Checkpoints & rollback
Automatic snapshots before each turn: revert files one by one on desktop, or roll back a whole turn in the CLI.
A checkpoint is a complete snapshot of your workspace at a point in time. When the agent's changes aren't what you expected, one rollback takes you back to before the changes — no manual undo.
Enabling
On by default; it only needs git installed on your machine (without git, checkpoints switch off automatically). To turn it off, set experimental.enableCheckpoint: false in the config file.
On desktop
At the end of each turn, the timeline lists the files that turn changed. Click "Revert" next to a file to restore it to how it was before; after reverting you can "Restore" it again.
The commands below are for the CLI.
When snapshots are taken
- Automatic — at session start, and before each message is executed
- Manual —
/checkpoint create <label>, naming the moment so you can find it later
Rolling back
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/rollback | Open an interactive menu; restore points are grouped into session start / per-turn / manual |
/rollback <id> | Restore directly to a specific checkpoint |
/checkpoint | One-stop menu: enable / create / list / clean up |
Where they're stored
Snapshots live under ~/.neox/checkpoints/, separated per workspace. They never mix into your project repository or affect your own git history.
Logs are in ~/.neox/logs/cli-*.log.
Common patterns
- The agent changed a batch of files and it's wrong —
/rollbackand pick the point at the start of this turn - Trying a bold refactor — run
/checkpoint create before-refactorfirst, come back if it fails
Rollback restores files only; it doesn't remove chat history. To have the agent forget the earlier conversation, start a new session with /session new.
Limitations
- Very large files (over 10MB) are excluded from snapshots; rollback won't restore them
- Depends on system git; checkpoints silently disable when it's missing
- Directories like
node_modules/dist/buildare ignored by default