contAInuity

Stylized contAInuity; the package and command name are kebab-case containuity (install as containuity, invoke as /containuity:checkpoint).

A Claude Code plugin that codifies a checkpoint workflow — the discipline a Claude working a long-running project runs at clean breakpoints to hold continuity across sessions and compactions.

Invoke it on demand with /containuity:checkpoint, or let Claude run it automatically at a natural breakpoint (a finished unit of work, before a compaction, the end of a thread). It performs a four-step checklist — it doesn't just print it:

1. Commit outstanding work, matching the repo's existing convention (author, message style, co-author policy — inferred from git log, not imposed). Offers rather than auto-commits unless you've authorized commits for the repo.
2. Save memories — durable decisions and the why, the things not derivable from code.
3. Refresh the living doc — the source-verified "how" doc the project keeps current. Never left stale.
4. Emit a rehydrate go-block if a compaction is near — a post-compaction "go" anchored on current state.

The two disciplines that are the actual point — people skip these, so the skill bakes them in:

• Source-verify before you etch. Before writing a claim into the living doc, check it against the real code, not memory. Mark intent as intent, never as fact. (A stale docstring once said a feature was "not wired" while the code wired it — and misled a whole debugging session. Verification is the fix.)
• No chat in the doc. Decisions enter as labeled claims, never as conversation transcript.

What's in the box

containuity/
├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json     # manifest
├── skills/checkpoint/SKILL.md      # the checklist + the two disciplines (the core)
├── hooks/
│   ├── hooks.json                  # PreCompact + SessionStart wiring
│   ├── precompact-nudge.sh         # nudges a checkpoint before auto-compaction (once/session)
│   └── session-rehydrate.sh        # after compaction/resume, reminds you to rehydrate
├── checkpoint.config.example       # per-seat config template
├── EXAMPLE.md                      # one worked run of all four steps
└── README.md

The skill is the core and works standalone. The hooks are optional polish.

Install

This is a local/marketplace-style plugin directory. Two common ways to load it:

A) As a plugin (gives /containuity:checkpoint + the hooks). Point Claude Code at the directory as a plugin source (via your plugin marketplace config or /plugin install flow), then enable containuity. After enabling, /reload-plugins picks up the hooks. Verify with /plugin (should list containuity) and by typing /containuity: — the checkpoint skill should autocomplete.

B) As a bare personal skill (gives /checkpoint, no hooks). If you'd rather have the un-namespaced command and skip the hooks, copy just the skill:

cp -r containuity/skills/checkpoint ~/.claude/skills/checkpoint

Then restart Claude Code (a brand-new top-level skills dir needs a restart to be watched) and use /checkpoint.

Plugin skills are always namespaced as /<plugin>:<skill>, so the plugin command is /containuity:checkpoint. Option B is the way to get a plain /checkpoint.

Per-seat configuration

Configure once per project ("seat"). Copy the template to your repo root and edit:

cp containuity/checkpoint.config.example .checkpoint.config

Key	Default	What it controls
LIVING_DOC	docs/DESIGN.md	Which "how" doc is yours to keep non-stale.
MEMORY_DIR	.claude/memory	Where durable memories are written (one fact/file + MEMORY.md index).
COMMIT_MODE	offer	offer waits for your OK; auto commits using the inferred convention.
COMMIT_CONVENTION	infer	infer from git log, or a freeform override note.

No config file is required — without one the skill uses these defaults and tells you so. The skill reads .checkpoint.config, falling back to .claude/checkpoint.config.

How the hooks behave

• PreCompact (auto only): just before an automatic compaction, the hook blocks it once per session and tells Claude to run /containuity:checkpoint first. A per-session sentinel guarantees it fires at most once, so a session can never get wedged unable to compact. Manual /compact is never blocked.
• SessionStart (compact|resume): after a compaction or on resume, injects a short reminder to read the Rehydrate go-block and to checkpoint at the next breakpoint.

Both hooks are plain bash and need no dependencies (no jq). If you don't want them, delete hooks/ — the skill is unaffected.

Verifying it works

# hooks emit valid JSON and the nudge fires once:
printf '{"session_id":"demo","trigger":"auto"}' | hooks/precompact-nudge.sh   # -> block JSON
printf '{"session_id":"demo","trigger":"auto"}' | hooks/precompact-nudge.sh   # -> empty (allow)
printf '{"source":"compact"}'                   | hooks/session-rehydrate.sh   # -> additionalContext JSON
rm -f "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/containuity-nudged-demo"

See EXAMPLE.md for a worked run of all four steps.

Built with AI assistance

This plugin was designed and written collaboratively with Claude (Anthropic's Claude Code), and that's reflected honestly in the history: commits carry a Co-Authored-By: Claude trailer. A human (the author above) directed the work, made the decisions, and is responsible for what ships here. The plugin format was verified against the live Claude Code docs, and the source-verification discipline at its core was validated with adversarial subagent pressure tests rather than asserted. If you build on it, that provenance carries forward — please keep it accurate.