---
title: "Snapshot a STOPPED node's parked volume to durable storage"
method: POST
path: "/preview/nodes/{name}/snapshots"
tags: ["nodes"]
---

# Snapshot a STOPPED node's parked volume to durable storage

`POST /preview/nodes/{name}/snapshots`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://autoresearch.sfcompute.com`
- URL: `https://autoresearch.sfcompute.com/preview/nodes/{name}/snapshots`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Snapshot a node's parked volume to durable storage (M9c, spec 'Volume snapshots'): a copy of the disk you keep - protect an hour of downloaded-and-converted state against anything that happens to the machine. The node must be stopped (stop_node parks the disk intact; the snapshot is then a clean point-in-time copy) - a node still "stopping" is saving its last writes and refuses until get_node reads stopped - and it must STAY stopped while the upload runs: starting the node cancels an in-flight snapshot (the copy can't stay clean under a live disk) - the row resolves failed, and you re-snapshot after the next stop. Returns {snapshot_id, status: "uploading"} immediately - never a blocked call; poll list_snapshots until it's ready. Later work on the node is NOT in the snapshot, and /scratch is never in it (a snapshot is the kept disk; scratch is destroyed at stop). Snapshots are bounded per org (count and total bytes) and never expired on a timer. Snapshots ride the volume's encryption: the object store never holds plaintext. To save progress from work while it RUNS, use a job instead (submit_job): jobs checkpoint without stopping.

## Path parameters

- `name` string, required: Node name (from `list_nodes`). Must be stopped (the parked volume is what snapshots).

## Query parameters

- `workspace` string

## Request body

- object
  - `expires_after` string, nullable: Optional self-cleaning expiry, a duration like "24h" or "7d" (minimum 1h). At that point the snapshot deletes itself - key deletion, exactly delete_snapshot, just scheduled now. Omit for no expiry (the default: snapshots are never deleted on OUR timer).

## Response `200`

The capability's JSON result.

- Result: The capability's result: the same object the MCP tool returns as structuredContent. Resources carry an `object` type discriminator and an immutable id; money is integer micro-dollars in `*_usd_micros` fields.
  - `object` string: The resource type, when the result is one resource.

## Other responses

- `400`: Malformed request: bad JSON, a parameter that does not parse, or a value outside its range. Code `invalid`.
- `401`: No bearer token, or one this API cannot verify. Code `unauthenticated`.
- `403`: Authenticated, but the token's scopes or the account's role do not reach this operation. The message names the scope word to request. Code `forbidden`.
- `404`: No such route. Code `not_found`; the body names the OpenAPI document.
- `422`: A well-formed request the platform declined: no such node, a cap reached, a state that forbids the move. The message says which, and what to do instead. Code `refused`.
- `429`: Over this door's per-customer budget. Wait `Retry-After` seconds. Code `rate_limited`.
- `500`: Our fault. Retry; if it persists, quote the request-id. Code `internal`.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/givemeanode/apis/autoresearch-customer-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/givemeanode/apis/autoresearch-customer-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/givemeanode/apis/autoresearch-customer-api/revisions/f88dcb70ac6c?raw)