// File checkpoint and recovery — auto-quicksaves before destructive commands, INVOKE before implementing a plan or starting risky multi-file changes. Also use when user asks to undo changes or compare current state to a prior checkpoint.
Automatic tool discovery across 19 sources — INVOKE before planning, before adding dependencies, or when looking for tools to discover relevant skills, plugins, and MCP servers
Use after writing or editing a plan file, after exiting plan mode, or when asked "why did you choose this?" — surfaces decisions, risks, and blind spots before implementation.
Continuous learning — INVOKE after sessions with many errors or corrections to record patterns and improve rules, hooks, and skills
Session history search — INVOKE before planning, before web research, after errors, or when looking for past conversation content. Use INSTEAD of manually grepping .jsonl session files.
Cross-session memory - save insights after research, restore context at session start. Reduces re-exploration and prevents token waste.
Prompt rhetoric coach — deterministic scoring and restructuring using Anthropic best practices
| name | claude-vigil |
| description | File checkpoint and recovery — auto-quicksaves before destructive commands, INVOKE before implementing a plan or starting risky multi-file changes. Also use when user asks to undo changes or compare current state to a prior checkpoint. |
| triggers | ["PreToolUse"] |
File recovery. Saves checkpoints before dangerous operations, diffs changes, restores files safely.
| Hook | When | Action |
|---|---|---|
| PreToolUse(Bash) | Destructive command detected | Auto-quicksaves affected files (rm, mv, git reset, etc.) |
Token cost: 0 on safe commands, ~30 on destructive.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/save-vigil <name> [files] | Create a named file checkpoint |
/restore-vigil [name] | Restore files from a checkpoint |
After exiting plan mode, before writing any code:
vigil_save(name="before-<plan-name>") — snapshot the projectvigil_diff(name="before-<plan-name>") then vigil_restore(name="before-<plan-name>")Before refactors or multi-file changes:
vigil_save(name="before-refactor") — named checkpointvigil_diff first, then vigil_restoreAlways diff before restoring:
vigil_list() — see available checkpointsvigil_diff(name="checkpoint") — preview what would changevigil_restore(name="checkpoint") — restore files.claude/vigil/artifacts/Vigil has 3 named slots + 1 rotating ~quicksave:
~quicksave is ONE rotating slot — overwritten on each destructive commandvigil_list() periodically to check capacityvigil_delete(name="oldest")vigil_restore preserves displaced files in .claude/vigil/artifacts/ — ask the user before cleaning those up| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
vigil_save | Create named checkpoint (SHA-256 + gzip dedup) |
vigil_list | List available checkpoints with metadata |
vigil_diff | Preview changes since checkpoint |
vigil_restore | Restore files from checkpoint |
vigil_delete | Remove a checkpoint and free storage |
claude mcp add vigil -- npx claude-vigil-mcp