Version History & Timelines

Available

CutReady includes a full version history system backed by Git. Every save creates a snapshot that you can browse, compare, and restore — and you can branch your work into multiple timelines to experiment freely.

Snapshots

A snapshot is a saved version of your entire project — all sketches, storyboards, and notes. Think of it as a checkpoint you can always return to.

Saving a Snapshot

Press Ctrl+S to open the snapshot naming prompt
Press Ctrl+Shift+S to open the same prompt from the command palette shortcut
Click the Save button in the Snapshots panel header

The prompt starts with an auto-generated name, but you can edit it before saving. Each save records the exact state of every project document and asset.

Navigating History

The Snapshots panel shows a linear graph of your saved versions:

Filled dots represent saved snapshots
The topmost node is your current position (HEAD)
Click any node to preview that version’s files
The dirty indicator shows when you have unsaved changes — click it to see which files changed and how many lines were added or removed

Restoring a Version

Click any snapshot in the graph, then:

Restore — Replace your current project state with that version
Fork — Create a new timeline branching from that point

Squashing Local Snapshots

Use Squash recent snapshots when you have several local checkpoint saves that should become one cleaner snapshot before sharing.

Click the squash button in the Snapshots panel header.
Select a contiguous range ending at the current HEAD snapshot.
Enter the replacement snapshot name.
Confirm the squash.

Squashing rewrites only the selected local snapshots and leaves unsaved workspace changes untouched. Do this before publishing or syncing those snapshots to a remote.

Timelines (Branching)

Timelines let you explore different directions without losing your original work. When you fork from a past snapshot, CutReady creates a new timeline.

Multiple timelines — The timeline selector dropdown showing Main and Experiment timelines

Creating a Timeline

Navigate to any past snapshot in the graph
Make a change and save — CutReady asks if you want to create a new timeline
Give it a name (e.g., “Experiment”, “Client feedback version”)
Your new timeline branches from that point

Switching Timelines

The timeline selector in the Snapshots panel header shows your active timeline. Click it to see all available timelines and switch between them.

Timeline selector dropdown — Switch between timelines, merge, promote, or delete from the dropdown

Each timeline in the dropdown shows:

Timeline name and snapshot count
Merge — Combine this timeline into the active one
Promote — Make this timeline the new Main
✕ — Delete the timeline

Promoting a Timeline

If you’ve been working on a fork and want to make it your primary direction, use Promote. This swaps the branch pointers so your fork becomes Main and the old Main becomes a named timeline.

The History Graph

For a bird’s-eye view of all timelines and how they relate, open the History Graph — a full DAG (directed acyclic graph) visualization.

History graph visualization — The History Graph shows all timelines, fork points, and merge commits

Click History in the Snapshots panel header to open it as a dedicated tab. The graph shows:

Colored lanes for each timeline
Fork points where timelines diverge
Merge commits where timelines were combined
Branch labels at each timeline’s tip
Ancestry indicators showing where a timeline originated

See History Graph for details.

Technical Details

Snapshots are git commits in the workspace’s .git/ repository
Each snapshot captures the project tree, including sketches, storyboards, notes, screenshots, and visuals
The graph is computed from the commit DAG using gix (gitoxide, pure-Rust git)
No external git installation required — everything is built into the app
Editor state, open tabs, chat session selection, and sidebar order are stored separately under .git/cutready/ so they do not create document snapshots