Checkpoints & versions

A checkpoint is a snapshot of your whole project you can always come back to. Flywrite handles all the version-control machinery for you — you never type a git command. (For the curious: under the hood, a checkpoint is a simple git commit — but you never have to think about that.)

Create a checkpoint

Click Checkpoint in the top bar, or press ⌘⇧C (like every shortcut, customizable in Settings). Flywrite saves all your files and records the snapshot. Checkpoint whenever you hit a good stopping point — they're instant, and you can't have too many.

Automatic safety checkpoints

The moment an agent starts working, Flywrite automatically checkpoints first — so anything the AI changes can be undone. (You can toggle this in Settings → Writing, but we recommend leaving it on.) Flywrite can also ping Notification Center when it takes that checkpoint; turn that off in Settings → Notifications if you'd rather it stay quiet.

Browse and restore

Open the Versions panel (⌘⇧V, below the file tree) to see every checkpoint, newest first. Expand one to:

• Restore project to this point — roll the whole project back. Flywrite makes a safety checkpoint of the current state first, so even a restore is undoable.
• Restore a single file — bring back just one file's earlier version.

If your project is connected to a GitHub repo, checkpoint names are links — click one to view that commit on github.com in your browser.

Turn checkpoints off

Checkpoints need a git repository, so Flywrite creates one in any project folder that doesn't already have it. If you'd rather it left your folders alone, turn off Turn on checkpoints for new projects in Settings → Writing. Those projects get no version history, and the Checkpoint button and Versions panel step aside.

Any single project can go its own way from Project Settings — the Checkpoints (version history) setting overrides the app-wide one in either direction. Projects that already contain a git repository keep their checkpoints regardless, and connecting a project to GitHub turns them on for you.

To stop tracking a project that already has version history, use Disable checkpoints in the same place. It removes version tracking from the folder, so every checkpoint for that project is deleted for good — Flywrite asks you to confirm first, and your documents themselves are left exactly as they are. If the project is connected to GitHub, syncing stops working too.

Checkpoints and backup

Checkpoints live on your computer and work fully offline. To back them up — and sync your project between computers — connect it to GitHub. See Backup & sync with GitHub.