diff --git a/src/SIL.Harmony.Tests/DataModelTestBase.cs b/src/SIL.Harmony.Tests/DataModelTestBase.cs
index ea4b305..279ea8f 100644
--- a/src/SIL.Harmony.Tests/DataModelTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/SIL.Harmony.Tests/DataModelTestBase.cs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public void SetCurrentDate(DateTime dateTime)
 
     public async ValueTask<Commit> WriteNextChange(IChange change, bool add = true)
     {
-        return await WriteChange(_localClientId, NextDate(), change, add);
+        return await WriteChange(clientId: _localClientId, NextDate(), change, add);
     }
 
     public async ValueTask<Commit> WriteNextChange(IEnumerable<IChange> changes, bool add = true)
diff --git a/src/SIL.Harmony/Changes/ChangeContext.cs b/src/SIL.Harmony/Changes/ChangeContext.cs
index 97ab601..a93e75b 100644
--- a/src/SIL.Harmony/Changes/ChangeContext.cs
+++ b/src/SIL.Harmony/Changes/ChangeContext.cs
@@ -7,19 +7,15 @@ internal class ChangeContext : IChangeContext
     private readonly SnapshotWorker _worker;
     private readonly CrdtConfig _crdtConfig;
 
-    internal ChangeContext(Commit commit, int commitIndex, IDictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot> intermediateSnapshots, SnapshotWorker worker, CrdtConfig crdtConfig)
+    internal ChangeContext(Commit commit, SnapshotWorker worker, CrdtConfig crdtConfig)
     {
         _worker = worker;
         _crdtConfig = crdtConfig;
         Commit = commit;
-        CommitIndex = commitIndex;
-        IntermediateSnapshots = intermediateSnapshots;
     }
 
     CommitBase IChangeContext.Commit => Commit;
     public Commit Commit { get; }
-    public int CommitIndex { get; }
-    public IDictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot> IntermediateSnapshots { get; }
     public async ValueTask<IObjectSnapshot?> GetSnapshot(Guid entityId) => await _worker.GetSnapshot(entityId);
     public IAsyncEnumerable<object> GetObjectsReferencing(Guid entityId, bool includeDeleted = false)
     {
diff --git a/src/SIL.Harmony/Db/DbSetExtensions.cs b/src/SIL.Harmony/Db/DbSetExtensions.cs
index 9bb0066..abc6086 100644
--- a/src/SIL.Harmony/Db/DbSetExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/SIL.Harmony/Db/DbSetExtensions.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,14 @@ public static IQueryable<ObjectSnapshot> DefaultOrderDescending(this IQueryable<
             .ThenByDescending(c => c.Commit.Id);
     }
 
+    public static IEnumerable<ObjectSnapshot> DefaultOrder(this IEnumerable<ObjectSnapshot> queryable)
+    {
+        return queryable
+            .OrderBy(c => c.Commit.HybridDateTime.DateTime)
+            .ThenBy(c => c.Commit.HybridDateTime.Counter)
+            .ThenBy(c => c.Commit.Id);
+    }
+
     public static IEnumerable<ObjectSnapshot> DefaultOrderDescending(this IEnumerable<ObjectSnapshot> queryable)
     {
         return queryable
diff --git a/src/SIL.Harmony/SnapshotWorker.cs b/src/SIL.Harmony/SnapshotWorker.cs
index 612346f..ccc859b 100644
--- a/src/SIL.Harmony/SnapshotWorker.cs
+++ b/src/SIL.Harmony/SnapshotWorker.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,43 @@
 
 namespace SIL.Harmony;
 
