SnapshotDiffTools

SnapshotDiffTools is a software suite designed to compare snapshots of data stores, file systems, or configurations to identify changes over time. It is used to audit backups, monitor configuration drift, and support change management in complex environments. The tool emphasizes deterministic results and scalable performance for large snapshot sets.

The core components include a snapshot creator and a difftool. The snapshot creator captures metadata and, optionally, file contents, producing a snapshot manifest that lists files, metadata, and materialized content references. The difftool compares two snapshots and reports added, removed, and modified items, along with granular details such as permission changes, ownership changes, and timestamp updates. Output can be generated as machine-readable JSON or human-readable summaries, and can also be exported as a patch or delta that can be applied to reconstruct the other snapshot.

Snapshot formats supported include directory trees, archive-like manifests, and database-like records; the system supports incremental snapshots by storing deltas between successive snapshots to reduce storage and comparison time. It can stream diffs for large datasets and supports filtering by path, type, or metadata.

Typical workflows include creating a baseline snapshot, performing periodic captures, and running diffs to produce change logs. It can integrate with backup pipelines, CI workflows, and configuration-management tools to automate audit trails and compliance reporting.

SnapshotDiffTools is cross-platform and designed to be portable with a lightweight runtime. It is available as an open-source project with documentation and example pipelines on its repository.