---
title: "Backfill"
type: "glossary-term"
category: "Corpus & data pipeline"
canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/glossary/corpus-and-data/backfill"
updated: "2026-07-09"
---

# Backfill

**A backfill retroactively fills in missing or newly added fields across records that already exist, rather than only handling new ones.**

A **backfill** applies a new or improved process to the existing corpus so older records catch up. When a pipeline adds a field, a backfill computes it for everything already stored - not just future intake.

Backfills are usually batch jobs, run once to close a gap, then folded into the normal pipeline going forward.

## In GraphCanon

When GraphCanon adds a signal (say, compatibility edges or decision facts), a scoped backfill run populates it across the corpus, with progress logged per run.

## Related terms

- [Enrich](/glossary/corpus-and-data/enrich.md)
- [Corpus](/glossary/corpus-and-data/corpus.md)

[Corpus & data pipeline](/glossary/corpus-and-data.md) · [All glossary terms](/glossary.md)

---

**Machine-readable endpoints**

- JSON: [`/api/graphcanon`](/api/graphcanon)
- LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)
- Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt)

_GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_