# Gobag: Semantic session archival for Claude Code > Source: > Published: 2026-09-21 17:09:57+00:00 **Checkpoint a Claude Code workspace and pick it up somewhere else.** gobag saves the useful parts of a Claude Code session: what you were doing, why you made certain decisions, the files that matter, and the exact commits you were working from. It puts them in a single encrypted `.gobag` file. On restore, gobag rebuilds the workspace from Git and writes an `ORIENTATION.md` explaining what changed in the meantime, including movement in the pinned branches and their base branches. The new session gets both sides of the handoff: the previous session's notes and the current state of the repositories. Repositories are stored as remote URLs and pinned commits, not copied into the archive. This keeps bags small, but it also means uncommitted and unpushed work does not travel. gobag warns about both before packing. Add the plugin in Claude Code: ``` /plugin marketplace add satmihir/gobag /plugin install gobag@gobag ``` The plugin installs a pinned, checksum-verified `gobag` binary the first time it needs one. In the session you want to preserve, run: ``` /checkpoint ``` The session reviews the work it actually used, writes a handoff, and asks gobag to verify and pack it. Archives are encrypted by default, so you will be prompted for a passphrase. Move the resulting `.gobag` file however you normally move files. In a fresh Claude Code session, run: ``` /restore /path/to/work.gobag ``` Restore is safe to retry. Existing files are not overwritten; when a carried file conflicts, the archived copy is written alongside it with a `.from-gobag` suffix. Dirty or diverged repositories are left alone and called out in `ORIENTATION.md`. For longer work, you can keep a plain-text record in the workspace instead of writing a handoff only when you leave: ``` gobag stage init # keep .gobag/stage/HANDOFF.md up to date gobag stage status gobag seal -label "before the auth rewrite" ``` The plugin hooks refresh repository facts at session boundaries. If Claude's context is compacted after the handoff was last edited, the plugin nudges the session to read and revise it. Nothing runs in the background, and the hooks do nothing in workspaces without a stage. The stage is unencrypted because it stays inside the workspace. `gobag seal` is the boundary for anything you intend to move elsewhere. The binary also works on its own: ``` curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/satmihir/gobag/main/scripts/install.sh | sh gobag pack /path/to/workspace -o work.gobag gobag inspect work.gobag gobag install work.gobag --root /path/to/restore gobag verify work.gobag ``` Walk mode finds Git repositories plus conventional `HANDOFF.md`, `context.md`, and project-local Claude skills. A `/checkpoint` is usually better because the session can identify context outside the current directory and explain the reasoning that a filesystem walk cannot see. Repositories larger than 1 GB are treated as external by default. gobag does not clone them during restore; it attaches a detached worktree to a clone that already exists on the target machine: ``` gobag link repos/monorepo /path/to/existing/clone ``` That location is remembered for later restores on the same machine. The existing clone's checked-out branch is never moved. - Claude Code only; gobag does not try to preserve or revive a live process. - Committed Git refs travel. Uncommitted changes do not. - Transcripts are optional and are not used to restore context. - Archives use age passphrase encryption unless `--plaintext` is explicit. - Agent-written plans are verified, and carried files are scanned for likely secrets before packing. - There is no daemon, account, server, or sync service. The archive is yours to store and move. The implementation and its tradeoffs are described in [DESIGN.md](https://github.com/satmihir/gobag/blob/main/DESIGN.md). Contributor constraints live in [CLAUDE.md](https://github.com/satmihir/gobag/blob/main/CLAUDE.md). Apache 2.0. See [LICENSE](https://github.com/satmihir/gobag/blob/main/LICENSE).