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Machine Checkpoint and Branch

Snapshot, schedule, restore, pause and branch smolvm machines, with cleanup scripts

Source Download skill
Repository
smol-machines/smolvm
Stars
6,901
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
13 files

What it does

It teaches an AI agent how to save the full running state of a smolvm virtual machine (disk and memory) as checkpoints, keep a bounded history of them on a timer, restore any saved version into a new machine, pause and resume machines, and fan a prepared machine out into child machines. The agent runs bundled shell scripts for these steps and checks the results before reporting success.

Great for

  • Developers running long-lived or agent-driven smolvm machines who need rollback or periodic snapshots
  • Teams that want to fan one prepared machine out into several identical workers
  • People who need a restore to bring back running processes and RAM, not just files

Skip it if

  • Moving an environment to another host as a file; the skill says that is a different packet (pack) and not covered here
  • Simple persistence across a stop and start, which the skill says belongs to a separate dev-env packet
  • Unattended production schedules without review: the scripts warn that checkpoints hold sensitive memory and disk contents, and the cleanup script can kill VM processes with --reap

Try asking

  • “Take a checkpoint of my smolvm worker every 10 minutes and keep only the last 2”
  • “Restore my smolvm machine from yesterday's checkpoint into a new machine called smolskill-old”
  • “Pause my running machine, then resume it without losing its processes”
  • “Branch my prepared machine into 4 workers, each starting from the same checkpointed state”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Machine Checkpoint and BranchInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 13 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    branch-and-checkpoint.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip branch-and-checkpoint.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip branch-and-checkpoint.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Run scripts/preflight.sh first and stop if store_space_ok=no, since a full disk can publish nothing and leave machines hard to delete
  • Set bounds on both --keep and --history, because kept checkpoints still retain earlier generations and the store grows otherwise
  • Run cleanup.sh without --reap first; restarting a machine without --branchable loses anything in RAM or /tmp, so confirm with the user before doing it

What's inside

  • disk-chain-compaction-qa.md
  • README.md
  • references/platforms.md
  • references/scheduling.md
  • references/traps.md
  • scripts/branch-point.sh
  • scripts/checkpoint.sh
  • scripts/cleanup.sh
  • scripts/create-source.sh
  • scripts/preflight.sh
  • scripts/restore.sh
  • scripts/schedule.sh
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from smol-machines/smolvm under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-11-02. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.