Snap

Snap gives you git branch for your database. Point it at a Postgres database or an S3 bucket, and it hands back an isolated branch with its own connection string. Your apps and agents read and write freely — the source is never touched.

Branches are copy-on-write: nothing is copied when you create one, so a branch is ready in seconds regardless of how big the source is. Data is only duplicated the first time you read or write it, and writes are fully isolated — they never leak back to the source or to another branch.

Quickstart

The fastest path from a Postgres URL to a working branch is a single command. You will need the dst CLI and a Destesi account.

1. Install the CLI and sign in.

   curl -fsSL https://get.destesi.io/install.sh | sh
   dst login          # opens your browser to authenticate
   dst whoami         # confirm you are signed in

   dst ships for Linux and macOS (amd64 / arm64).

2. Select a workspace.

   Every branch lives in a workspace. Switch to the one you want to work in:

   dst workspace switch my-team

3. Branch a database in one shot.

   dst snap try registers the source, creates a branch, waits for it to provision, and prints the connection string:

   dst snap try postgresql://user:pass@db.example.com:5432/app
   # Registering remote…
   #   → registered as conn_a1b2c3d4
   # Creating branch…
   #   → branch snap_e5f6g7h8
   # Waiting for branch to provision…
   #
   # Branch ready.
   #   branch: snap_e5f6g7h8 (try-20260531-101500)
   #   dsn:    postgresql://…snap.destesi.io:5432/app
   #
   # Try it:
   #   psql "postgresql://…snap.destesi.io:5432/app"

4. Connect and use it like any Postgres.

   The branch is a real endpoint. Point psql, your ORM, or an AI agent at the DSN:

   psql "postgresql://…snap.destesi.io:5432/app"
   # db=> INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ('test');   -- the source is never touched
   # db=> SNAP STATUS;                                -- summary of your changes

Tip

Add --quiet to print only the DSN, so you can wire it straight into a shell: eval $(dst snap try "$DATABASE_URL" --quiet).

Note

dst snap try is the one-line shorthand. The Create a new branch form in the Snap web app exposes two extra options the shorthand leaves at their defaults: Override rules, which rewrite specific columns as the branch materializes (see Mask sensitive data as you branch below), and a Max lag (seconds) freshness guard that refuses to branch a source whose sync lag is older than the value you set. Both are optional.

The explicit three-step path

dst snap try is a wrapper over the standard flow. Use the steps directly when you want to reuse a remote, branch from a fixture, or apply masking rules.

1. Register the source as a remote.

   # Postgres
   dst snap remote postgres postgresql://user:pass@db.example.com:5432/app
   # Remote added: conn_a1b2c3d4  status=healthy
   
   # S3-compatible bucket
   dst snap remote s3 my-bucket --region us-east-1
   # Remote added: conn_s3aabbcc  status=healthy

   For a database behind a bastion, add --tunnel-mode ssh — see the reference for the full set of tunnel flags.

2. Create a branch from the remote.

   5432/app

   dst snap create main --connector-id conn_a1b2c3d4
   # Provisioning…

3. Fork a branch from another branch.

   Forking is git checkout -b for data — both branches stay fully isolated afterward.

   5432/app

   dst snap create agent/migration-test --from-snap snap_e5f6g7h8

4. Clean up when you are done.

   dst snap delete snap_e5f6g7h8
   # Branch snap_e5f6g7h8 deleted.

Mask sensitive data as you branch

When you branch production data for testing or for an agent, you rarely want the real values. Override rules rewrite specific columns while the branch materializes — redirect every email to your own inbox, flip admin flags off, or filter to a single tenant. Overridden tables are always hydrated synchronously, so a client never sees raw source data before the masks apply.

dst snap create agent/safe-sandbox \
  --connector-id conn_a1b2c3d4 \
  --override "users.email='me@example.com'" \
  --override "users.is_admin=false"

See Concepts for the mental model and the reference for the full rule shape.

Where Snap fits in the suite

Snap is one product in the Destesi suite — one login, one workspace, and a single sign-on session that follows you across every product. The connection strings Snap hands out are short-lived, workspace-scoped endpoints; nothing you create is shared outside your workspace.

Next steps

ConceptsRemotes, branches, checkpoints, copy-on-write, and override rules.

ReferenceFull CLI, REST API, env vars, and SQL meta-commands.

TroubleshootingCommon failure modes and how to fix them.

Use Snap from an AI agentSnap's clone, fork, and branch tools over MCP.