Preflight Checklist
Problem Statement
When exploring a complex topic, I often ask a broad question and get a large, multi-faceted response. I then want to dive deeper into one specific detail — but after that sub-conversation, I want to return to the original context
cleanly, as if the detour never happened.
Currently there's no way to do this without either:
- /clear — loses everything, including the valuable original response
- /compact — summarizes history but doesn't surgically remove the detour
- Double-escape checkpoint — only reverts file changes, conversation history stays
Proposed Solution
A command (e.g., /undo or /rewind 1) that removes the last N message exchanges (user message + assistant response) from the active context window, freeing those tokens and restoring the conversation to its prior state.
Why this matters
Token context is a finite resource. When drilling into a sub-question produces a large but ultimately tangential exchange, there's no way to reclaim that context budget. This forces users to either abandon the session or carry
dead weight through the rest of the conversation, degrading response quality on the original topic.
Expected behavior
- /undo removes the last user+assistant message pair from context
- /undo 3 removes the last 3 pairs
- Does not affect file changes already made on disk
- Session JSONL could soft-delete entries (mark as removed) to keep an audit trail without loading them into context
Alternative Solutions
No response
Priority
High - Significant impact on productivity
Feature Category
CLI commands and flags
Use Case Example
No response
Additional Context
No response
Preflight Checklist
Problem Statement
When exploring a complex topic, I often ask a broad question and get a large, multi-faceted response. I then want to dive deeper into one specific detail — but after that sub-conversation, I want to return to the original context
cleanly, as if the detour never happened.
Currently there's no way to do this without either:
Proposed Solution
A command (e.g., /undo or /rewind 1) that removes the last N message exchanges (user message + assistant response) from the active context window, freeing those tokens and restoring the conversation to its prior state.
Why this matters
Token context is a finite resource. When drilling into a sub-question produces a large but ultimately tangential exchange, there's no way to reclaim that context budget. This forces users to either abandon the session or carry
dead weight through the rest of the conversation, degrading response quality on the original topic.
Expected behavior
Alternative Solutions
No response
Priority
High - Significant impact on productivity
Feature Category
CLI commands and flags
Use Case Example
No response
Additional Context
No response