Snapshots

Snapshots let you capture the complete state of a running sandbox and restore it later. This is useful for creating checkpoints before risky changes, sharing a known-good environment, or quickly spinning up pre-configured sandboxes.

Creating Snapshots

Save a snapshot of a running sandbox:

islo snapshot save my-sandbox

The snapshot captures the entire filesystem state:

All files across the sandbox filesystem
Installed runtimes and dependencies
System and environment configuration

Custom Snapshot Names

By default, snapshot names are auto-generated. Use --name for a custom name:

islo snapshot save my-sandbox --name before-refactor
islo snapshot save my-sandbox --name v1-release

Listing Snapshots

View all your snapshots:

islo snapshot ls

Example output:

NAME                      STATUS     SIZE         CREATED
before-refactor           ready      2.1 GB       2026-03-15 10:30
my-sandbox-20260315       ready      1.8 GB       2026-03-14 09:00
v1-release                ready      2.4 GB       2026-03-10 14:22

JSON Output

For scripting:

islo snapshot ls --output json

Restoring from Snapshots

Create a new sandbox from a snapshot using --snapshot:

islo use new-sandbox --snapshot before-refactor

This creates a new sandbox with all the state from the snapshot:

Files are restored to /workspace
Runtimes and dependencies are already in place — setup_script does not re-run
Configuration is applied

Combining with Other Options

You can combine --snapshot with other flags:

# Restore and run with an agent
islo use debug-env --snapshot production-state --agent claude
# Restore with a specific working directory
islo use test-sandbox --snapshot before-refactor --workdir /workspace/api
# Restore and run a command
islo use ci-check --snapshot v1-release -- npm test

Deleting Snapshots

Remove snapshots you no longer need:

# Delete single snapshot
islo snapshot rm before-refactor
# Delete multiple snapshots
islo snapshot rm old-snap-1 old-snap-2 old-snap-3
# Force delete without confirmation
islo snapshot rm before-refactor -f

Aliases: islo snapshot delete

Use Cases

Checkpoint Before Risky Changes

# Save current state
islo snapshot save my-project --name before-migration
# Make risky changes...
islo use my-project -- ./run-migration.sh
# If something breaks, restore
islo use my-project-restored --snapshot before-migration

CI/CD Base Images

# Create a snapshot with all dependencies installed
islo use ci-base -- npm install && pip install -r requirements.txt
islo snapshot save ci-base --name deps-installed
# CI jobs start from snapshot (faster)
islo use ci-$BUILD_ID --snapshot deps-installed -- npm test

Debugging Production Issues

# Snapshot production-like state
islo snapshot save prod-replica --name issue-123
# Multiple developers can investigate independently
islo use alice-debug --snapshot issue-123 --agent claude
islo use bob-debug --snapshot issue-123

Command Reference

Command	Description
`islo snapshot save <sandbox>`	Save snapshot (auto-generated name)
`islo snapshot save <sandbox> --name <name>`	Save with custom name
`islo snapshot ls`	List all snapshots
`islo snapshot rm <name>`	Delete a snapshot
`islo snapshot rm <name> -f`	Force delete without confirmation
`islo use <name> --snapshot <snap>`	Create sandbox from snapshot

Notes

Snapshots are stored securely in Islo’s infrastructure
Snapshot size depends on your /workspace contents and installed tools
Restoring from a snapshot creates a new sandbox (doesn’t overwrite existing)
Snapshots are scoped to your tenant/organization