# Snapshots

Snapshots capture a sandbox recovery point.

```bash
wp rudel snapshot alpha-3be7 --name=before-test
```

Restore a snapshot:

```bash
wp rudel restore alpha-3be7 --snapshot=before-test
```

`restore` asks for confirmation; `--force` skips the prompt. Snapshot names are up to 64 letters, digits, dots, dashes or underscores, starting with a letter or digit.

Snapshots are for sandbox recovery, not for runtime identity. The environment record remains the source of truth for the sandbox.

## What snapshots capture

- every table with the sandbox prefix, users included, copied in the same database under `{sandbox_prefix}snap_{hash}_`, for example `wp_b65338d_snap_3ba676_options`
- the sandbox theme directory, copied to `snapshots/{name}/themes` in the sandbox directory
- metadata in `snapshots/{name}/snapshot.json` and `snapshots/{name}/db_snapshot.json`

A snapshot therefore costs a full copy of the sandbox tables in the host database plus a copy of the theme files.

## What snapshots do not capture

- host WordPress core
- shared plugin files
- shared uploads

## Restore

A restore drops the sandbox tables (keeping snapshot tables), copies the snapshot tables back, and replaces the sandbox theme directory with the saved copy.

By default Rudel first saves the current state as a snapshot named `pre-restore-{timestamp}-{hash}`, so a restore can be undone. Set `auto_snapshot_before_restore` to `0` in `rudel_config` to turn that off.

## Listing and removing

There is no CLI command to list or delete snapshots. From PHP, `Rudel::snapshots( $id )` lists them, newest first. Snapshot tables are dropped when the sandbox is destroyed; until then they stay, including the automatic `pre-restore-*` ones ([issue #5](https://github.com/inline0/rudel/issues/5)).