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Checkpointing and Rewind ⚠ verify

Claude Code Configuration & Workflows

Definition

Claude Code automatically captures the state of your code before each edit so you can roll conversation and/or files back to an earlier point via the /rewind menu — a lightweight "local undo," not a replacement for version control.

Key points

  • Automatic tracking: every user prompt creates a new checkpoint; checkpoints persist across sessions (available in resumed conversations); auto-cleaned with sessions after 30 days (configurable).
  • Open the rewind menu: run /rewind, or press Esc twice when the prompt input is empty. If the input contains text, double Esc clears it instead (cleared text saved to input history — press Up to recall). /rewind aliases: /checkpoint, /undo.
  • Rewind actions per selected point: Restore code and conversation, Restore conversation (keep current code), Restore code (keep conversation), Summarize from here, Summarize up to here, Never mind.
  • (⚠ verify — v2.1.191) After /clear, the menu shows a top entry /resume <session-id> (previous session) to rewind past a cleared conversation.

Why it matters for the exam

  • D3 (20% of scored content) tests knowing that checkpointing is prompt-level, persists across sessions, and — critically — its scope limitation (see gotchas), which is the correct answer when a scenario asks whether a bash-driven file change can be undone via rewind.

Common gotchas

  • Checkpointing does NOT track files modified by bash commands (rm, mv, cp, etc.) — those cannot be undone via rewind; only direct edits through Claude's file-editing tools are tracked.
  • External/concurrent-session changes are not tracked. It is a "local undo," not Git-style permanent history — not a replacement for version control.

See also

Sources

Referenced by