well, user does not make a lot of steps here, single trivial command, that can be combined with prepare into a single shell (or Windows batch) command as

mbstream -x path/to/backup && mariabackup --prepare --target-dir=.

making prepare reading from archive does not add benefits (all the archive needs to be extracted before prepare can start), but adds some questions as for how to handle prepare errors, and what should happen on cleanup in this case.

Hi wlad,

making prepare reading from archive does not add benefits

I know that it wouldn't really add any functional benefits. Based on my conversation with the user who requested this, the request is more about making the restore process more intuitive for users who are used to database platforms that support "single-step physical restore from a backup". I guess the reference to a "single step" would imply that the user would want this single step to include both the --prepare and --copy-back steps? I will ask for clarification on that.

but adds some questions as for how to handle prepare errors, and what should happen on cleanup in this case.

Yeah, I understand your concerns. I've passed on your concerns to the user that requested this.

the --prepare is something you would not find elsewhere. usually, you take a backup, and unpack it in the destination, and it works. so all the steps in between (prepare, copy-back) are not there for more intuitive databases.