A snapshot is a saved copy of your settings at one moment. It is the same document you get from an export, kept inside your database so you can compare it with your live site or restore it later.
What a snapshot contains#
Everything the plugin can read from your site at that moment:
- WordPress settings: General, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media, Permalinks and Privacy.
- The Customizer settings of the active theme.
- The settings of supported plugins that are active (Yoast SEO, Rank Math, WP Mail SMTP and the WooCommerce settings groups).
- The settings of WellTend Site and Admin Toolkit, when it is active: each of its modules is a source named
toolkit.<module id>. - Other plugin and theme settings: every other option that is safe to save, from any plugin or theme. A setting without a known name is listed by its option name. These are only restored when you tick them.
See Supported plugins and settings for the exact list and the rules for other plugin and theme settings. Under Choose what to include you can leave any area out of a snapshot.
When some other plugin and theme settings could not be saved (too large, in a format that cannot be saved safely, or over the size limit of a snapshot), the snapshot says how many, both in the "What to include" list and when you open the snapshot.
A snapshot never contains passwords, API keys or other secrets: it stores the same redacted document as an export. It also leaves out the environment settings (site URL, home URL, admin email, uploads path) unless you ask for them.
Where snapshots live#
Snapshots are rows in the table {prefix}awc_scm_snapshots. Each row records:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
id | The snapshot number you use in commands and URLs. |
created_at | When it was taken, in UTC. |
created_by | The user who took it (0 for the command line). |
label | Your label, trimmed and capped at 191 characters. |
origin | How it was created. See below. |
format_version | The version of the document format. |
data | The settings document as JSON. |
hash | A SHA-256 of the settings, so identical settings have identical hashes. |
Origins#
| Origin | Shown as | Created when |
|---|---|---|
manual | Manual | You click Save a snapshot, or call POST /snapshots. |
cli | Manual | You run wp awc config snapshot create. |
scheduled | Scheduled | The schedule under Settings saves one (only when something changed). |
pre-restore | Before restore | Automatically, just before any restore or import changes something. |
integration | By a plugin | Another plugin saved a copy before it changed something, for example WellTend Site and Admin Toolkit before it changes a module or rolls back a plugin. |
A snapshot that another plugin or a theme asks for is recorded as integration, even if that plugin calls it "manual". Plugins can also say so through the awc_scm_snapshot_origin filter. Snapshots saved before this was added keep the type they had.
The code also reserves an import origin, labelled Import in the list, but the current version never writes it: imports create a pre-restore copy like any other restore.
A safety copy records every available source, even ones with no stored values yet. That is what lets an undo remove an option that the restore created.
For Other plugin and theme settings the safety copy holds only the options the restore is about to write. Undo puts exactly those back and touches nothing else. An option the restore created stays after undo, because these options are never deleted; the undo lists it so you can remove it by hand if you want.
Retention#
By default the plugin keeps the newest 50 snapshots. Change it under Storage settings → Snapshots to keep on the Snapshots screen (allowed range 1 to 1000). Older snapshots are deleted automatically each time a new one is saved.
The newest pre-restore snapshot is exempt from pruning, so your latest undo point always survives, even if it is older than the limit.
Only scheduled snapshots are ever deleted automatically. Snapshots you save yourself, safety copies taken before a restore, and copies saved by other plugins (By a plugin) stay until you delete them. When many are stored, the Snapshots and Settings screens say so.
The same screen has Delete all data when the plugin is deleted, off by default. When it is on, deleting the plugin drops the snapshots table and removes the plugin's options (awc_scm_settings, awc_scm_db_version). When it is off, deleting the plugin leaves your snapshots in place.
Create, list, compare, delete#
From the admin, use AllWPCare → WellTend Snapshots → Snapshots. You can create a snapshot, view it, download it as JSON, compare any two (or one against the current site), restore it, and delete it.
From the command line:
wp awc config snapshot create --label="Before plugin update"wp awc config snapshot listwp awc config snapshot delete 24 --yesid created_at origin label size26 2026-10-16 14:50:02 pre-restore Before restoring snapshot #24 4103824 2026-10-16 14:49:59 cli Before tidy-up 41036snapshot create accepts --sources to capture only some areas and --include-env to include environment settings. See the WP-CLI reference.