checkpoint

name	checkpoint
description	Save session progress by committing changes, pushing to remote, creating or updating a pull request, persisting decisions and patterns to memory layers, compiling session briefing, and archiving completed features. Use when saving work, creating a PR, preserving session state, or manually checkpointing progress.
argument-hint	[optional commit context]
allowed-tools	Bash(git *), Bash(gh *)
disable-model-invocation	true

Checkpoint - Save Session Progress

Create a checkpoint of the current session: commit, push, PR, memory persistence, and feature archival.

Arguments: $ARGUMENTS

Session ID: ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID} — session state lives in .claude-harness/sessions/${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}/.

Phase 0: Set Paths

1. Set path variables:
   • FEATURES_FILE=".claude-harness/features/active.json"
   • ARCHIVE_FILE=".claude-harness/features/archive.json"
   • MEMORY_DIR=".claude-harness/memory/"
   • PROGRESS_FILE=".claude-harness/claude-progress.json"
   • SESSION_DIR=".claude-harness/sessions/${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}/"

Phase 1: Update Progress

1. Update ${PROGRESS_FILE} with:
   • Summary of what was accomplished this session
   • Any blockers encountered
   • Recommended next steps
   • Update lastUpdated timestamp

Phase 1.6: Persist to Memory Layers (OKF bundle)

Memory layers are an OKF v0.1 bundle at ${MEMORY_DIR}: one markdown concept file per entry with YAML frontmatter (required type field), plus an index.md listing per directory. See schemas/okf-memory.md for the format.

1.6. Persist session decisions to ${MEMORY_DIR}/decisions/:

• For each key decision made during this session:
  • Write a concept file dec-{NNN}-{slug}.md (next NNN from existing files; slug = lowercased decision, non-alphanumerics as hyphens, <=48 chars):

    ---
    type: Decision
    id: dec-{NNN}
    title: "{what was decided, <=80 chars}"
    timestamp: {ISO timestamp}
    feature: {feature-id}
    ---
    
    # {full decision text}
    
    ## Rationale
    {why this decision was made}
    
    ## Alternatives
    - {other options considered}
    
    ## Impact
    {files or areas affected}
    

  • Append * [{id}: {title}](/decisions/{filename}) - {short description} to ${MEMORY_DIR}/decisions/index.md
• Rolling window: if more than 50 decision concepts exist, delete the oldest files and their index lines (FIFO)
• Report: "Recorded {N} decisions to episodic memory"

1.7. Update semantic memory with discovered patterns:

• Read ${MEMORY_DIR}/semantic/architecture.json
• Update based on work done this session:
  • Add new file paths to structure.entryPoints, structure.components, etc.
  • Update patterns.naming with discovered naming conventions
  • Update patterns.fileOrganization with discovered structures
  • Update patterns.codeStyle with observed patterns
• Set lastUpdated to current timestamp
• Write updated file

1.8. Update semantic entities (if new concepts discovered):

• Read ${MEMORY_DIR}/semantic/entities.json
• For new concepts/entities discovered:
  • Append entry with name, type, location, relationships
• Write updated file

1.9. Persist reusable patterns to ${MEMORY_DIR}/patterns/:

• Extract reusable patterns from this session:
  • Code patterns that worked well
  • Naming conventions used
  • Project-specific rules learned
• For each NEW pattern (check ${MEMORY_DIR}/patterns/index.md to avoid duplicates):
  • Write pat-{NNN}-{slug}.md with frontmatter (type: Pattern, id, title) and body # {pattern} + ## Source
  • Append a matching * [...](...) line to ${MEMORY_DIR}/patterns/index.md
• Report: "Updated procedural patterns"

Phase 1.9.5: Compile Session Briefing

1.9.5. Write persistent session briefing to .claude-harness/session-briefing.md:

• The SessionStart hook points Claude at this file on every new session
• It ensures Claude is immediately aware of project state on new sessions without manual /start
• Compile from current state -- read features, decisions, failures, rules, and status:

# Session Briefing
Last updated: {ISO timestamp}

## Active Features
- {id}: {name} [{status}]
  {one-line description}
  Acceptance: {N} scenarios | Files: {relatedFiles summary}

## Recent Decisions (last 5)
- {decision} ({feature}, {date})

## Approaches to AVOID
- {approach} -> {rootCause} ({feature})

## Learned Rules
- {title}: {description}

## Current Status
Last checkpoint: {commit message summary}
Branch: {current branch}
Next steps: {immediate actionable items}

