Checkpoints — OpenComputer Docs (v1)

Creating a Checkpoint

Capture the current state of a running sandbox:

bash

123oc checkpoint create sb-abc123 --name before-migration
# or using the shortcut:
oc cp create sb-abc123 --name before-migration

The checkpoint saves the filesystem and installed state. Status starts as processing and transitions to ready.

bash

123oc cp list sb-abc123
# ID          NAME               STATUS  SIZE     CREATED
# cp-7f3a1b2c before-migration   ready   128 MB   2025-01-15T10:30:00Z

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Forking from a Checkpoint

Create new sandboxes from a saved checkpoint. Each fork is independent:

bash

1234567# Spawn two independent sandboxes from the same checkpoint
ID1=$(oc cp spawn cp-7f3a1b2c --json | jq -r '.sandboxID')
ID2=$(oc cp spawn cp-7f3a1b2c --json | jq -r '.sandboxID')

# Run different experiments
oc exec $ID1 --wait -- ./experiment-a.sh
oc exec $ID2 --wait -- ./experiment-b.sh

Forked sandboxes start with a fresh boot from the saved disk state — don't assume running processes carry over.

Restoring

Revert a sandbox in-place to a checkpoint. All changes since the checkpoint are lost:

bash

1oc cp restore sb-abc123 cp-7f3a1b2c

Listing and Deleting

bash

12oc cp list sb-abc123
oc cp delete sb-abc123 cp-7f3a1b2c

Each sandbox can have up to 10 full checkpoints and up to 100 disk-only checkpoints.

To create a new checkpoint at the limit, opt into automatic deletion of the oldest eligible checkpoint of the same type:

bash

12345oc cp create sb-abc123 \
  --name autosave \
  --kind disk_only \
  --retention-policy delete_oldest \
  --retention-max-count 100

Retention skips public checkpoints, patched checkpoints, and checkpoints that are still referenced by forked sandboxes.

Checkpoint vs Hibernate

	Checkpoint	Hibernate
Original sandbox	Keeps running	Stopped
Can fork	Yes — unlimited new sandboxes	No
Use case	Branching, parallel testing	Pause and resume, cost savings

Use checkpoints when you need to explore multiple paths from the same state. Use hibernation when you just want to pause and resume later.

SDK usage: Checkpoints. Full flags: CLI Reference.