checkpoint

/checkpoint

What

A quick mid-session save that banks the known-good state in two moves:

1. Descriptive git commit — stage relevant changes and commit with a message that summarizes the work.
2. Brief handoff note — write .claude/handoff.md so a resumed session (or you, after a botched refactor) knows exactly where things stand.

Checkpoint is the mid-session save; /wrap-up is the end-of-session ritual. Checkpoint commits and jots a note, then keeps working. Wrap-up does the full handoff plus learning extraction into MEMORY.md.

When

• Before a risky refactor or destructive change — checkpoint the known-good state
• When switching to a different task or feature mid-session
• After completing a logical unit of work — bank it
• User says "checkpoint", "save progress", "save state", "pause here"
• If the session is actually ending, use /wrap-up for the full ritual

How

1. Assess state — git status and git diff to see staged and unstaged changes.
2. Stage changes — Stage specific files; never git add -A. Exclude generated files, build artifacts, and secrets (.env, credentials).
3. Commit — Descriptive message following the repo's commit style (conventional prefixes: feat:, fix:, refactor:). New commit, never amend. If there is nothing to commit, skip to the handoff.
4. Write handoff note — .claude/handoff.md, same format as /wrap-up but abbreviated: Completed, Pending (with specific next steps), Learned (only if something non-obvious surfaced), and Context (branch + commit hash). One file, always overwritten.
5. Confirm — Report the commit hash and the handoff summary, then resume work.

Safety Rules

• Never push, force-push, or touch remote branches
• Never commit secrets
• Never amend — a checkpoint is a new commit you can return to
• No changes to commit? Update the handoff only

Example

User: /checkpoint — about to try the EF Core split-query refactor

Claude: 3 files modified, 1 new.

  Commit a1b2c3d: "feat: add CreateOrder validation with FluentValidation"
  - src/Orders/Features/CreateOrder.cs
  - src/Orders/Features/CreateOrderValidator.cs (new)
  - tests/Orders.Tests/Features/CreateOrderTests.cs

  Handoff updated (.claude/handoff.md):
  ## Completed
  - [x] CreateOrder validation + 3 test scenarios
  ## Pending
  - [ ] Split-query refactor in GetOrderDetails (about to attempt)
  ## Context
  - Branch: feature/order-validation | Checkpoint: a1b2c3d

  Checkpoint saved — safe to proceed with the risky refactor.

Related

• /wrap-up — End-of-session ritual: full handoff format definition plus learning extraction into MEMORY.md
• /build-fix — Get the build green before checkpointing