Checkpoint (/rewind)
beginnerDefinition
A restore point Claude Code saves before each edit Claude makes, so you can run /rewind (or press Esc twice) to go back to an earlier moment. It only tracks Claude's own file edits, so it doesn't replace Git.
In the wild
Claude's change to your recipe site's home page breaks the layout, so you run /rewind, pick the moment before that change, and the page is back the way it was.
More from Claude Code
--plugin-dir
A Claude Code launch option that loads a plugin straight from a folder on your computer for one session, so you can try it while you're still building it.
@-mention (File Reference)
Typing @ followed by a file's name in a Claude Code prompt to point Claude at that exact file, so it doesn't have to search for it.
Agentic Loop
The repeating cycle Claude Code works in: look around the project, take one step such as editing a file or running a command, check what happened, and decide the next step until the task is done.
CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT
A placeholder, written `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}`, that Claude Code swaps for the folder a plugin is installed in, so the plugin's file paths work on everyone's computer. That folder changes with each update, so anything the plugin needs to keep goes in `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}` instead.
CLAUDE.md
A notes file in your project that Claude Code reads at the start of every session, holding the rules and commands you'd otherwise repeat in every prompt (/init writes a starter version).
Compaction (/compact)
Shrinking a long Claude Code conversation into a short summary so the session can keep going when it nearly fills Claude's context window; it happens automatically, or you can run /compact yourself.