claude-vigil

The claude-vigil MCP server provides automated checkpointing and file-recovery capabilities for Claude Code projects. It enables perfect snapshots, selective restore, and safe disk management by integrating with Claude Code workflows and offering a dedicated vigil system for saving and inspecting project state. Users can trigger saves, browse saved checkpoints, compare changes across checkpoints, and restore specific files from past states. The server is designed to work without a separate database or external indexing, using Node.js built-ins for crypto, compression, and filesystem operations. For practical use, you can add the MCP to your Claude environment using npx claude-vigil-mcp, and then interact with the provided checkpointing commands to safeguard important edits and revert problematic changes with confidence. The plugin ecosystem also exposes hooks and commands (such as /checkpoint) to automate saves in response to destructive actions, context changes, or session endings, enhancing reliability during development and refactoring.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js v20 or newer installed on your machine or environment where Claude runs
• npm (comes with Node.js) or access to an environment capable of running npx

Installation steps:

1. Add the MCP server using npx (no separate npm install required):

   npx claude-vigil-mcp

   This registers the claude-vigil-mcp MCP server in your mcp configuration.

2. If npx resolves the wrong package, force resolution with a global install:

   npm install -g claude-vigil-mcp

   Then you can run the server via the global command appropriate in your setup.

3. (Optional) If you maintain a custom mcp.json, you can declare the server as:

   { "mcpServers": { "claude-vigil-mcp": { "command": "npx", "args": ["claude-vigil-mcp"], "env": {} } } }

Prerequisites recap:

• Node.js (>= 20)
• Network access to fetch packages when using npx
• No separate databases or indexing required for claude-vigil-mcp

Tips and caveats:

• The MCP can be installed and configured entirely via npx without npm install, but you can pin to a specific version using npm install -g if you need stability.
• If you rely on external tooling or scripts to trigger checkpoints, you can leverage the /checkpoint command exposed by the plugin to save, list, diff, restore, or delete checkpoints.
• Environment variables can be added to the mcp.json under env to customize paths or options per environment; start with an empty env if unsure.
• The v igil system detects and excludes known large or derived directories; you may edit vigilignore settings to tailor exclusions for your project.
• The integration includes optional Claude skills and a marketplace plugin to automate checkpointing before destructive actions; enabling these can improve reliability but is not required for basic usage.