undoai

Free, local undo button for AI coding

A zero-friction CLI tool that automatically creates snapshots when AI tools modify your code, allowing instant rollback when things break. Like mrq, but 100% free, open-source, and local.

🎯 Why undoai?

AI coding assistants (Cursor, Claude, Copilot) are powerful but can break working code. When AI modifies 5+ files at once and something breaks, you need an instant undo button.

undoai solves this by:

• 🔒 100% Local & Private - Your code never leaves your machine
• 📸 Auto-Snapshots - Detects AI burst changes (≥5 files) automatically
• ⚡ Instant Restore - One command to rollback all changes
• 💰 Free Forever - No accounts, no cloud, no subscriptions

🚀 Quick Start

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build the project
pnpm build

# Start watching for changes
node dist/cli/index.js watch

# (In another terminal) Trigger AI changes...
# When AI breaks something:
node dist/cli/index.js restore

📦 Installation

From Source

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd undoai
pnpm install
pnpm build

Install Globally (Optional)

pnpm link --global

# Now you can use 'undoai' anywhere
undoai watch

💻 Commands

undoai watch

Start watching for file changes in current directory.

undoai watch

What it does:

• Monitors all files in current directory
• Ignores node_modules, .git, dist, build
• Auto-creates snapshot when ≥5 files change within 2 seconds
• Runs in foreground (Press Ctrl+C to stop)

Example output:

✅ undoai is now watching
📁 Project: /home/user/my-project
💾 Storage: /home/user/.undoai
🔒 100% local - your code never leaves this machine

ℹ️  Watching for file changes... (Press Ctrl+C to stop)

  📝 [change] src/auth.ts
  📝 [change] src/db.ts
  📝 [add] src/new-feature.ts
  📝 [change] package.json
  📝 [change] README.md
📸 Snapshot saved (5 files changed)

undoai restore

Restore files from a snapshot (interactive).

undoai restore

What it does:

• Shows list of available snapshots
• Displays relative time and file count
• Confirms before restoring
• Overwrites current files with snapshot contents

Example output:

ℹ️  Available snapshots:

? Which snapshot do you want to restore? (Use arrow keys)
❯ 1. [2 mins ago]   5 files   🤖 AI
  2. [15 mins ago]  8 files   🤖 AI  
  3. [1 hour ago]   3 files   🤖 AI
  ❌ Cancel

✅ Restored 5 files
From: 2 mins ago

undoai status

Show current status and info.

undoai status

Example output:

undoai Status

🟢 Running (PID: 12345)

💾 Storage:
   Location: /home/user/.undoai
   Snapshots: 3
   Size: 24.5 KB

📝 Commands:
   undoai watch    - Start watching
   undoai restore  - Restore snapshot
   undoai stop     - Stop watching
   undoai status   - Show this status

undoai stop

Stop the watching daemon.

undoai stop

🏗️ How It Works

Architecture

undoai/
├── src/
│   ├── watcher.ts          # File watching with chokidar
│   ├── core/
│   │   ├── storage.ts      # Local file storage (~/.undoai)
│   │   ├── snapshot.ts     # Snapshot creation & restore
│   │   └── daemon.ts       # Process management
│   ├── cli/
│   │   ├── index.ts        # CLI entry point
│   │   └── commands/       # watch, restore, stop, status
│   └── utils/
│       └── logger.ts       # Pretty console output

Storage Structure

~/.undoai/
├── daemon.pid                    # PID of running watcher
└── snapshots/
    ├── 1703265420000/           # Timestamp-based ID
    │   ├── metadata.json        # Snapshot info
    │   └── files/               # Copied files
    │       ├── src__auth.ts
    │       ├── src__db.ts
    │       └── ...
    └── 1703265480000/
        └── ...

metadata.json:

{
  "timestamp": 1703265420000,
  "date": "2024-12-22T14:30:20.000Z",
  "projectRoot": "/home/user/my-project",
  "changedFiles": [
    "/home/user/my-project/src/auth.ts",
    "/home/user/my-project/src/db.ts"
  ],
  "fileCount": 5,
  "label": "AI_BURST"
}

Burst Detection

1. File watcher detects changes
2. Buffers changes in a Set (prevents duplicates)
3. Debounces for 2 seconds
4. If ≥5 files changed → create snapshot
5. Snapshot contains: metadata + file copies

🆚 undoai vs Alternatives

| Feature | Git Stash | mrq | undoai | |---------|-----------|-----|------------| | Cost | Free | $15-50/mo | ✅ Free | | Privacy | Local | Cloud (encrypted) | ✅ 100% Local | | Automatic | ❌ Manual | ✅ Auto | ✅ Auto | | Offline | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | | Setup | Complex | Account required | ✅ Zero config | | Open Source | Yes | ❌ No | ✅ MIT |

❓ FAQ

Q: How is this different from git?
A: Git requires manual commits and is polluted by intermediate snapshots. undoai is automatic and keeps snapshots separate from your git history.

Q: Does this replace git?
A: No! undoai complements git. Use git for version control, undoai for instant AI change rollback.

Q: Where are snapshots stored?
A: In ~/.undoai/snapshots/ on your local machine. Never sent to cloud.

Q: How much disk space does it use?
A: Each snapshot contains only changed files. Typical snapshot: 10-100KB. Use undoai status to check.

Q: Can I use this with Cursor/Claude/Copilot?
A: Yes! Works with any AI coding tool that modifies files.

Q: Does this work on Windows?
A: Yes! Fully compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. Storage paths adapt automatically:

• Windows: C:\Users\username\.undoai
• macOS/Linux: ~/.undoai

Q: What if I want to clean up old snapshots?
A: Currently manual: rm -rf ~/.undoai/snapshots/<snapshot-id>. Auto-cleanup coming in Phase 2.

Made with ❤️ for developers who love AI coding but hate breaking changes