diff --git a/surfsense_backend/scripts/create_sandbox_snapshot.py b/surfsense_backend/scripts/create_sandbox_snapshot.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1c1920db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/scripts/create_sandbox_snapshot.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+"""Create the Daytona snapshot used by SurfSense sandboxes.
+
+Usage:
+    uv run python scripts/create_sandbox_snapshot.py
+
+Requires DAYTONA_API_KEY (and optionally DAYTONA_API_URL / DAYTONA_TARGET)
+to be set in the environment or in a .env file.
+"""
+
+import os
+import sys
+
+from daytona import CreateSnapshotParams, Daytona, DaytonaConfig, Image
+
+SNAPSHOT_NAME = "surfsense-sandbox"
+
+PACKAGES = [
+    "pandas",
+    "numpy",
+    "matplotlib",
+    "scipy",
+    "scikit-learn",
+]
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    config = DaytonaConfig(
+        api_key=os.environ.get("DAYTONA_API_KEY", ""),
+        api_url=os.environ.get("DAYTONA_API_URL", "https://app.daytona.io/api"),
+        target=os.environ.get("DAYTONA_TARGET", "us"),
+    )
+    daytona = Daytona(config)
+
+    image = Image.debian_slim("3.12").pip_install(*PACKAGES)
+
+    print(f"Creating snapshot '{SNAPSHOT_NAME}' with packages: {', '.join(PACKAGES)}")
+    snapshot = daytona.snapshot.create(
+        CreateSnapshotParams(name=SNAPSHOT_NAME, image=image),
+        on_logs=lambda chunk: print(chunk, end=""),
+    )
+    print(f"\nSnapshot created: {snapshot.name}")
+    print(f"Set DAYTONA_SNAPSHOT_ID={snapshot.name} in your .env")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main() or 0)