Snapshot Lifecycle

Creating a snapshot and managing it require different permissions. Any authenticated user can create a snapshot, but listing or viewing snapshot records through the Snapshot API, updating them, finalizing them, and deleting them require a Site Administrator. You need Site Administrator access for those management operations even when you created the snapshot.

The creator can read the snapshot's copied files without being a Site Administrator. This lets users preserve or receive files while administrators control the snapshot's retention and finalization.

Creating Snapshots

Snapshots can be automatically created as part of a snapshot Share Link by any user with Sharing permissions. For example, users can create snapshot share links to send secure links to files that would exceed their email server's attachment size limit.

The AI Assistant creates snapshots automatically during a session when it generates a file for you.

Any authenticated user can also directly create a snapshot through the API or an official SDK, or the Command Line Interface (CLI) application. Each source path requires Sharing permission when it is added, just as it does for a snapshot Share Link. Creating an empty snapshot does not require Sharing permission.

Direct creation accepts a user session or API key, including keys used by the Desktop App and Mobile App. Files Only API keys cannot create snapshots. Add a name to any snapshot you create directly so you know its purpose later, and arrange for a Site Administrator to finalize it within 96 hours.

Names

Snapshots that are automatically generated by creating a Share Link include the ID of the matching Share Link, which lets you determine that the snapshot belongs to a Share Link.

When you manually create and manage a snapshot (without a Share Link), you can add a name to the snapshot. We strongly urge you to always add a name to your directly-managed snapshots, so that you can easily recall the purpose of each.

Expiration

Snapshots that are automatically generated by creating a snapshot Share Link have an expiration date, which can never be more than 60 days after the snapshot was created. As a result, snapshot Share Links always expire, and the expiration cannot be more than 60 days after the Share Link was created.

Snapshots created without a Share Link can also have an expiration date, but one is not required. A finalized snapshot without an expiration date remains until a Site Administrator deletes it.

If a snapshot has an expiration, the file contents, including the snapshot's hidden directory, are removed from your site when that date is reached.

Adding Files to Snapshots

While a snapshot is not yet finalized, Site Administrators can change its contents. Its creator can also upload, copy, move, or delete files in the snapshot folder if they have Write permission somewhere on the site. On sites using Workspaces, that Write permission must be within the snapshot's Workspace. Sharing permission alone does not grant this direct write access.

To copy file paths from another part of your site (including on a Remote Server Mount), provide those paths when creating the snapshot. Each path requires Sharing permission when it is added. After creation, only a Site Administrator can update the snapshot's source paths through the Snapshot API. Providing paths starts a background process that copies the relevant files, using the platform's parallelization and automatic retry logic.

Direct uploads to the unfinalized snapshot's directory let its creator or a Site Administrator store files that are not included in any other part of the site, subject to the Write permission requirement above.

Removing individual files from an unfinalized snapshot does not allow its creator to delete the snapshot record. Deleting the record requires a Site Administrator.

Finalization

An unfinalized snapshot is a collection of files still being assembled. Finalization closes it to new changes so you can preserve an archive or share a point-in-time copy. It takes effect immediately, does not wait for work in progress, and cannot be undone.

From that moment, Files.com refuses every new upload, copy, move, rename, or delete requested into or inside the snapshot, for everyone, including its creator and Site Administrators. A copy or move requested before finalization that has not yet started transferring is refused when it starts.

A copy or move already transferring into the snapshot when it is finalized finishes, and its file becomes part of the finalized snapshot. It never replaces or removes a file that was in the snapshot at finalization. Completion time depends on the source: a large file or a slow remote server can keep transferring well after finalization.

For a complete archive at finalization, confirm that your copies and moves have finished and the intended files are present before finalizing. The snapshot's finalization date records when it was finalized, not when the last transfer finished.

Snapshots must be finalized within 96 hours of creation. Files.com automatically removes snapshots that are still unfinalized after that period, including their hidden folder and snapshot contents, so abandoned collections do not occupy storage indefinitely. The 96-hour cleanup rule does not apply to finalized snapshots, which follow their own expiration date.

A Site Administrator can still change a finalized snapshot's name or expiration date, or delete the entire snapshot. Finalization protects its files from new changes; it does not prevent expiration or deletion of the snapshot itself.

Snapshots created as part of a snapshot Share Link are automatically finalized when the link is generated. A Site Administrator finalizes a directly created snapshot using the API or an official SDK, or the Command Line Interface (CLI) application.

Updates

Snapshots that are created as part of a snapshot Share Link are automatically updated as needed by the Share Link. The snapshot is finalized when the Share Link is generated.

Snapshots which have been directly created (without creating a Share Link) can be updated by any site administrator, using one of our official SDKs or the Command Line Interface (CLI) application.

You can update a snapshot's expiration date or name even after it has been finalized. Finalization prevents new changes to its files, while copies or moves already transferring into it can finish.

Deletion

Snapshots that are created as part of a snapshot Share Link are automatically removed when the Share Link expires.

Snapshots which have been directly created (without creating a Share Link) can be deleted by any site administrator, using one of our official SDKs or the Command Line Interface (CLI) application. Deleting a snapshot removes its contents, including its hidden folder.

If you use expiration dates on your snapshots, you will not need to delete snapshots manually.

AI Assistant-Created Snapshots

When the AI Assistant generates a file during a session, it creates a snapshot and places a link in the chat. Because you are already logged in, the link works immediately.

The link is visible for the duration of the current session. If you close the AI Assistant, start a new session, or log out, the chat history clears and the link is no longer shown. The file itself remains available for 24 hours at its path within the /_/Snapshots folder, but it is not shown elsewhere in the interface.

To keep a file permanently, drag the file link from the chat into any folder on your site before the session ends. This moves it out of the snapshot and into your chosen location where it remains after the snapshot expires.

These snapshots are accessible to you and Site Administrators. The link in the chat is not a public Share Link. When the 24-hour expiration passes, the snapshot and its contents are removed automatically.

Any user who can use the AI Assistant can have snapshots created this way.