+internal class PendingSnapshots
+{
+    private readonly Dictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot> _entitySnapshots = [];
+    private readonly List<ObjectSnapshot> _snapshots = [];
+
+
+    internal PendingSnapshots(Dictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot> entitySnapshots)
+    {
+        _entitySnapshots = entitySnapshots;
+        _snapshots = [.. entitySnapshots.Values.DefaultOrder()];
+    }
+
+    public void AddCurrentSnapshot(ObjectSnapshot snapshot)
+    {
+        // we only support one snapshot per entity per commit
+        _snapshots.RemoveAll(s => s.EntityId == snapshot.EntityId && s.CommitId == snapshot.CommitId);
+        _snapshots.Add(snapshot);
+        _entitySnapshots[snapshot.EntityId] = snapshot;
+    }
+
+    public ObjectSnapshot? GetSnapshot(Guid entityId)
+    {
+        return _entitySnapshots.GetValueOrDefault(entityId);
+    }
+
+
+    public IEnumerable<ObjectSnapshot> GetSnapshots()
+    {
+        return _snapshots;
+    }
+
+    public IEnumerable<ObjectSnapshot> GetLatestSnapshots()
+    {
+        return _entitySnapshots.Values;
+    }
+}
+
 /// <summary>
 /// helper service to update snapshots and apply commits to them, has mutable state, don't reuse
 /// </summary>
@@ -13,16 +50,14 @@ internal class SnapshotWorker
     private readonly Dictionary<Guid, Guid?> _snapshotLookup;
     private readonly CrdtRepository _crdtRepository;
     private readonly CrdtConfig _crdtConfig;
-    private readonly Dictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot> _pendingSnapshots  = [];
-    private readonly Dictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot> _rootSnapshots = [];
-    private readonly List<ObjectSnapshot> _newIntermediateSnapshots = [];
+    private readonly PendingSnapshots _pendingSnapshots = new([]);
 
     private SnapshotWorker(Dictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot> snapshots,
         Dictionary<Guid, Guid?> snapshotLookup,
         CrdtRepository crdtRepository,
         CrdtConfig crdtConfig)
     {
-        _pendingSnapshots = snapshots;
+        _pendingSnapshots = new PendingSnapshots(snapshots);
         _crdtRepository = crdtRepository;
         _snapshotLookup = snapshotLookup;
         _crdtConfig = crdtConfig;
@@ -45,7 +80,7 @@ internal static async Task<Dictionary<Guid, ObjectSnapshot>> ApplyCommitsToSnaps
     /// <param name="crdtConfig"></param>
     internal SnapshotWorker(Dictionary<Guid, Guid?> snapshotLookup,
         CrdtRepository crdtRepository,
-        CrdtConfig crdtConfig): this([], snapshotLookup, crdtRepository, crdtConfig)
+        CrdtConfig crdtConfig) : this([], snapshotLookup, crdtRepository, crdtConfig)
     {
     }
 
@@ -53,13 +88,30 @@ public async Task UpdateSnapshots(Commit oldestAddedCommit, Commit[] newCommits)
     {
         var previousCommit = await _crdtRepository.FindPreviousCommit(oldestAddedCommit);
         var commits = await _crdtRepository.GetCommitsAfter(previousCommit);
-        await ApplyCommitChanges(commits.UnionBy(newCommits, c => c.Id), true, previousCommit?.Hash ?? CommitBase.NullParentHash);
+        var allCommits = commits.UnionBy(newCommits, c => c.Id).DefaultOrder().ToArray();
+        await ApplyCommitChanges(allCommits, true, previousCommit?.Hash ?? CommitBase.NullParentHash);
+
+        var seenEntities = new HashSet<Guid>();
+        var snapshots = _pendingSnapshots.GetSnapshots()
+        .Reverse() // ensure we see the latest snapshots first
+        .Where(s =>
+        {
+            if (!seenEntities.Contains(s.EntityId))
+            {
+                seenEntities.Add(s.EntityId);
+                return true;
+            }
+
+            if (s.IsRoot) return true;
 
-        await _crdtRepository.AddSnapshots([
-            .._rootSnapshots.Values,
-            .._newIntermediateSnapshots,
-            .._pendingSnapshots.Values
-        ]);
+            var commitIndex = Array.IndexOf(allCommits, s.Commit) + 1;
+            return commitIndex % 2 == 0;
+        })
+        // reverse back to original order, so snapshot data is more intuitive
+        // (the repository sorts them as well, but only by commit. This reverse seems to keep snapshots within a single commit in the order they were made)
+        .Reverse();
+
+        await _crdtRepository.AddSnapshots(snapshots);
     }
 
     private async ValueTask ApplyCommitChanges(IEnumerable<Commit> commits, bool updateCommitHash, string? previousCommitHash)
@@ -80,7 +132,7 @@ private async ValueTask ApplyCommitChanges(IEnumerable<Commit> commits, bool upd
             {
                 IObjectBase entity;
                 var prevSnapshot = await GetSnapshot(commitChange.EntityId);
-                var changeContext = new ChangeContext(commit, commitIndex, intermediateSnapshots, this, _crdtConfig);
+                var changeContext = new ChangeContext(commit, this, _crdtConfig);
                 bool wasDeleted;
                 if (prevSnapshot is not null)
                 {
@@ -100,11 +152,9 @@ private async ValueTask ApplyCommitChanges(IEnumerable<Commit> commits, bool upd
                 {
                     await MarkDeleted(entity.Id, changeContext);
                 }
-                
+
                 await GenerateSnapshotForEntity(entity, prevSnapshot, changeContext);
             }
-            _newIntermediateSnapshots.AddRange(intermediateSnapshots.Values);
-            intermediateSnapshots.Clear();
         }
     }
 
