Snapshots

About snapshots

Snapshots let you return an app to an earlier state or make a separate copy before trying a change.

What a Snapshot Saves

A snapshot saves the app's files, app version, and app configuration. It does not change Lawn-only choices such as the name shown in Lawn or whether the app starts automatically. It also cannot save things that exist only while the app is running, such as open connections.

If an app is configured to save data outside its own data folder, Lawn cannot take a snapshot.

macOS can share unchanged data between the app and its snapshots instead of storing another full copy. Changes made after a snapshot are kept separately.

See Your Data for current backup and export options.

Taking a Snapshot

Right-click an installed app and choose Take Snapshot. Lawn suggests the current date and time as the name, which you can replace before continuing.

To view the app's history, right-click it and choose Manage Snapshots. The highlighted Live card is the app's current state. Each other card is a saved snapshot.

Keeping update snapshots

Lawn also takes snapshots before app updates. By default, eligible update snapshots are kept for at least 30 days. Cleanup depends on update success and app health, so they may remain longer.

In General settings, choose whether to keep update snapshots until the app is healthy, for 30 days, or indefinitely. Snapshots you take yourself stay until you delete them.

Going Back to a Snapshot

Right-click the app and choose Manage Snapshots, then right-click a saved snapshot and choose Restore.

Restoring an older snapshot makes it the app's current state. Existing snapshots stay where they are, so taking another snapshot afterward can create a second path through the history.

When you restore, Lawn offers two choices:

• Create Snapshot and Restore saves the current state as a new Pre-Restore snapshot before restoring. This is the default.
• Discard Live State and Restore replaces the current state without preserving it. Lawn asks for a second confirmation because this cannot be undone.

From the same saved-snapshot menu, choose Clone Snapshot into New App to make a separate copy. The copy starts stopped and keeps the snapshot's app data, configuration, and port settings. If another running app already uses one of those ports, Lawn will report the conflict when you try to start the copy.

From a snapshot's menu, you can also rename it or delete it. Deleting a snapshot does not delete its descendants; Lawn connects them to the deleted snapshot's parent.

Understanding Storage

Lawn keeps the container images needed to restore retained snapshots. Deleting a snapshot also lets Lawn remove any image version that no app or other snapshot needs.

The storage numbers are arranged so they always add up. Lawn puts each piece of storage in one place:

• Live includes all storage used by the app's current state.
• An individual snapshot includes storage used by that snapshot but not by Live or another snapshot.
• Shared between snapshots includes storage used by two or more snapshots but not by Live.
• Total app + snapshots is Live, every individual snapshot, and shared snapshot storage added together.

Here are a few examples:

Files elsewhere on your Mac do not change where Lawn puts storage in this view. For example, a file in the Trash does not make a snapshot appear smaller. This also means a snapshot's number is not a promise of how much free space you will get by deleting it.

Lawn recalculates the numbers after a change because taking, restoring, or deleting a snapshot can move storage from one part of the view to another.

Using Snapshots from the Terminal

The same snapshot operations are available through lawn app snapshot. See the snapshot CLI reference for every command and option.