# Checkpoints

Find, fork, and resume checkpoints for the selected run without leaving Run Detail.

> **Note:** The standalone Checkpoints tab has been merged into Run Detail. Checkpoint rows, fork actions, and lineage all appear there, and older `/dashboard/checkpoints` links still resolve to Run Detail.

![Run Detail Overview tab showing stored checkpoint artifacts with Download, Resume Code, and Fork actions](/docs/assets/images/product/dashboard-checkpoints.png)

The Run Detail Overview tab lists stored checkpoint artifacts alongside the run's model context.

## Find checkpoints in Run Detail

- The **Overview** tab shows stored checkpoint artifacts with Download, Resume Code, and Fork actions, plus model context for the selected run.
- The **Lineage** tab shows parent, selected run, checkpoint, and direct child context.

## Fork a checkpoint

![Fork checkpoint modal with source run, checkpoint, step, child name, retry reason, and config inheritance fields](/docs/assets/images/product/dashboard-checkpoint-fork.png)

Fork creates a linked child run record from a source run and checkpoint. It does not start training, copy metrics, or copy artifacts. The linked child run is ready for the SDK to attach to and continue logging.

The fork modal records:

- Source run.
- Checkpoint artifact.
- Checkpoint step.
- Child run name.
- Optional retry reason.
- Whether the child run should inherit source config.

The dashboard also tags the child run as a forked checkpoint retry and stores the retry reason in metadata. The API and SDK can accept additional fork fields such as tags, notes, metadata, and config overrides, but the current dashboard modal exposes only name, reason, and config inheritance.

After creation, the dashboard selects the forked child run and opens its Run Detail Lineage tab.

![Run lineage graph showing a forked child run, its parent, and the source checkpoint artifact](/docs/assets/images/product/dashboard-lineage-graph.png)

The lineage panel reads a direct graph limited to immediate relationships. For a fresh fork it shows the selected child, its parent run, the checkpoint artifact that produced it, and an empty direct-children region until runs fork from the child in turn.

## Log checkpoint bytes

```python
import instantml as im

policy = im.CheckpointPolicy(every_steps=1000)

if policy.should_save(step):
    run.log_checkpoint_file(
        "checkpoints/policy.pt",
        step=step,
        metadata={"framework": "pytorch"},
    )
```

Metadata-only checkpoints are also supported:

```python
run.log_checkpoint(
    name="policy-step-1000",
    uri="s3://team-bucket/checkpoints/policy.pt",
    step=1000,
)
```

Stored bytes can be downloaded through the artifact download route. External URI checkpoints remain provenance records.

## Continue from a fork

The dashboard's Resume Code button copies a restore snippet to the clipboard. For automation, use the Python API helper to create a fork and then attach logging to the child run:

```python
import instantml as im

api = im.Api()
child = api.fork_run(
    "source-run-id",
    checkpoint_artifact_id="artifact-id",
    step=1000,
    name="retry-from-step-1000",
    tags=["retry", "checkpoint"],
)

run = im.attach_run(child["id"])
run.log({"train/loss": 0.1}, step=1001)
run.finish()
```

`Api.fork_run(...)` sends a stable idempotency key by default, so retrying the same request does not create duplicate child runs.

## Next steps

- [Artifacts and checkpoints in the SDK](/docs/sdk/artifacts-checkpoints.md)
- [Run Detail](/docs/dashboard/run-detail.md)
- [Artifacts, files, and media](/docs/dashboard/artifacts-files.md)
- [Querying data](/docs/sdk/querying-data.md)

## Agent navigation

- [Docs index](/llms.txt)
- [Full docs bundle](/llms-full.txt)

### Get Started

- [Overview](/docs/index.md)
- [Quickstart](/docs/quickstart.md)
- [Core Concepts](/docs/concepts/core-concepts.md)
- [Pricing](/docs/pricing.md)
- [Benchmarks](/docs/benchmarks.md)
- [Examples](/docs/guides/examples.md)
- [Troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting.md)

