saving

Save a full working copy of your project to fall back on.

What is it?

saving creates complete duplicate copies of your project that are immediately ready to run. Unlike git commits or branches, saved versions include everything (node_modules, build files, etc.) - so you can switch between versions instantly without reinstalling dependencies.

Use Case

You're halfway through building something and want to save a working version before trying something risky. With saving, you get a full duplicate folder that's ready to npm start immediately if things go wrong.

my-project/                    ← keep coding here
my-project-saving-jan15/       ← working copy from earlier, ready to run
my-project-saving-working-auth/ ← another checkpoint

Installation

npm install -g saving

Usage

Save your current project

cd my-project

# Create a saved version with timestamp
saving

# Create a saved version with a custom label
saving "working-auth"
saving auth-complete

The tool automatically:

• Finds your project root (looks for package.json or .git)
• Creates a duplicate in the parent directory
• Excludes common build folders (.git, node_modules by default)
• Adds timestamp to prevent overwrites

List saved versions

saving list

# Show disk space used by each version
saving list --size

Clean up old versions

# Interactive cleanup
saving clean

# Keep only 3 most recent versions
saving clean --keep 3

How it works

When you run saving from /path/to/my-project:

1. Finds project root (looks for package.json or .git)
2. Creates: /path/to/my-project-saving-<label>-<timestamp>/
3. Copies all files (excluding .git, node_modules, dist, etc.)
4. Done! Both versions exist simultaneously

Excluded by default

• node_modules
• .git
• dist
• build
• .next
• .cache
• coverage
• .DS_Store

Why not just use git?

Git is great for version control, but:

• Switching branches requires reinstalling node_modules
• You can't have two versions running side-by-side
• saving is simpler for quick checkpoints during rapid iteration

Think of it as "Save As..." for your entire project.

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | saving [label] | Create a saved version (default command) | | saving list | List all saved versions | | saving list --size | List with disk usage | | saving clean | Interactively delete old versions | | saving clean --keep N | Keep N most recent versions |

License

MIT