| name | exploit-running-log-checkpoints |
| description | Use when working on exploit development or vulnerability research and maintaining RUNNING_LOG.md plus milestone checkpoints. Applies before and after code edits, experiments, reliability work, debugging, reproductions, and any session where findings or issues should persist for later agents. |
Running Log And Checkpoints
Use this skill to keep exploit work recoverable and understandable across long debugging and research sessions.
Terms
RUNNING_LOG.md: the append-only project work log.checkpoints/: the milestone snapshot directory.
Start Of Work
- Check the current directory and
git status --short.
- Read the tail of
RUNNING_LOG.md to understand the latest state.
- Before risky edits or long experiments, create a checkpoint:
- Directory name:
checkpoints/YYYY-MM-DD_short_descriptive_milestone/
- Examples:
checkpoints/2026-05-07_before_cleanup_change/, checkpoints/2026-05-07_minimal_repro_success/
- Copy the relevant current artifacts into the checkpoint:
- Always include
RUNNING_LOG.md when it exists.
- Include source files, wrappers, configs, binaries, and scripts that may be changed or are needed to reproduce the run.
- For executed experiments, include the launcher or wrapper, captured logs, traces, result files, and exact binary or artifact used when available.
Updating RUNNING_LOG.md
Append entries; do not rewrite history unless correcting a clear typo or explicitly asked.
Each material entry should include:
- Goal or hypothesis.
- Checkpoint directory.
- Files or binaries used, especially if running an older checkpoint binary.
- Exact command or enough command detail to reproduce important runs.
- Relevant runtime parameters, resource limits, environment, privileges, and setup assumptions.
- Important environment variables and tuning knobs.
- Result counts such as attempts, successes, rejected candidates, crashes, hangs, panics, or timeouts.
- Key trace or log evidence, including addresses only when useful for comparing patterns.
- Failure mode and current interpretation.
- Next steps or open questions.
Keep entries concise but durable. Future agents should be able to answer "what changed, what was tested, what happened, and where are the artifacts?"
During Experiments
- Update the log after each significant run, not only at the end of the session.
- If a run is interrupted or crashes, record that explicitly.
- If a long-running command is active, do not final-answer until it exits or is intentionally stopped.
- If you change a wrapper only for an experiment, store that wrapper inside the checkpoint run folder.
- Preserve user changes. Do not revert or delete checkpoints unless the user explicitly asks.
Staging
- Do not stage checkpoint directories by default.
- If asked to stage exploit-relevant work, stage source, wrappers, binaries, configs, generated artifacts, and
RUNNING_LOG.md as requested, while leaving checkpoints unstaged unless explicitly included.
Final Response
Before finalizing, verify:
RUNNING_LOG.md has the latest result.- Any required checkpoint exists and contains the relevant artifacts.
- No required long-running command or debug session is still running.
- The final answer reports the important outcome, artifact paths, and any unrun or failed verification.
