> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.amulet.so/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Branches and snapshots > Create isolated writable state and immutable versions of a volume. Branches and snapshots let multiple jobs start from shared data without changing the same filesystem state. | State | Writable | Use it for | | -------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Volume | Yes | The durable default state. | | Branch | Yes | An isolated experiment, agent, or retry. | | Snapshot | No | A reproducible point in time. | A volume snapshot forked into isolated writable branches, each with its own saved result ## Branch A branch is an isolated writable fork within a volume. Address it as `volume@branch`: ```bash theme={null} amulet mount corpus@experiment ./experiment ``` The first mount creates a missing branch from the volume's current state. You can instead fork from another branch with `--from`, or from a saved snapshot with `--from-snapshot`. Changes on a branch do not change the volume or sibling branches. ## Snapshot A snapshot records an immutable version of a volume or branch: ```bash theme={null} amulet snapshot corpus --name baseline ``` Mount the snapshot to inspect it read-only, or use it as the starting point for a new writable branch. ## A common workflow 1. Prepare shared input data on the volume. 2. Save a named baseline snapshot. 3. Create one branch per job from that snapshot. 4. Write each job's output to its branch. 5. Snapshot any result that must remain reproducible. Follow [Work with branches](/branches) and [Restore from a snapshot](/snapshots) for the complete commands.