diff --git a/src/barabadb/core/raft.nim b/src/barabadb/core/raft.nim
index 2e144ed..3c8ebe8 100644
--- a/src/barabadb/core/raft.nim
+++ b/src/barabadb/core/raft.nim
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ type
     rmkRequestVoteReply
     rmkAppendEntries
     rmkAppendEntriesReply
+    rmkInstallSnapshot
+    rmkInstallSnapshotReply
 
   RaftMessage* = object
     kind*: RaftMessageKind
@@ -99,6 +101,12 @@ type
     # Reply
     success*: bool
     matchIdx*: uint64
+    # InstallSnapshot (prevLogIndex/prevLogTerm reuse: snapshot base index/term;
+    # reply uses success/matchIdx as usual)
+    snapId*: uint64      # snapshot generation, matches leader's base at build time
+    snapOffset*: uint64  # byte offset of this chunk within the archive
+    snapData*: seq[byte] # chunk payload (<= snapChunkBytes)
+    snapDone*: bool      # last chunk
 
   RaftCluster* = ref object
     nodes*: Table[string, RaftNode]
@@ -694,6 +702,14 @@ proc serialize*(msg: RaftMessage): seq[byte] =
   stream.write(msg.leaderCommit)
   stream.write(char(if msg.success: 1 else: 0))
   stream.write(msg.matchIdx)
+  # InstallSnapshot trailing fields (appended for wire backward compatibility;
+  # pre-v1.3 peers stop reading at matchIdx and ignore these bytes)
+  stream.write(msg.snapId)
+  stream.write(msg.snapOffset)
+  stream.write(uint32(msg.snapData.len))
+  if msg.snapData.len > 0:
+    stream.writeData(addr msg.snapData[0], msg.snapData.len)
+  stream.write(char(if msg.snapDone: 1 else: 0))
   let strData = stream.data
   result = newSeq[byte](strData.len)
   for i in 0 ..< strData.len:
@@ -722,6 +738,19 @@ proc deserializeRaftMessage*(data: seq[byte]): RaftMessage =
   result.leaderCommit = stream.readUint64()
   result.success = stream.readChar() != '\0'
   result.matchIdx = stream.readUint64()
+  # Optional trailing InstallSnapshot fields (absent in pre-v1.3 buffers)
+  if not stream.atEnd:
+    result.snapId = stream.readUint64()
+  if not stream.atEnd:
+    result.snapOffset = stream.readUint64()
+  if not stream.atEnd:
+    let dataLen = int(stream.readUint32())
+    result.snapData = newSeq[byte](dataLen)
+    if dataLen > 0:
+      if stream.readData(addr result.snapData[0], dataLen) != dataLen:
+        raise newException(IOError, "Incomplete snapshot data read from stream")
+  if not stream.atEnd:
+    result.snapDone = stream.readChar() != '\0'
   stream.close()
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -810,6 +839,10 @@ proc processMessage*(net: RaftNetwork, msg: RaftMessage) {.async.} =
     await net.send(msg.senderId, reply)
   of rmkAppendEntriesReply:
     net.node.handleAppendReply(msg.senderId, msg)
+  of rmkInstallSnapshot, rmkInstallSnapshotReply:
+    # Wire protocol only (v1.3); snapshot transfer behavior lands in a
+    # follow-up task. Ignore until then.
+    discard
 
 proc recvExact*(client: AsyncSocket, size: int): Future[string] {.async.} =
   ## Reads exactly `size` bytes from `client`. A short return means the peer
diff --git a/tests/test_all.nim b/tests/test_all.nim
index 9df363d..39e9053 100644
--- a/tests/test_all.nim
+++ b/tests/test_all.nim
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import std/asyncnet
 import std/monotimes
 import std/base64
 import std/json
+import std/streams
 
 import barabadb/core/types
 import barabadb/core/mvcc
@@ -2607,6 +2608,101 @@ suite "Raft Network Transport":
       check replyMsg.kind == rmkRequestVoteReply
       check replyMsg.success
 