• Keep under 120 lines (~1500 tokens) to avoid context bloat
• Source data: ${FEATURES_FILE} plus the OKF memory bundle (${MEMORY_DIR}/decisions/, ${MEMORY_DIR}/failures/, ${MEMORY_DIR}/rules/ concept files) -- or run python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/compile-briefing.py" .claude-harness --write to generate it
• This file is git-tracked and persists across sessions, /clear, and machine reboots

Phase 1.10: Auto-Reflect on User Corrections

1.10. Auto-reflect is always enabled:

• This phase always runs to capture learnings from the session
• High-confidence rules are auto-saved; lower-confidence go to review queue

1.11. Run reflection with auto mode:

• Execute the reflection logic (auto mode):
  • Scan conversation for user correction patterns
  • Filter for high-confidence corrections only
  • Skip interactive approval (auto mode)
• For corrections with confidence >= minConfidenceForAuto:
  • Auto-approve and save as a Rule concept: write ${MEMORY_DIR}/rules/rule-{NNN}-{slug}.md (frontmatter type: Rule, id, title, timestamp, active: true; body = # {title} + description) and add it to ${MEMORY_DIR}/rules/index.md
• For lower confidence corrections:
  • Add to queue for manual review (don't save)

1.12. Report auto-reflect results (if rules extracted):

AUTO-REFLECTION
High-confidence rules auto-saved: {N}
- {rule title}
- {rule title}

Lower-confidence (manual review needed): {N}
(Low-confidence rules queued for next checkpoint review)

1.13. If no corrections detected:

• Continue silently to Phase 2 (no noise if nothing found)

Phase 2: Build & Test

2. Run build/test commands appropriate for the project
   • Check for errors and fix if possible
   • Report any failures

Phase 3: Commit & Push

3. ALWAYS commit changes:
   • Stage harness state files first: git add .claude-harness/ (sessions/ and working/ are gitignored, so only persistent state is staged)
   • Stage all other modified files: git add -A (except secrets/env files)
   • Check loop state to determine commit prefix:
     • Read session-scoped loop state: .claude-harness/sessions/${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}/loop-state.json
     • If type is "fix": Use fix({linkedTo.featureId}): <description> prefix
     • If type is "feature" or undefined: Use feat({feature-id}): <description> prefix
   • Write descriptive commit message summarizing the work
   • For fixes, include: Fixes #{fix-issue-number} and Related to #{original-issue-number}
   • Push with git push -u origin {branch}

Phase 4: PR Management

4. If on a feature/fix branch (gh CLI must be authenticated -- check gh auth status on failure):

   • Get GitHub owner/repo: use the cached values from the session context (injected at SessionStart); only if absent, parse once from git remote get-url origin
   • Check loop state type to determine if this is a feature or fix
   • Check if a PR exists for this branch: gh pr list --head {branch} --json number,url
   • If no PR exists, create one:

     gh pr create --title "{title}" --body "{body}" --label "{labels}"
     

     • Title follows conventional commits:
       • For features: feat: <description>
       • For fixes: fix: <description>
       • refactor: <description> for refactoring
       • docs: <description> for documentation
     • Body should include:
       • Link to issue: "Closes #XX" or "Fixes #XX"
       • For fixes: Also reference original feature issue
       • Summary of changes (bullet points)
       • Testing instructions
       • Breaking changes (if any)
     • Labels:
       • For features: Copy from linked issue + add status:ready-for-review
       • For fixes: Add bugfix + linked-to:{feature-id} + status:ready-for-review
   • If PR exists:
     • Update PR description with latest progress: gh pr edit {number} --body "{updated body}"
     • Add comment summarizing checkpoint changes: gh pr comment {number} --body "..."
     • Update labels based on current status
   • Check PR status: gh pr view {number} --json state,mergeable,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup
   • Update tracking:
     • For features: Update ${FEATURES_FILE} features array with prNumber
     • For fixes: Update ${FEATURES_FILE} fixes array with prNumber
   • Report PR URL and status

   PR Title Convention (Conventional Commits):

   • feat: New feature (triggers MINOR version bump)
   • fix: Bug fix (triggers PATCH version bump)
   • refactor: Code refactoring
   • docs: Documentation
   • test: Tests
   • chore: Maintenance

