Revamp Snapshots section: major restructuring (largely by hand), and support for `lstk` by peter-smith-phd · Pull Request #800 · localstack/localstack-docs

peter-smith-phd · 2026-07-20T22:44:51Z

Migrate the entire "Snapshots" section to use lstk, and perform major restructuring on the existing content.

The Snapshots section had grown organically around Cloud Pods and the legacy localstack CLI. Content had been added over time, in a way that didn't make sense to many readers I talked with. In addition to migrating to lstk, we needed to rethink how the content was structured, making it far easier for novice readers to understand the important concepts.

This change restructures the section around the user's actual goal — where do I want to put my snapshot? — and moves every example to lstk.

Note that most of this work was done by Peter, using AI as an assistant. I reviewed all the content, made conscious decisions about how it should be restructured, and wrote many of the paragraphs myself. In many cases it was easier to write it myself, than to instruct Claude on what should have been written. In the end, Claude was great for testing examples and sanity-testing my grammar.

What changed

Page structure — one page per destination, ordered as a reading path:

Page	Purpose
Overview	What snapshots are and why they help
Saving snapshots locally	Save/load a snapshot file on disk
Saving snapshots to Cloud Pods	Share snapshots via the LocalStack platform
Saving snapshots to S3	Save to your own bucket (data-sovereignty cases)
Merging snapshots	Merge strategies, extracted to their own page
Persistence	Automatic snapshotting for durability
Service coverage	Compatibility rules and per-service support

Removed cli-commands.md (now covered by the lstk CLI guide), launchpad.md (no longer works), and export-import-state.md (replaced by "saving locally").

cloudflare-workers-and-pages · 2026-07-20T22:46:21Z

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…o other pages yet. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