### SDK

- [Installation Auth](/docs/sdk/installation-auth.md)
- [Logging](/docs/sdk/logging.md)
- [Tracing](/docs/sdk/tracing.md)
- [Metrics Steps](/docs/sdk/metrics-steps.md)
- [Config Tags Notes](/docs/sdk/config-tags-notes.md)
- [Artifacts Checkpoints](/docs/sdk/artifacts-checkpoints.md)
- [Rich Objects](/docs/sdk/rich-objects.md)
- [Distributed Training](/docs/sdk/distributed-training.md)
- [Console System Integrations](/docs/sdk/console-system-integrations.md)
- [Reliability](/docs/sdk/reliability.md)
- [Cli Login](/docs/sdk/cli-login.md)
- [Querying Data](/docs/sdk/querying-data.md)
- [Agent Mcp](/docs/sdk/agent-mcp.md)
- [Examples Patterns](/docs/sdk/examples-patterns.md)

### Integrations

- [Overview](/docs/integrations/overview.md)
- [Pytorch Lightning](/docs/integrations/pytorch-lightning.md)
- [Huggingface Transformers](/docs/integrations/huggingface-transformers.md)
- [Keras](/docs/integrations/keras.md)
- [Wandb](/docs/integrations/wandb.md)

### Dashboard

- [Tour](/docs/dashboard/tour.md)
- [Organizations Workspaces](/docs/dashboard/organizations-workspaces.md)
- [Runs Workspace](/docs/dashboard/runs-workspace.md)
- [Metrics Charts](/docs/dashboard/metrics-charts.md)
- [Run Detail](/docs/dashboard/run-detail.md)
- [Traces](/docs/dashboard/traces.md)
- [Compare Runs](/docs/dashboard/compare-runs.md)
- [Research Dashboards](/docs/dashboard/research-dashboards.md)
- [Artifacts Files](/docs/dashboard/artifacts-files.md)
- [Run Health](/docs/dashboard/alerts.md)
- [Datasets](/docs/dashboard/datasets.md)
- [Checkpoints](/docs/dashboard/checkpoints.md) (current page)
- [Reports](/docs/dashboard/reports.md)
- [Settings Api Keys](/docs/dashboard/settings-api-keys.md)
- [Api Tab](/docs/dashboard/api-tab.md)
- [Onboarding Team Billing](/docs/dashboard/onboarding-team-billing.md)

### Data

- [Imports](/docs/guides/imports.md)
- [W&B alternative](/docs/guides/wandb-alternative.md)
- [InstantML vs MLflow](/docs/guides/instantml-vs-mlflow.md)
- [W&B import guide](/docs/guides/wandb-import-guide.md)
- [W&B and Neptune imports](/docs/guides/wandb-neptune-imports.md)
- [Export Usage Limits](/docs/guides/export-usage-limits.md)
- [Pricing Limits Billing](/docs/guides/pricing-limits-billing.md)
- [Auth Billing Storage](/docs/guides/auth-billing-storage.md)
- [Customer Owned Clickhouse](/docs/guides/customer-owned-clickhouse.md)
- [Observability](/docs/guides/observability.md)

### API

**Practical API guides**

- [Authentication](/docs/api/authentication.md)
- [Errors And Limits](/docs/api/errors-and-limits.md)
- [Health Observability](/docs/api/health-observability.md)
- [Projects Runs](/docs/api/projects-runs.md)
- [Metrics Series](/docs/api/metrics-series.md)
- [Attributes Objects](/docs/api/attributes-objects.md)
- [Artifacts](/docs/api/artifacts.md)
- [Reports](/docs/api/reports.md)
- [Iframe Embeds](/docs/api/iframe-embeds.md)
- [Import Export Usage](/docs/api/import-export-usage.md)
- [Dashboard Control State](/docs/api/dashboard-control-state.md)
**Architecture**

- [System Overview](/docs/architecture/system-overview.md)
- [Service Planes](/docs/architecture/service-planes.md)
- [Storage Model](/docs/architecture/storage-model.md)
- [Google Clickhouse](/docs/architecture/google-clickhouse.md)
- [Auth Tenancy](/docs/architecture/auth-tenancy.md)
- [Schema Reference](/docs/architecture/schema-reference.md)

### API Reference

- [API Reference](/docs/api-reference.md)