Reference

Configuration

Environment variables, exit codes, and JSON output — everything you need to wire snapshotdb into a script, CI job, or agent.

Environment variables

Variable	Meaning
`SNAPSHOTDB_SERVER`	Server base URL the client submits jobs to. Required — the client fails without it.
`SNAPSHOTDB_TOKEN`	Admin token, sent as `Authorization: Bearer`.
`SNAPSHOTDB_CONSOLE_ORIGINS`	Comma-separated exact browser origins allowed to call the control API. No wildcards; disabled by default.
`SNAPSHOTDB_HOME`	Server storage directory (default `~/.snapshotdb`). Put it on a reflink-capable volume.
`SNAPSHOTDB_IDLE_MINUTES`	Idle timeout before a branch suspends (default 5; 0 never suspends).

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success.
`1`	Something failed while running — network, engine, timeout.
`2`	The command was wrong, or `preflight` did not pass.

JSON and scripting

--print-url prints only the connection URL, nothing else. Treat an empty result as a hard failure — do not fall back to another database.
--format json prints a stable object with a schema_version; errors come back as {"error": "…"}.
--detach returns a job id immediately; snapshotdb job <id> reconnects. A long clone keeps running server-side after the client disconnects.

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