…itch documented commands to the lstk CLI Move the Remotes section from cloud-pods.mdx into other-snapshot-storage-options.md, and the (now Snapshot Merging) section into save-snapshots-locally.md. Update save-snapshots-locally.md to document the lstk snapshot save/load commands instead of the legacy localstack CLI, and fix inbound links to the relocated sections across the docs. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Work in progress towards rewriting cloud-pods.mdx around the lstk CLI's snapshot commands instead of the legacy localstack pod CLI, plus a new workflow diagram and a remotes miscellaneous note. Not yet complete (contains a TBD placeholder). Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Renames several cloud-pods.mdx headings to better distinguish the Cloud Pod (the repository) from the snapshot (the saved emulator state), fixes the one cross-doc link that referenced the old heading anchor, and cleans up assorted grammar/typo/consistency issues found in a pass over the page (subject-verb agreement, singular/plural Cloud Pod references, a broken image markdown tag, a directory-name typo, and stale export/import wording left over after the heading renames).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Delete launchpad.md and its images, drop the dead card link from the Snapshots overview, and repoint legacy launchpad redirects to the Snapshots overview page instead of the now-removed page. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Rebuild the "Using the lstk CLI" section around a single worked example that builds a Cloud Pod over three versions, adding one service at a time (S3, then SQS, then SNS). Document the `snapshot versions` command and loading a specific version with the `:<version>` suffix. All command output in the section is captured from a real run against a fresh emulator, with the LocalStack version normalised to 2026.8.0. Also remove the End-to-End Encryption section, which is no longer part of this page. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T16:40:59Z

 ```

-More information about state import and export [here](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state).
+More information about state import and export [here](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally).


Suggested change

More information about state import and export [here](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally).

More information about state import and export [here](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/cloud-pods/).

Given the example above this is using the Cloud Pod backend, should we link to the cloud pods page instead?

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:07:28Z

 - **License activation**: The standard image performs online activation using your `LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN`. See [Auth Token](/aws/getting-started/auth-token) for activation behavior and fallbacks.
 - **Event reporting (telemetry)**: Used for Stack Insights and related usage analytics. You can disable this via `DISABLE_EVENTS=1`.
- **Cloud Pods (platform remote)**: Saving/loading pods against the default platform remote uses LocalStack-managed infrastructure. For stricter data residency, configure your own Cloud Pods [remote storage](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/cloud-pods#remotes).
+- **Cloud Pods (platform remote)**: Saving/loading pods against the default platform remote uses LocalStack-managed infrastructure. For stricter data residency, consider other [remote storage options](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-to-s3).


LocalStack-managed infrastructure

This probably goes beyond the the scope of this PR, but I wonder if it's worth mentioning somewhere in our docs the region in which the LocalStack platform (Console + hosted resources like CloudPods and Ephem Instances) is hosted (e.g. eu-central-1?). From my experience, enterprises like to know this and it can help them think about which Snapshot backend is right for them. Perhaps we could add a note on this page: https://docs.localstack.cloud/aws/connecting/console/ and then link to it from here, Cloud Pods page, and Ephemeral Instances page.

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:28:39Z

 /user-guide/aws/cloudfront/ /aws/services/cloudfront/ 301
 /applications/note-taking-application-using-aws-sdk-for-javascript/ https://github.com/localstack-samples/sample-notes-app-dynamodb-lambda-apigateway 301
-/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state/ 301
+/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:29:01Z

 /user-guide/aws/cloudfront /aws/services/cloudfront/ 301
 /applications/note-taking-application-using-aws-sdk-for-javascript https://github.com/localstack-samples/sample-notes-app-dynamodb-lambda-apigateway 301
-/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state/ 301
+/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:29:58Z

-/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state/ 301
+/aws/capabilities/state-management/cli-commands /aws/developer-tools/running-localstack/lstk/#snapshot 301
+/aws/capabilities/state-management/cli-commands/ /aws/developer-tools/running-localstack/lstk/#snapshot 301
+/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:30:21Z

+/aws/capabilities/state-management/cli-commands /aws/developer-tools/running-localstack/lstk/#snapshot 301
+/aws/capabilities/state-management/cli-commands/ /aws/developer-tools/running-localstack/lstk/#snapshot 301
+/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301
+/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:31:04Z

 /aws/capabilities/state-management/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/ 301
-/aws/capabilities/state-management/launchpad /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
-/aws/capabilities/state-management/launchpad/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
+/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:31:13Z

-/aws/capabilities/state-management/launchpad /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
-/aws/capabilities/state-management/launchpad/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
+/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301
+/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:31:47Z

-/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state/ 301
-/aws/configuration/state-management/launchpad /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
-/aws/configuration/state-management/launchpad/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
+/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:31:56Z

-/aws/configuration/state-management/launchpad /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
-/aws/configuration/state-management/launchpad/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/launchpad/ 301
+/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301
+/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301


Suggested change

/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301

/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:35:29Z

-
-<PersistenceCoverage client:load />
-
-### Terminology


should this section carry over to the Service Coverage page, given we moved the PersistenceCoverage table there?

athomas-lstk · 2026-08-07T17:36:34Z

-
-Please help us improve persistence support by reporting bugs on our [GitHub Discussion](https://github.com/orgs/localstack/discussions/new/choose).
-
-## Technical Details


Looks like this section didn't get carried over to Service Coverage page. Was that on purpose?

peter-smith-phd changed the base branch from main to doc-312-aws-docs-to-use-lstk July 20, 2026 22:46

peter-smith-phd force-pushed the doc-312-aws-docs-to-use-lstk branch from 3d31485 to b0fb87d Compare July 23, 2026 21:55

peter-smith-phd force-pushed the pro-275-rewrite-snapshots-section branch from e508757 to 9caeb99 Compare July 23, 2026 22:26

peter-smith-phd changed the title ~~Revamp Snapshots section: overview cards, page restructuring, lstk CLI~~ Revamp Snapshots section: major restructuring (largely by hand), and support for lstk Jul 26, 2026

peter-smith-phd and others added 12 commits July 31, 2026 10:44

Revamp of overview page, and structuring of other pages. No changes t…

6b5aeed

…o other pages yet. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Move Service Coverage section out of persistence.mdx into its own page

18133c3

Clean up the persistence.mdx page

3324492

Fix the examples for local snapshots.

94f3fe4

Rename save-locally to saving-snapshots-locally.

6bdeec3

Updates to Cloud Pod docs

8c9bd54

WIP for saving snapshots to S3

204d32e

Rename Cloud Pods page title for consistency with other snapshot pages

3c62f98

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

peter-smith-phd force-pushed the pro-275-rewrite-snapshots-section branch from 48c85bf to 39fb0fa Compare July 30, 2026 22:45

peter-smith-phd and others added 8 commits August 4, 2026 13:10

Clean up index.mdx page.

dde2095

Extract merge strategies into separate page.

4113823

Expand the saving-locally examples.

9f145f9

Clean up cloud pod content.

c41fb95

Clean up Persistence, and fix output boxes.

c23cf9f

clean up service-coverage

320d3f9

Final clean-up before code review.

78ca32f

peter-smith-phd marked this pull request as ready for review August 4, 2026 23:33

peter-smith-phd requested review from HarshCasper, quetzalliwrites and remotesynth as code owners August 4, 2026 23:33

athomas-lstk reviewed Aug 7, 2026

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Revamp Snapshots section: major restructuring (largely by hand), and support for `lstk` - #800

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	More information about state import and export [here](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally).
	More information about state import and export [here](/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/cloud-pods/).

	/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301
	/user-guide/state-management/export-import-state/ /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

	/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301
	/aws/capabilities/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

	/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301
	/aws/developer-tools/snapshots/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301

	/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/save-snapshots-locally/ 301
	/aws/configuration/state-management/export-import-state /aws/developer-tools/snapshots/saving-snapshots-locally/ 301


		Please help us improve persistence support by reporting bugs on our [GitHub Discussion](https://github.com/orgs/localstack/discussions/new/choose).

		## Technical Details


		<PersistenceCoverage client:load />

		### Terminology

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