Phase 5: Report Status

5. Report final status:
   • Build/test results
   • Commit hash and push status
   • PR URL, CI status, review status
   • Remaining work

Phase 6: Clear Loop State and Tasks (if feature/fix completed)

6. If an agentic loop just completed successfully:
   • Read session-scoped loop state: .claude-harness/sessions/${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}/loop-state.json
   • If status is "completed" and matches current feature/fix:
     • Mark all tasks complete (if tasks.enabled in loop-state):
       • Call TaskList to find the feature's tasks
       • For any tasks not yet "completed", call TaskUpdate to mark as "completed"
       • Report: "All 6 tasks completed"
     • Reset loop state to idle (see schemas/loop-state.schema.json for canonical shape):

       {
         "version": 9,
         "feature": null,
         "featureName": null,
         "type": "feature",
         "linkedTo": null,
         "status": "idle",
         "attempt": 0,
         "maxAttempts": 12,
         "startedAt": null,
         "lastAttemptAt": null,
         "verification": {},
         "history": [],
         "tasks": {
           "enabled": false,
           "chain": [],
           "current": null,
           "completed": []
         },
         "lastCheckpoint": "{commit-hash}",
         "escalationRequested": false
       }
       

     • Report: "Loop completed and reset"
   • If loop is still in progress, preserve state for session continuity
   • Optional session cleanup: If feature is archived and session is complete, the session directory can be removed (it's gitignored anyway; the SessionEnd hook also removes it on clean exit)

Phase 7: Archive Completed Features and Fixes

7. Archive completed features and fixes:

   • Read ${FEATURES_FILE}

   Archive features:

   • Find all features with status="passing" or passes=true
   • If any completed features exist:
     • Read ${ARCHIVE_FILE} (create if missing with {"version":3,"archived":[],"archivedFixes":[]})
     • Add archivedAt timestamp to each completed feature
     • Append completed features to the archived[] array
     • Remove completed features from features array
   • Report: "Archived X completed features"

   Archive fixes:

   • Find all fixes with status="passing"

   • If any completed fixes exist:

     • Add archivedAt timestamp to each completed fix
     • Append completed fixes to the archivedFixes[] array
     • Remove completed fixes from fixes array

   • Report: "Archived X completed fixes"

   • Write updated ${FEATURES_FILE} and ${ARCHIVE_FILE}

Phase 8: Persist Orchestration Memory

8. Persist orchestration memory (if orchestration was active):

   • Read .claude-harness/agents/context.json

   • Skip if no currentSession or no agentResults

   • For each entry in agentResults (write OKF concept files, list each in the directory's index.md):

     • If status is "completed":
       • Write a Success concept to ${MEMORY_DIR}/successes/ (suc-{NNN}-{slug}.md, type: Success; body # {approach} + ## Files + ## Patterns)
     • If status is "failed":
       • Write a Failure concept to ${MEMORY_DIR}/failures/ (fail-{NNN}-{slug}.md, type: Failure; body # {approach} + ## Errors + ## Root Cause + ## Prevention)

   • If sharedState.discoveredPatterns has new entries:

     • Write Pattern concepts to ${MEMORY_DIR}/patterns/ (skip ones already listed in patterns/index.md)

   • If architecturalDecisions has entries:

     • Write Decision concepts to ${MEMORY_DIR}/decisions/

   • Clear agentResults array (already persisted to memory)

   • Set currentSession to null

   • Update lastUpdated timestamp

   • If teamState is non-null (Agent Teams was active):

     • Persist each teammate's results to agentResults (if not already there)
     • Set teamState to null (team cleanup complete)
     • Report: "Cleaned up team state for {teamState.teamName}"

   • Write updated files

   • Report: "Persisted {N} agent results to procedural memory"

Phase 9: Report Completion

9. Display checkpoint summary:

   CHECKPOINT COMPLETE
   Progress saved to memory layers
   Commit: {hash}
   PR: #{number} (if applicable)
   
   Your progress is preserved in:
   - claude-progress.json (session summary)
   - memory/decisions/ (Decision concepts)
   - memory/successes/ + memory/failures/ (Success/Failure concepts)
   - memory/rules/ (learned Rule concepts)
   - session-briefing.md (pointed to at next session start)
   

   NOTE: There is no need to /clear after a checkpoint. Feature work runs in isolated subagents (fresh context per feature), and Claude Code's native compaction preserves task-relevant context automatically. Clear only if you want a full manual reset.