Snapshots, rollback and checkpoints
On Business plans, the box takes a snapshot every time an agent starts working. When an agent breaks something, roll the whole box back to a point before it, or copy single files out of a snapshot. Save a checkpoint by hand before a risky change.
Snapshots come with Business and Business Plus. On other plans, the Snapshots view offers the switch to Business. Billing compares the plans.
What gets snapshotted and for how long
| Snapshot | When it is taken | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic | When an agent starts working, at most every 10 minutes | 24 hours |
| Hourly | The first automatic snapshot of each hour | 3 days |
| Daily | Once a day | 7 days on Business, 30 days on Business Plus |
| Checkpoint | When you save one | Until you delete it |
| Plan | Checkpoints you keep | Daily snapshots kept |
|---|---|---|
| Business | 20 | 7 days |
| Business Plus | 50 | 30 days |
Where snapshot space comes from
Snapshots live on the box's own disk. They can hold up to half of the plan's disk. The Snapshots view shows Space for snapshots as used against that cap.
The Resources panel on Overview counts both under Disk: files and snapshots. A file you delete frees its space once no snapshot holds it.
When space runs out, the oldest automatic snapshots go first. Checkpoints stay.
Save a checkpoint
- Open the box and pick Snapshots.
- Pick Checkpoint now.
- Under What this point is, add a label, such as "Before the migration". The label is optional.
- Pick Save checkpoint.
The checkpoint stays until you delete it. The view shows how many of your 20 or 50 you keep.
Roll the whole box back
- On Snapshots, open the snapshot's menu and pick Roll the box back to this point.
- Read what goes: the dialog lists the newer snapshots that are deleted.
- Type the box name to confirm, then pick Roll back.
The box stops for 2–6 seconds, starts again, and its tabs start over. A stopped box stays stopped, and its tabs start over when you start it.
Rolling back erases everything the box did after that time. There is no way back. Snapshots newer than that point are deleted too.
Some things stay as they are now: keys, subscriptions, previews and shared links.
Get files back without a rollback
Pull a file or a folder out of a snapshot while the box keeps running.
- On Snapshots, open the snapshot's menu and pick Get files back.
- Under File or folder, enter a path from your home folder,
/home/dev, or an absolute path. - Pick Get it back.
A copy lands in ~/restored/<time>/ next to your work. Nothing in the box is overwritten. A folder comes back whole, up to 2,000 files and 500 MB. For more than that, roll the whole box back instead.
Pick Open in terminal or Copy the path to get to the restored files.
Delete a snapshot
Open the snapshot's menu and pick Delete snapshot. The dialog says how much space it frees. You can't roll back to that point afterwards.
Snapshots and clones
A clone copies the box's disk at the moment you make it. It starts with no snapshots of its own.
A live clone made after a snapshot still shares that part of the disk. You can't roll the source back past the moment of the clone. The dashboard says so and links to the clone. Delete that clone first, or pick a later snapshot.
What removes every snapshot
- Reset erases the disk and every snapshot with it.
- Delete removes the box and its snapshots.
Planning a risky task for an agent? Save a checkpoint first, then let it run. More on the Business line: /features/snapshots.