---
title: Snapshots
product: vercel
url: /docs/sandbox/concepts/snapshots
canonical_url: "https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/concepts/snapshots"
last_updated: 2018-10-20
type: conceptual
prerequisites:
  - /docs/sandbox/concepts
  - /docs/sandbox
related:
  - /docs/sandbox/concepts/persistent-sandboxes
  - /docs/sandbox/sdk-reference
  - /docs/sandbox/cli-reference
  - /docs/sandbox/pricing
summary: Save and restore sandbox state with snapshots for faster startups and environment sharing.
install_vercel_plugin: npx plugins add vercel/vercel-plugin
---

# Snapshots

Snapshots capture the state of a running sandbox, including the filesystem and installed packages. Use snapshots to skip setup time on subsequent runs.

For [persistent sandboxes](/docs/sandbox/concepts/persistent-sandboxes) (the default), snapshots are created automatically whenever a session stops, and the next session resumes from the most recent snapshot. You can still call `snapshot()` manually to create a checkpoint between sessions, or to fork a child sandbox from a known state.

## When to use snapshots

- **Faster startups**: Skip dependency installation by snapshotting after setup.
- **Checkpointing**: Save progress on long-running tasks.
- **Sharing environments**: Give teammates an identical starting point.
- **Forking**: Spawn new sandboxes from another sandbox's current state with [`Sandbox.fork`](/docs/sandbox/sdk-reference#sandbox.fork) (SDK) or [`sandbox fork`](/docs/sandbox/cli-reference#sandbox-fork) (CLI).

## Create a snapshot

Call `snapshot()` on a running sandbox:

> **💡 Note:** Once you create a snapshot, the sandbox shuts down automatically and becomes unreachable. You don't need to stop it afterwards.

## Create a sandbox from a snapshot

Pass the snapshot ID when creating a new sandbox:

## List snapshots

View all snapshots for your project:

## Retrieve an existing snapshot

Look up a snapshot by ID:

## Delete a snapshot

Remove snapshots you no longer need:

## Snapshot retention

Snapshots expire after **30 days** by default. You can shorten, extend, or remove that expiration at three levels:

- **Per-call**: pass `expiration` to `sandbox.snapshot({ expiration })` or `--expiration` to `sandbox snapshot`. Use `0` (or `none` in the CLI) for no expiration.
- **Per-sandbox default**: set `snapshotExpiration` at the sandbox level. Every automatic snapshot taken on stop, and every manual snapshot that omits an explicit `expiration`, inherits this value.
- **Retention policy**: use `keepLastSnapshots` to bound how many snapshots a sandbox keeps, regardless of expiration. For [persistent sandboxes](/docs/sandbox/concepts/persistent-sandboxes) (the default), the SDK creates a snapshot every time a session stops, so a retention policy is how you keep storage flat.

```ts
await sandbox.update({
  snapshotExpiration: 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, // 7 days
  keepLastSnapshots: { count: 1, expiration: 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 },
});
```

`keepLastSnapshots` fields:

- `count`: keep only the N (1–10) most recent snapshots.
- `expiration`: TTL for the kept snapshots, in milliseconds. Use `0` for no expiration.
- `deleteEvicted`: when `true` (the default), evicted snapshots are deleted immediately.

## Snapshot limits

- See [Pricing and Limits](/docs/sandbox/pricing#snapshot-storage) for storage costs and limits.


---

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