diff --git a/.changeset/snapshot-unchanged.md b/.changeset/snapshot-unchanged.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e1b213c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/snapshot-unchanged.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@cloudhal/cli": patch
+---
+
+`cloudhal snapshot --publish` makes no new snapshot when nothing changed since the live one; it says "nothing changed since <snapshot>" instead (#51).
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli/commands-local.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli/commands-local.ts
index 4d85d427..14a4ee59 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli/commands-local.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli/commands-local.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ const snapshotCommand: CliCommand = async (_rest, values, { projectDir }) => {
     ...(values.label ? { label: values.label } : {}),
     ...(values.publish ? { publish: true } : {}),
   });
+  if (snap.unchanged) {
+    console.log(`nothing changed since ${snap.id} (live); no new snapshot`);
+    return 0;
+  }
   console.log(
     `${snap.id}  nodes=${snap.nodes.length}  +${snap.summary.added} ~${snap.summary.changed} -${snap.summary.removed}${values.publish ? "  (published)" : ""}`,
   );
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
index 4a3ec245..366c58e5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import path from "node:path";
 import type { Snapshot } from "@cloudhal/core-contracts";
-import { openLocalStore } from "@cloudhal/core-ts/local";
+import { type LocalStore, openLocalStore } from "@cloudhal/core-ts/local";
 import { readProjectConfig } from "../config.ts";
 
 export interface SnapshotOptions {
@@ -9,11 +9,22 @@ export interface SnapshotOptions {
   readonly publish?: boolean;
 }
 
-/** Creates a snapshot of the live site (and optionally publishes it). */
-export async function snapshot(options: SnapshotOptions): Promise<Snapshot> {
+/** A snapshot, or (`unchanged`) the live one when publishing would change nothing. */
+export type SnapshotResult = Snapshot & { readonly unchanged?: true };
+
+/**
+ * Creates a snapshot of the live site (and optionally publishes it). Publishing a site whose
+ * graph matches its live snapshot makes no new one (#51): re-running a setup script does not pad
+ * the history with empty snapshots.
+ */
+export async function snapshot(options: SnapshotOptions): Promise<SnapshotResult> {
   const cfg = await readProjectConfig(options.projectDir);
   const local = await openLocalStore(path.join(options.projectDir, cfg.dataDir));
   try {
+    if (options.publish) {
+      const live = await unchangedLive(local.store, cfg.siteId);
+      if (live) return { ...live, unchanged: true };
+    }
     const snap = await local.store.createSnapshot(cfg.siteId, {
       actor: { kind: "human", id: "user_localcli0001", name: "cloudhal CLI" },
       reason: options.publish ? "publish" : "manual",
@@ -30,6 +41,18 @@ export async function snapshot(options: SnapshotOptions): Promise<Snapshot> {
   }
 }
 
+/** The live snapshot when the site has one and nothing is pending against it. */
+async function unchangedLive(
+  store: LocalStore["store"],
+  siteId: string,
+): Promise<Snapshot | undefined> {
+  const site = await store.getSite(siteId);
+  if (!site?.publishedSnapshotId) return undefined;
+  const d = await store.pendingChanges(siteId);
+  if (d.added.length || d.removed.length || d.changed.length) return undefined;
+  return (await store.getSnapshot(site.publishedSnapshotId)) ?? undefined;
+}
+
 /** The snapshot `cloudhal build` renders: the published one, else the latest, else a fresh one. */
 export async function resolveBuildSnapshot(projectDir: string): Promise<Snapshot> {
   const cfg = await readProjectConfig(projectDir);
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/e2e.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/e2e.test.ts
index 7a9e9de2..73e145b0 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/e2e.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/e2e.test.ts
@@ -218,6 +218,9 @@ describe("cloudhal init → dev → snapshot → build", () => {
     }
     const snap = await snapshot({ projectDir, label: "v1", publish: true });
     expect(snap.summary.added).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    // #51: publishing again with nothing changed makes no new snapshot
+    const again = await snapshot({ projectDir, publish: true });
+    expect(again).toMatchObject({ id: snap.id, unchanged: true });
 
     const cfg = await readProjectConfig(projectDir);
     const local = await openLocalStore(path.join(projectDir, cfg.dataDir));