Snap is a software packaging and deployment system developed by Canonical for Linux distributions. A snap is a self-contained package that bundles an application together with its dependencies, making it runnable across any distribution that supports the snapd daemon. Snaps run under strict confinement using a combination of AppArmor, seccomp, and cgroups, with explicit interfaces controlling access to system resources, hardware, and user data.

Updates are delivered automatically and atomically through the Snap Store (snapcraft.io), with built-in rollback support if an update fails.

Snap supports multiple release channels (stable, candidate, beta, edge) and tracks for parallel version streams, making it suitable for both end-user applications and server software.

While Snap originated as Canonical's solution for Ubuntu, it works across most major distributions including Fedora, Arch, Debian, and openSUSE. It is the foundation for several Canonical initiatives including Ubuntu Core, IoT deployments, and inference snaps for local AI model distribution.