> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.infraudit.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Baselines: Resource Configuration Snapshots

> Understand what a baseline is, how and when InfraAudit captures baselines, how to manage multiple baselines per resource, and how to promote a new baseline.

A baseline is a captured snapshot of a resource's complete configuration at a specific point in time. It's the reference that drift detection compares against. Without a baseline, InfraAudit has nothing to compare the current state to — so drift detection produces no findings until at least one baseline exists per resource.

## What a baseline contains

A baseline stores the full JSON configuration of a resource as returned by the cloud provider API. For an EC2 instance, this includes instance type, AMI ID, security group associations, IAM instance profile, tags, network interfaces, and more. The configuration is stored as-is from the API response — no transformation or filtering is applied (except for attributes on the global exclusion list, which are always omitted).

## When baselines are created

Baselines are created in four ways:

1. **Initial sync** — when you first connect a provider, InfraAudit automatically captures a baseline for every discovered resource.
2. **Manual capture** — you can capture a new baseline at any time via the UI, CLI, or API.
3. **Post-resolve** — when you resolve a drift finding, InfraAudit can optionally capture a new baseline from the current live state to accept the change.
4. **Scheduled capture** — if configured, InfraAudit can capture new baselines on a schedule. This is useful for resources that change intentionally over time — you track drift from "last known good" rather than the original setup.

## Multiple baselines per resource

A single resource can have many baselines over its lifetime. The **most recent baseline** is the default target for drift comparison. You can compare against an older baseline by specifying it explicitly:

```bash theme={null}
infraudit drift detect --resource <resource-id> --baseline <baseline-id>
```

## Managing baselines

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="CLI">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # List all baselines for a resource
    infraudit baseline list --resource <resource-id>

    # View the full contents of a specific baseline
    infraudit baseline get <baseline-id>

    # Compare two baselines directly
    infraudit baseline diff <baseline-id-1> <baseline-id-2>

    # Delete a baseline
    infraudit baseline delete <baseline-id>
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="UI">
    Open a resource's detail page and click the **Baselines** tab to see all captured baselines, their timestamps, and the diff between any two.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="API">
    ```http theme={null}
    GET    /api/v1/baselines?resource_id=<id>
    POST   /api/v1/baselines
    GET    /api/v1/baselines/:id
    DELETE /api/v1/baselines/:id
    ```

    See the [Baselines API reference](/api/reference/baselines) for full request and response schemas.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Promoting a baseline after a planned change

After you intentionally change a resource's configuration (for example, as part of a deployment), promote the current live state to a new baseline so drift detection doesn't keep flagging the intended change:

```bash theme={null}
infraudit baseline create --resource <resource-id>
```

This:

1. Captures the current live configuration as a new baseline.
2. Sets it as the active baseline for future comparisons.
3. Resolves any existing drift findings for the resource, since the "drift" is now the accepted expected state.

## Deleting baselines

Deleting a baseline removes the snapshot from the history. It does not delete the resource, delete drift findings, or affect other baselines. You cannot delete the only baseline for a resource if drift detection is enabled for it.

```bash theme={null}
infraudit baseline delete <baseline-id>
```

## Storage and retention

Baselines are stored as JSONB in PostgreSQL. A single baseline for a resource with a complex configuration (such as a Cloud SQL instance) can be 10–50 KB. For 1,000 resources with weekly baseline captures over a year, expect approximately 2 GB of baseline data.

To manage storage growth, set a retention policy that automatically removes baselines older than a given number of days:

```env theme={null}
BASELINE_RETENTION_DAYS=90
```

<Note>
  The retention policy never deletes the most recent baseline for any resource, so drift detection always has a reference point regardless of how the policy is configured.
</Note>