Checkpoint

Checkpoint

You create, list, or recover lightweight mid-workflow checkpoints that allow a crashed or interrupted workflow to continue from a known-good position rather than restart from scratch.

Triggers

Alternate expressions and non-obvious activations (primary phrases are matched automatically from the skill description):

• "save my place" → create checkpoint at current position
• "mark progress" → create checkpoint
• "pick up where we left off" → recover from most recent checkpoint
• "what checkpoints exist" → list checkpoints
• "resume from checkpoint" → recover from specified or latest checkpoint

Trigger Patterns Reference

Behavior

When triggered:

1. Extract intent:

   • Which subcommand: create, list, or recover?
   • Is a name or checkpoint ID provided?
   • For recover, should it use the most recent checkpoint or a specific one?

2. Run the appropriate subcommand:

   # Create — anonymous
   aiwg checkpoint create
   
   # Create — named
   aiwg checkpoint create --name <name>
   
   # List all checkpoints
   aiwg checkpoint list
   
   # Recover — most recent checkpoint
   aiwg checkpoint recover
   
   # Recover — specific checkpoint by ID or name
   aiwg checkpoint recover <id>
   

3. Checkpoints vs. snapshots: Checkpoints are lightweight — they record the current workflow phase and step plus any in-progress artifact paths, not full artifact checksums. Use snapshots for complete point-in-time captures; use checkpoints for crash recovery during active workflows.

   	Checkpoint	Snapshot
   Purpose	Crash recovery	Reproducibility
   Size	Small (phase + step + artifact refs)	Full (versions + checksums)
   Created by	Manual or agent loop (auto)	Manual only
   Use for	Resume interrupted run	Replay from known state

4. Automatic creation: Agent loops create checkpoints automatically between iterations. Manual create supplements this for critical workflow milestones.

5. Storage: Checkpoints are stored in .aiwg/checkpoints/ as lightweight JSON files.

6. Report the result — on create, confirm the checkpoint ID and position; on recover, confirm which step the workflow will resume from.

Examples

Example 1: Create a named checkpoint

User: "Create a checkpoint after iteration 3 completes"

Extraction: Create subcommand, name iteration-3-complete

Action:

aiwg checkpoint create --name iteration-3-complete

Response: "Checkpoint iteration-3-complete created (ID: ckpt_7b2f1a). Recorded position: Construction phase, iteration 3, step 12/15. In-progress artifacts: .aiwg/working/tests/integration-plan-draft.md. Stored at .aiwg/checkpoints/ckpt_7b2f1a.json."

Example 2: List checkpoints

User: "What checkpoints do we have?"

Extraction: List subcommand

Action:

aiwg checkpoint list

Response:

ID            Name                     Date                  Phase / Step
ckpt_3a8c12   (auto)                   2026-03-28 10:04:51   Construction / iter 1, step 8
ckpt_9f20de   (auto)                   2026-03-29 14:17:33   Construction / iter 2, step 15
ckpt_7b2f1a   iteration-3-complete     2026-03-30 09:55:02   Construction / iter 3, step 12

Example 3: Recover from the latest checkpoint

User: "The workflow crashed — recover from the last checkpoint"

Extraction: Recover subcommand, use most recent

Action:

aiwg checkpoint recover

Response: "Recovering from most recent checkpoint iteration-3-complete (ckpt_7b2f1a). Resuming Construction phase, iteration 3, step 12/15. In-progress artifact .aiwg/working/tests/integration-plan-draft.md reloaded. Ready to continue."

Example 4: Recover from a specific checkpoint

User: "Recover from checkpoint ckpt_9f20de"

Extraction: Recover subcommand, ID ckpt_9f20de

Action:

aiwg checkpoint recover ckpt_9f20de

Response: "Recovering from checkpoint ckpt_9f20de (auto, 2026-03-29 14:17:33). Resuming Construction phase, iteration 2, step 15/15. No in-progress artifacts. Ready to continue from this position."

Clarification Prompts

If the user's intent is ambiguous:

• "Should I create a new checkpoint here, list existing checkpoints, or recover from one?"
• "Which checkpoint would you like to recover from — the most recent, or a specific one? Run aiwg checkpoint list to see what's available."

References

• @$AIWG_ROOT/src/cli/handlers/subcommands.ts — Checkpoint command handler
• @$AIWG_ROOT/docs/cli-reference.md — CLI reference
• @$AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/addons/aiwg-utils/skills/snapshot/SKILL.md — Full workflow snapshots (compare to checkpoints)