# Checkpoints and rollback — community wiki

Zdroj: https://hermes-ai.cz/en/wiki/features/checkpoints/
Ověřeno proti oficiální dokumentaci: 17. 10. 2026
Oficiální stránka: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/checkpoints-and-rollback
Language: English. AI version — paste the whole text into your agent.

## Enabling (OFF by default)
hermes chat --checkpoints   (one run)
config.yaml: checkpoints.enabled: true; max_snapshots 20; max_total_size_mb 500; max_file_size_mb 10

## When a snapshot is taken
Before write_file and patch; before destructive terminal commands (rm, rmdir, cp, install, mv, sed -i,
truncate, dd, shred, output redirect >, git reset/clean/checkout).
At most one snapshot per directory per turn.

## Commands
/rollback              list snapshots with change stats
/rollback 3            restore checkpoint 3, hand-edits kept, last chat turn undone
/rollback 3 --all      full restore (overwrites hand-edits too)
/rollback diff 3       preview changes since checkpoint 3
/rollback 3 notes.md   restore a single file
hermes checkpoints status | prune | clear | clear-legacy

## Hand-edit protection
A restore without --all reverts only files the agent wrote; human-edited files are skipped and listed.

## Limits (not backups)
Container (docker…) -> no checkpoints, restore refused (CLI, chat, TUI, desktop alike).
Nested git repo -> only a gitlink stored; full restore refused.
More than 50,000 files, root / and $HOME -> skipped. No git on PATH -> disabled.
Single file over 10 MB -> skipped.

## Where they live
~/.hermes/checkpoints/store/ (one shared store, per-project branch keyed by path hash);
.last_prune = last sweep marker; legacy-* = archive of the older layout. Housekeeping runs in the
background; manually hermes checkpoints prune.

## Pitfalls from our systems
1. Checkpoints off -> nothing to return to (enable beforehand).
2. Treating snapshots as a backup -> they are not (caps, only agent-changed files).
3. --all overwrote a hand-edit -> use deliberately.
4. Restore refused in a container -> rely on git/backup outside the container.
5. Restore refused for a snapshot -> it contained a nested repo; restore files individually.
6. Store growing -> lower the caps, check hermes checkpoints status.

## Tips
/rollback diff before restoring · git for projects with history · enable where the agent writes files ·
keep a copy outside the project for important work.