Stop "Ctrl+Z" Anxiety. A local Time Travel, Snippet Manager, and "Save State" tool for your code.
Git is great for commits, but git stash is too slow for 5-minute experiments. IntelliJ's built-in "Local History" is powerful but messy, it's auto-generated, hard to search, and gets wiped when you clear caches.
Code Checkpoints gives you a deliberate "Save Game" button for your files.
- Manual Checkpoints: Hit
Ctrl+Alt+Sto save the full file state with a note. - Silent Quick-Save: Hit
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Sto save instantly without a dialog. - Persistent: Checkpoints are stored in your
.ideafolder and survive cache invalidation.
Highlight a specific function or block of code and save it as a Snippet.
- Restore Logic: Unlike restoring a file (which overwrites everything), restoring a snippet inserts it at your cursor.
- Great for holding onto code you are about to delete but might need later.
- Time Travel Slider: Drag the slider in the sidebar to scrub through history and watch your code evolve.
- Embedded Diff: Click any checkpoint to see a side-by-side comparison with your current live code instantly.
- Clipboard Diff: Right-click a checkpoint -> "Compare with Clipboard" to check code you found online against your saved version.
- Refactor Safety Net: Automatically creates a checkpoint named
Pre-Refactorbefore you run any IntelliJ refactoring action. - Run/Debug Backup: Automatically saves before you run your app, just in case a script overwrites data.
- Rename Tracking: If you rename
User.kttoCustomer.kt, your history moves with the file.
- Global Search:
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Flets you Regex search the content of every checkpoint across the project. - Tags: Add tags like
#stable,#bug, or#experiment. - Stars: Star important versions to prevent them from auto-cleanup.
- Open IntelliJ IDEA.
- Go to Settings > Plugins > Marketplace.
- Search for "Code Checkpoints".
- Click Install.
| Action | Shortcut (Windows/Linux) | Shortcut (Mac) |
|---|---|---|
| Create Checkpoint | Ctrl + Alt + S |
Cmd + Opt + S |
| Quick Save (Silent) | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S |
Cmd + Opt + Shift + S |
| Save Snippet | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S |
Cmd + Opt + Shift + S |
| Search Checkpoints | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F |
Cmd + Opt + Shift + F |
(Note: Snippet action shares the shortcut with Quick Save but activates only when text is selected)
Go to Settings/Preferences > Code Checkpoints to configure:
- Max Checkpoints: Limit how many snapshots are kept per file (default: 20).
- Auto-Save Toggles: Enable/Disable auto-save on Refactor or Run.
- Date Format: Customize how timestamps appear.
This project is open source and available under the Apache License 2.0. You are free to use, modify, and distribute this software.