+suite "Raft InstallSnapshot Protocol":
+  test "InstallSnapshot fields survive serialize/deserialize round-trip":
+    let msg = RaftMessage(
+      kind: rmkInstallSnapshot,
+      term: 9,
+      senderId: "leader-1",
+      prevLogIndex: 42,   # snapshot base index
+      prevLogTerm: 7,     # snapshot base term
+      snapId: 3,
+      snapOffset: 4096,
+      snapData: @[byte 1, 2, 3, 250, 0, 17],
+      snapDone: true)
+    let decoded = deserializeRaftMessage(serialize(msg))
+    check decoded.kind == rmkInstallSnapshot
+    check decoded.term == 9
+    check decoded.senderId == "leader-1"
+    check decoded.prevLogIndex == 42
+    check decoded.prevLogTerm == 7
+    check decoded.snapId == 3
+    check decoded.snapOffset == 4096
+    check decoded.snapData == @[byte 1, 2, 3, 250, 0, 17]
+    check decoded.snapDone
+
+  test "InstallSnapshotReply fields survive serialize/deserialize round-trip":
+    let msg = RaftMessage(
+      kind: rmkInstallSnapshotReply,
+      term: 9,
+      senderId: "follower-2",
+      success: true,
+      matchIdx: 42,
+      snapId: 3,
+      snapOffset: 8192,
+      snapData: @[],
+      snapDone: false)
+    let decoded = deserializeRaftMessage(serialize(msg))
+    check decoded.kind == rmkInstallSnapshotReply
+    check decoded.term == 9
+    check decoded.senderId == "follower-2"
+    check decoded.success
+    check decoded.matchIdx == 42
+    check decoded.snapId == 3
+    check decoded.snapOffset == 8192
+    check decoded.snapData.len == 0
+    check not decoded.snapDone
+
+  test "old wire layout (no snapshot fields) deserializes with zero defaults":
+    # Manually serialize a message in the pre-InstallSnapshot layout:
+    # magic, version, kind, term, senderId, lastLogIndex, lastLogTerm,
+    # prevLogIndex, prevLogTerm, entries, leaderCommit, success, matchIdx.
+    let s = newStringStream()
+    s.write("RAFT")
+    s.write(1'u32)  # RaftProtoVersion
+    s.write(uint32(ord(rmkAppendEntries)))
+    s.write(5'u64)  # term
+    let sender = "old-leader"
+    s.write(uint32(sender.len))
+    s.writeData(sender[0].unsafeAddr, sender.len)
+    s.write(11'u64)  # lastLogIndex
+    s.write(4'u64)   # lastLogTerm
+    s.write(10'u64)  # prevLogIndex
+    s.write(4'u64)   # prevLogTerm
+    s.write(0'u32)   # entries count
+    s.write(10'u64)  # leaderCommit
+    s.write(char(1)) # success
+    s.write(10'u64)  # matchIdx
+    let strData = s.data
+    var buf = newSeq[byte](strData.len)
+    for i in 0 ..< strData.len:
+      buf[i] = byte(strData[i])
+    s.close()
+
+    let decoded = deserializeRaftMessage(buf)
+    check decoded.kind == rmkAppendEntries
+    check decoded.term == 5
+    check decoded.senderId == "old-leader"
+    check decoded.matchIdx == 10
+    check decoded.snapId == 0
+    check decoded.snapOffset == 0
+    check decoded.snapData.len == 0
+    check not decoded.snapDone
+
+  test "old message kinds still round-trip unchanged":
+    let msg = RaftMessage(kind: rmkRequestVote, term: 2, senderId: "cand",
+                          lastLogIndex: 5, lastLogTerm: 1)
+    let decoded = deserializeRaftMessage(serialize(msg))
+    check decoded.kind == rmkRequestVote
+    check decoded.term == 2
+    check decoded.senderId == "cand"
+    check decoded.lastLogIndex == 5
+    check decoded.lastLogTerm == 1
+    check decoded.snapId == 0
+    check decoded.snapOffset == 0
+    check decoded.snapData.len == 0
+    check not decoded.snapDone
+
 suite "Raft TLS Transport":
   test "2-node election over TLS":
     let certDir = getTempDir() / "baradb_test_raft_tls"