name: localstack-state
description: Manage LocalStack state and snapshots. Use when users want to save, load, export, or import LocalStack state, work with Cloud Pods, create local snapshots, or enable persistence across restarts.

State Management

Save, load, and manage LocalStack state for reproducible development environments and state snapshots.

Capabilities

• Export and import state locally to files
• Save and load state to/from Cloud Pods (remote storage)
• Share state across teams via Cloud Pods
• Enable persistent state across container restarts

Local Snapshots (state export/import)

Local snapshots allow you to export LocalStack state to files and import them back. This works without requiring a Pro subscription.

Export State

# Export current state to a local file
localstack state export my-state.zip

# Export to a specific path
localstack state export /path/to/backup/state.zip

Import State

# Import state from a local file
localstack state import my-state.zip

# Import from a specific path
localstack state import /path/to/backup/state.zip

Use Cases for Local Snapshots

• Backup/restore: Save state before destructive operations
• CI/CD pipelines: Commit state files to version control for reproducible tests
• Offline workflows: Work with state files without cloud connectivity
• Quick snapshots: Fast local save/restore during development

Cloud Pods (pod save/load)

Cloud Pods store state in LocalStack's cloud platform, enabling team collaboration and remote state management.

Prerequisites

Cloud Pods require a LocalStack Pro subscription and auth token:

export LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN=<your-token>

Save to Cloud Pod

# Save current state to a Cloud Pod
localstack pod save my-pod-name

# Save with a message
localstack pod save my-pod-name --message "Initial setup with S3 and DynamoDB"

Load from Cloud Pod

# Load state from a Cloud Pod
localstack pod load my-pod-name

# Load and merge with existing state
localstack pod load my-pod-name --merge

List Cloud Pods

# List all available Cloud Pods
localstack pod list

Delete Cloud Pods

# Delete a Cloud Pod
localstack pod delete my-pod-name

Inspect Cloud Pods

# View Cloud Pod details
localstack pod inspect my-pod-name

Use Cases for Cloud Pods

• Team collaboration: Share consistent development environments across team members
• Demo environments: Prepare and share demo-ready states
• Cross-machine development: Access the same state from different machines

Local Persistence

For automatic persistence across LocalStack restarts (without explicit export/import):

# Enable local persistence
PERSISTENCE=1 localstack start -d

# State is saved to .localstack/ directory
# Survives container restarts

Comparison

Best Practices

• Use state export/import for local development and CI/CD pipelines
• Use Cloud Pods for team collaboration and shared environments
• Use descriptive names that indicate the state contents
• Enable PERSISTENCE=1 for simple state retention across restarts