diff --git a/reference/cli/commands.md b/reference/cli/commands.md
index 549ef2cb..3f678545 100644
--- a/reference/cli/commands.md
+++ b/reference/cli/commands.md
@@ -250,8 +250,8 @@ harper copy-db <source-database> <target-database-path>
 
 **Parameters**:
 
-- `<source-database>` - Name of the source database
-- `<target-database-path>` - Full path to the target database file
+- `<source-database>` - Name of the source database (a name, not a file path)
+- `<target-database-path>` - Full path to the target database file, which must not already exist
 
 **Example**:
 
@@ -261,6 +261,8 @@ harper copy-db data /home/user/hdb/database/copy.mdb
 
 This copies the default `data` database to a new location with compaction applied.
 
+The database's file-backed blobs are copied to `<target-database-path>-blobs/<rootIndex>/`, since blob files live outside the database file and are addressed by database name. The copy cannot be restored without that directory — see [Database Compaction](../database/compaction.md#file-backed-blobs-travel-separately) for the restore steps. LMDB databases only; RocksDB databases compact themselves.
+
 **Use Cases**:
 
 - Database optimization
diff --git a/reference/database/compaction.md b/reference/database/compaction.md
index 4b947a64..31a71791 100644
--- a/reference/database/compaction.md
+++ b/reference/database/compaction.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Run using the [CLI](../cli/commands.md):
 harper copy-db <source-database> <target-database-path>
 ```
 
-The `source-database` is the database name (not a file path). The target is the full file path where the compacted copy will be written.
+The `source-database` is the database name (not a file path). The target is the full file path where the compacted copy will be written, and it must not already exist — `copy-db` refuses to write into an existing file rather than merging the copy into whatever it holds.
 
 To replace the original database with the compacted copy, move or rename the output file to the original database path after Harper is stopped.
 
@@ -37,6 +37,29 @@ To replace the original database with the compacted copy, move or rename the out
 harper copy-db data /home/user/hdb/database/copy.mdb
 ```
 
+Copy compaction applies to LMDB databases. RocksDB databases compact themselves and are skipped.
+
+### File-backed blobs travel separately
+
+A database's file-backed blob values (`Blob` and large `Bytes` attributes) are not stored inside the database file. They live in the configured blob roots — `storage.blobPaths[n]`, or `<rootPath>/blobs/<database>` when `blobPaths` is not configured — and are addressed by **database name**, not by the path of the database file.
+
+`copy-db` therefore writes them alongside the copy:
+
+```
+<target-database-path>-blobs/<rootIndex>/…
+```
+
+`<rootIndex>` is the position of the source root in the database's blob-root list, preserved so a multi-root database restores each root to its original slot. A `README.md` in that directory records the mapping.
+
+**The copy is not restorable without this directory.** To restore the copy under a database name, put each `<rootIndex>` tree into that name's matching blob root — for example, restoring the copy above as a database named `archive` with no `storage.blobPaths` configured:
+
+```bash
+cp -r /home/user/hdb/database/copy.mdb /home/user/hdb/database/archive.mdb
+cp -r /home/user/hdb/database/copy.mdb-blobs/0/. /home/user/hdb/blobs/archive/
+```
+
+Restoring the copy under its original database name in the same installation needs only the database file, since the blob roots it already references are untouched.
+
 ## Compact on Start
 
 Automatically compacts all non-system databases when Harper starts. Harper will not start until compaction is complete. Under the hood, it loops through all user databases, creates a backup of each, compacts it, replaces the original with the compacted copy, and removes the backup.