@@ -141,15 +191,8 @@ private async ValueTask MarkDeleted(Guid deletedEntityId, ChangeContext context)
 
     public async ValueTask<ObjectSnapshot?> GetSnapshot(Guid entityId)
     {
-        if (_pendingSnapshots.TryGetValue(entityId, out var snapshot))
-        {
-            return snapshot;
-        }
-
-        if (_rootSnapshots.TryGetValue(entityId, out var rootSnapshot))
-        {
-            return rootSnapshot;
-        }
+        var snapshot = _pendingSnapshots.GetSnapshot(entityId);
+        if (snapshot is not null) return snapshot;
 
         if (_snapshotLookup.TryGetValue(entityId, out var snapshotId))
         {
@@ -173,24 +216,17 @@ internal async IAsyncEnumerable<ObjectSnapshot> GetSnapshotsWhere(Expression<Fun
         var predicate = predicateExpression.Compile();
 
         // foreaches ordered by most to least up-to-date, so we don't return snapshots that are out of date
-        foreach (var snapshot in _pendingSnapshots.Values
+        foreach (var snapshot in _pendingSnapshots.GetLatestSnapshots()
             .Where(predicate))
         {
             yield return snapshot;
         }
 
-        foreach (var snapshot in _rootSnapshots.Values
-            .Where(predicate)
-            .Where(s => !_pendingSnapshots.ContainsKey(s.EntityId)))
-        {
-            yield return snapshot;
-        }
-
         await foreach (var snapshot in _crdtRepository.CurrentSnapshots()
             .Where(predicateExpression)
             .AsAsyncEnumerable())
         {
-            if (_pendingSnapshots.ContainsKey(snapshot.EntityId) || _rootSnapshots.ContainsKey(snapshot.EntityId))
+            if (_pendingSnapshots.GetSnapshot(snapshot.EntityId) is not null)
                 continue;
             yield return snapshot;
         }
@@ -210,48 +246,9 @@ private async Task GenerateSnapshotForEntity(IObjectBase entity, ObjectSnapshot?
         //when both snapshots are for the same commit we don't want to keep the previous, therefore the new snapshot should be root
         var isRoot = prevSnapshot is null || (prevSnapshot.IsRoot && prevSnapshot.CommitId == context.Commit.Id);
         var newSnapshot = new ObjectSnapshot(entity, context.Commit, isRoot);
-        //if both snapshots are for the same commit then we don't want to keep the previous snapshot
-        if (prevSnapshot is null || prevSnapshot.CommitId == context.Commit.Id)
-        {
-            //do nothing, will cause prevSnapshot to be overriden in _pendingSnapshots if it exists
-        }
-        else if (context.CommitIndex % 2 == 0 && !prevSnapshot.IsRoot && IsNew(prevSnapshot))
-        {
-            context.IntermediateSnapshots[prevSnapshot.Entity.Id] = prevSnapshot;
-        }
 
         await _crdtConfig.BeforeSaveObject.Invoke(entity.DbObject, newSnapshot);
 
-        AddSnapshot(newSnapshot);
-    }
-
-    private void AddSnapshot(ObjectSnapshot snapshot)
-    {
-        if (snapshot.IsRoot)
-        {
-            _rootSnapshots[snapshot.Entity.Id] = snapshot;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            //if there was already a pending snapshot there's no need to store it as both may point to the same commit
-            _pendingSnapshots[snapshot.Entity.Id] = snapshot;
-        }
-    }
-
-    /// <summary>
-    /// snapshot is not from the database
-    /// </summary>
-    private bool IsNew(ObjectSnapshot snapshot)
-    {
-        var entityId = snapshot.EntityId;
-        if (_pendingSnapshots.TryGetValue(entityId, out var pendingSnapshot))
-        {
-            return pendingSnapshot.Id == snapshot.Id;
-        }
-        if (_rootSnapshots.TryGetValue(entityId, out var rootSnapshot))
-        {
-            return rootSnapshot.Id == snapshot.Id;
-        }
-        return false;
+        _pendingSnapshots.AddCurrentSnapshot(newSnapshot);
     }
 }