it complete? Does it belong to the right Windows user and account? Are media and the required package versions included?
Clarify if you only need a file or previous professional content, or if the entire local profile is actually corrupted.
For old workspace content, check with those responsible how they should be merged with the now valid common stand. Prevent multiple people from editing conflicting versions in parallel.

A complete replacement of the profile on the same computer and under the same Windows user must be done with the app closed and take into account all related files. Keep the previous folder as a separate backup. After startup, check account, workspace, and synchronization messages first; decide conflicts individually. The status now stored in the cloud remains and must be taken into account in the next comparison. If sOU requires a new sign-in, sign in regularly.

Do not manually edit account, device and match files. Resolve synchronization conflicts under Account & Workspaces → Workspace. For individual previous team names, results or texts, you can read the desired values from your backup and enter them again via the associated editing window. For unreadable files, hold the exact error message and keep the unchanged backup.

Preparing a new computer

Install sOU on the new computer and log in with your existing account.
Select the desired workspace and have library data and media synced. Check for completeness based on visible names and images.
Install the used HUDs again. The online download loads the latest shared package; subscriptions and workspace shares apply to the HUD itself. Then check the accepted panel values.
Set up the CS2 folder installed there via Launch CS2. Check Display Mode, Startconfig, GSI, and HLAE. A path of the old computer does not have to fit.
Sign in to yaibo again if you want to use the Observer.
Take appropriate common panel templates and control local cast settings for each version of HUD used.
Choose the active match consciously. If this computer is to provide automatic results, set it explicitly in the workspace as a result source.
Re-set up the OBS sources or desktop overlay and check the output with current game data.

Do not copy protected login files as a replacement for a regular login to another Windows account. Also do not take over the local device identifier as a supposedly necessary setting for a second computer. If certain purely local data from a backup is required, separate their acceptance of account, authorization and device files.

Check after recovery

Proper account and correct workspace; no unexplained synchronization conflicts.
Teams, players, competitions, maps, mappools and matches as well as the accompanying pictures.
Active match, both teams, map order, existing results and, if applicable, source of results.
Startconfigs and valid CS2 installation path.
Installed HUD versions, permissions and panel values.
GSI/HLAE reception, OBS preview and the desired desktop output.
At yaibo: Sign-in, current connections and manual takeover.

Keep the backup until you have practically checked the required functions. Other assistance: File and Profile Problems, Workspaces and synchronization and Panel templates.