diff --git a/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/actor.rs b/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/actor.rs
index 8ce2c3cb43..89b1dab4bc 100644
--- a/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/actor.rs
+++ b/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/actor.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use data_types::{NamespaceName, NamespaceSchema};
-use merkle_search_tree::{digest::RootHash, MerkleSearchTree};
+use merkle_search_tree::{diff::PageRangeSnapshot, digest::RootHash, MerkleSearchTree};
 use observability_deps::tracing::{debug, info, trace};
 use tokio::sync::{mpsc, oneshot};
 
@@ -10,11 +10,17 @@ use crate::namespace_cache::{CacheMissErr, NamespaceCache};
 
 use super::handle::AntiEntropyHandle;
 
+/// An alias for a [`PageRangeSnapshot`] for [`NamespaceName`] keys.
+pub(crate) type MerkleSnapshot = PageRangeSnapshot<NamespaceName<'static>>;
+
 /// Requests sent from an [`AntiEntropyHandle`] to an [`AntiEntropyActor`].
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub(super) enum Op {
     /// Request the content / merkle tree root hash.
     ContentHash(oneshot::Sender<RootHash>),
+
+    /// Request a [`MerkleSnapshot`] of the current MST state.
+    Snapshot(oneshot::Sender<MerkleSnapshot>),
 }
 
 /// A [`NamespaceCache`] anti-entropy state tracking primitive.
@@ -137,15 +143,31 @@ where
     fn handle_op(&mut self, op: Op) {
         match op {
             Op::ContentHash(tx) => {
-                let root_hash = self.mst.root_hash().clone();
-
-                debug!(%root_hash, "generated content hash");
-
                 // The caller may have stopped listening, so ignore any errors.
-                let _ = tx.send(root_hash);
+                let _ = tx.send(self.generate_root().clone());
+            }
+            Op::Snapshot(tx) => {
+                // The root hash must be generated before serialising the page
+                // ranges.
+                self.generate_root();
+
+                let snap = PageRangeSnapshot::from(
+                    self.mst
+                        .serialise_page_ranges()
+                        .expect("root hash generated"),
+                );
+
+                let _ = tx.send(snap);
             }
         }
     }
+
+    /// Generate the MST root hash and log it for debugging purposes.
+    fn generate_root(&mut self) -> &RootHash {
+        let root_hash = self.mst.root_hash();
+        debug!(%root_hash, "generated content hash");
+        root_hash
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/handle.rs b/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/handle.rs
index 50bca1ef8e..010afccf13 100644
--- a/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/handle.rs
+++ b/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/handle.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use merkle_search_tree::digest::RootHash;
 use observability_deps::tracing::error;
 use tokio::sync::{mpsc, oneshot};
 
-use super::actor::Op;
+use super::actor::{MerkleSnapshot, Op};
 
 /// A handle to an [`AntiEntropyActor`].
 ///
@@ -111,4 +111,20 @@ impl AntiEntropyHandle {
 
         rx.await.expect("anti-entropy actor has stopped")
     }
+
+    /// Obtain a [`MerkleSnapshot`] for the current Merkle Search Tree state.
+    ///
+    /// A [`MerkleSnapshot`] is a compact serialised representation of the MST
+    /// state.
+    #[allow(dead_code)]
+    pub(crate) async fn snapshot(&self) -> MerkleSnapshot {
+        let (tx, rx) = oneshot::channel();
+
+        self.op_tx
+            .send(Op::Snapshot(tx))
+            .await
+            .expect("anti-entropy actor has stopped");
+
+        rx.await.expect("anti-entropy actor has stopped")
+    }
 }
diff --git a/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/mod.rs b/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/mod.rs
index 5a89ddbc1b..53f513a8b5 100644
--- a/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/mod.rs
+++ b/router/src/gossip/anti_entropy/mst/mod.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ mod tests {
 
     proptest! {
         /// Assert that two distinct namespace cache instances return identical
-        /// content hashes after applying a given set of cache updates.
+        /// content hashes and snapshots after applying a given set of cache
+        /// updates.
         #[test]
         fn prop_content_hash_diverge_converge(
             // A variable number of cache entry updates for 2 namespace IDs
@@ -132,6 +133,8 @@ mod tests {
 
                 // Invariant: two empty namespace caches have the same content hash.
                 assert_eq!(handle_a.content_hash().await, handle_b.content_hash().await);
+                // Invariant: and the same serialised snapshot content
+                assert_eq!(handle_a.snapshot().await, handle_b.snapshot().await);
 
                 for update in updates {
                     // Generate a unique, deterministic name for this namespace.
@@ -144,6 +147,8 @@ mod tests {
                     // Invariant: after applying the same update, the content hashes
                     // MUST match (even if this update was a no-op / not an update)
                     assert_eq!(handle_a.content_hash().await, handle_b.content_hash().await);
+                    // Invariant: and the same serialised snapshot content
+                    assert_eq!(handle_a.snapshot().await, handle_b.snapshot().await);
                 }
 
                 // At this point all updates have been applied to both caches.
@@ -156,11 +161,15 @@ mod tests {
                 // Invariant: last_update definitely added new cache content,
                 // therefore the cache content hashes MUST diverge.
                 assert_ne!(handle_a.content_hash().await, handle_b.content_hash().await);
+                // Invariant: the serialised snapshot content must have diverged
+                assert_ne!(handle_a.snapshot().await, handle_b.snapshot().await);
 
                 // Invariant: applying the update to the other cache converges their
                 // content hashes.
                 ns_b.put_schema(name, last_update);
                 assert_eq!(handle_a.content_hash().await, handle_b.content_hash().await);
+                // Invariant: and the serialised snapshot content converges
+                assert_eq!(handle_a.snapshot().await, handle_b.snapshot().await);
             });
         }
     }