spatial_snapshot

Get an instant picture of every tracked node in the running game.

spatial_snapshot is the entry point for most Spectator sessions. It returns positions, velocities, and key properties for all nodes the collector is tracking, subject to your token budget.

When to use it

• Starting a new investigation: "What is the current state of my scene?"
• After a major game event: "What are the positions now that the enemy has spawned?"
• Confirming a fix: "Does the player spawn at the right position now?"
• Orientation: Before using more targeted tools, snapshot gives context.

Do not use spatial_snapshot repeatedly to detect changes — use spatial_delta instead. Snapshots include all tracked nodes even if nothing changed; deltas only include what changed.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
class_filter	string[]	optional	Filter by node class.
detail	string "summary" | "standard" | "full"	optional default: "standard"	Detail tier: summary (~200 tokens, clusters only), standard (~400-800 tokens, per-entity), full (~1000+ tokens, transforms/physics/children). Default: standard.
expand	string	optional	Expand a cluster from a previous summary response.
focal_node	string	optional	Node path, required when perspective is "node".
focal_point	number[]	optional	World position [x, y, z], required when perspective is "point".
groups	string[]	optional	Filter by group membership.
include_offscreen	boolean	optional default: false	Include nodes outside camera frustum. Default: false.
perspective	any "camera" | "node" | "point"	optional	Where to look from: camera (active camera, default), node (requires focal_node), point (requires focal_point).
radius	number	optional default: 50	Max distance from perspective to include. Default: 50.0.
token_budget	number	optional	Soft token budget override.

detail values

"summary" — Position and velocity only (approximately 80-120 tokens per node):

{
  "class": "CharacterBody3D",
  "global_position": [2.3, 0.0, -1.7],
  "velocity": [0.0, -2.4, 0.0]
}

"full" — All tracked properties (approximately 300-500 tokens per node):

{
  "class": "CharacterBody3D",
  "global_position": [2.3, 0.0, -1.7],
  "rotation_deg": [0.0, 45.2, 0.0],
  "velocity": [0.0, -2.4, 0.0],
  "scale": [1.0, 1.0, 1.0],
  "visible": true,
  "collision_layer": 1,
  "collision_mask": 3,
  "on_floor": false,
  "on_wall": false
}

"standard" — Position, velocity, rotation, scale, and common flags (approximately 150-250 tokens per node).

focal_node

When set, the focal node is always included in the response (even if it would be cut by the budget), and nearby nodes are prioritized over distant nodes. Useful when debugging a specific character or object in a large scene.

{
  "detail": "summary",
  "focal_node": "World/Player",
  "token_budget": 1000
}

Filtering by type

{
  "detail": "full",
  "class_filter": ["CharacterBody3D", "RigidBody3D"],
  "token_budget": 3000
}

This returns only physics bodies, ignoring cameras, lights, UI nodes, etc.

Response format

{
  "frame": 412,
  "timestamp_ms": 6867,
  "node_count": 47,
  "included_nodes": 12,
  "truncated": false,
  "nodes": {
    "Player": {
      "class": "CharacterBody3D",
      "path": "World/Player",
      "global_position": [2.3, 0.0, -1.7],
      "velocity": [0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
    },
    "Enemy_0": {
      "class": "CharacterBody3D",
      "path": "World/Enemies/Enemy_0",
      "global_position": [-3.1, 0.0, 4.2],
      "velocity": [0.8, 0.0, 0.0]
    },
    "Camera3D": {
      "class": "Camera3D",
      "path": "World/Player/Camera3D",
      "global_position": [2.3, 1.8, 0.3]
    }
  }
}

Field	Description
frame	Physics frame number when data was collected
timestamp_ms	Milliseconds since game start
node_count	Total tracked nodes in the scene
included_nodes	Nodes included in this response
truncated	true if budget was reached before including all nodes
nodes	Map of node name → node data

Node data fields

Field	Description
class	Godot class name
path	Full scene tree path from root
global_position	[x, y, z] in world space
velocity	[x, y, z] units/second (for physics bodies)
rotation_deg	[x, y, z] rotation in degrees (for full detail)
scale	[x, y, z] scale (for full detail)
visible	Boolean visibility (for full detail)
collision_layer	Bitmask integer (for physics nodes, full detail)
collision_mask	Bitmask integer (for physics nodes, full detail)
on_floor	true if CharacterBody3D is on a floor surface
on_wall	true if CharacterBody3D is on a wall surface

Example conversation

The game is running. What does my scene look like right now?

Let me take a spatial snapshot to see the current state.

I can see 8 nodes in your scene. The Player (CharacterBody3D) is at [2.3, 0.0, -1.7] with zero velocity — standing still. There are 3 enemies: Enemy_0 at [-3.1, 0.0, 4.2] moving at 0.8 units/sec along X, Enemy_1 at [5.0, 0.0, 1.1] stationary, Enemy_2 at [0.0, 0.0, -8.3] stationary. The Camera3D follows the player at [2.3, 1.8, 0.3]. There are also 3 StaticBody3D platforms and a SpotLight3D.

Focus on the player and anything nearby.

Player details: on_floor=true, collision_layer=1, collision_mask=3, velocity=[0,0,0]. Enemy_0 is the closest at 5.7 units — also on layer 1. Enemy_1 is 2.9 units to the right. Both enemies are in motion toward the player.

Tips

Use focal_node in large scenes. Without it, the budget may be exhausted by nodes you do not care about (terrain, lights, UI containers). Setting focal_node: "Player" ensures the player and nearby objects are always in the response.

Combine with class_filter for targeted investigations. If you are debugging pathfinding, filter to NavigationAgent3D and CharacterBody3D. If you are debugging physics, filter to physics body types.

One snapshot per investigation start. Do not call snapshot in a loop. Call it once, orient the agent, then use spatial_delta, spatial_inspect, or spatial_query for subsequent questions.

Check truncated. If truncated: true, the budget was hit. Either increase token_budget, add a class_filter to reduce scope, or use spatial_query to search a smaller area.