Agent skill

Nav Marker

by qf-studio in qf-studio/navigator

Create context save points to preserve conversation state before breaks, risky changes, or compaction.

MITAuto-check: notesAgent Workflows

Install Nav Marker

skills CLI
$ npx skills add qf-studio/navigator --skill nav-marker -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install qf-studio/navigator nav-marker --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/qf-studio/navigator.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/nav-marker .claude/skills/nav-marker && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
nav-marker
GitHub stars
355
Token cost
~2.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
461 words
Files
2
Skills in repo
32
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Create context save points to preserve conversation state before breaks, risky changes, or compaction.

  • Works in 4 steps: Check Navigator Structure → Determine Marker Name → Generate Marker Content [EXECUTE] → …
  • User says save my progress
  • SKILL.md covers When to Invoke, Execution Steps, Restore Instructions and Scripts, plus 5 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder

What it does

Nav Marker is an agent skill from qf-studio/navigator. Create context save points to preserve conversation state before breaks, risky changes, or compaction. Use when user says "save my progress", "create checkpoint", "mark this point", or before clearing context.

Its SKILL.md is about 2.6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files (for example `functions/marker_compressor.py`).

It sits in Agent Workflows. The repository describes itself as: Finish What You Start — Context engineering for Claude Code. Sessions last 20+ exchanges instead of crashing at 7. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • User says save my progress
  • Create checkpoint
  • Mark this point
  • Before clearing context

Example prompts

  • “save my progress”
  • “create checkpoint”
  • “mark this point”
  • “/nav-marker”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Bash

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Check Navigator Structure
  2. Determine Marker Name
  3. Generate Marker Content [EXECUTE]
  4. Confirm Creation

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 3bb9eac. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read
    • Write
    • Bash

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Ships script files (Python), which the agent can run.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Nav Marker loads about 2.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 55 tokens; SKILL.md has 461 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~55
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
    allowed-tools: Read, Write, Bash

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from qf-studio/navigator at commit 3bb9eac, republished under its MIT licence (© qf-studio). 461 words, ~2,636 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/nav-marker/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
nav-marker
description
Create context save points to preserve conversation state before breaks, risky changes, or compaction. Use when user says "save my progress", "create checkpoint", "mark this point", or before clearing context.
allowed-tools
Read, Write, Bash
version
1.0.0

Navigator Marker Skill

Create context markers - save points that preserve conversation state so you can resume work later without re-explaining everything.

When to Invoke

Invoke this skill when the user:

  • Says "save my progress", "create checkpoint", "mark this"
  • Says "before I take a break", "save before lunch"
  • Mentions "risky refactor ahead", "experiment with new approach"
  • Says "end of day", "stopping for today"
  • Before compacting context

DO NOT invoke if:

  • User is asking about existing markers (use listing, not creation)
  • Context is fresh (< 5 messages exchanged)

Execution Steps

Step 1: Check Navigator Structure

Verify .agent/.context-markers/ directory exists:

bash
mkdir -p .agent/.context-markers
Step 2: Determine Marker Name

If user provided name:

  • Use their name (sanitize: lowercase, hyphens for spaces)
  • Example: "Before Big Refactor" → "before-big-refactor"

If no name provided:

  • Auto-generate with timestamp: marker-{YYYY-MM-DD}-{HHmm}
  • Example: marker-2025-10-16-1430

Ask user for optional note:

Creating marker: [name]

Add a note? (optional - helps remember context later)
Example: "OAuth working, need to add tests"

Note:
Step 3: Generate Marker Content [EXECUTE]

IMPORTANT: You MUST actively capture ToM sections (User Intent, Corrections, Belief State).

Create marker document with this structure:

markdown
# Context Marker: [name]

**Created**: [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM]
**Note**: [user's note or "No note provided"]

---

## Conversation Summary

[Summarize last 10-15 messages:
- What user was working on
- Key decisions made
- Problems solved
- Current progress state
]

## Documentation Loaded

[List docs that were Read during session:
- Navigator: ✅ .agent/DEVELOPMENT-README.md
- Task: TASK-XX-feature.md
- System: project-architecture.md
- SOPs: [if any]
]

## Files Modified

[List files with Write/Edit calls:
- src/auth/login.ts (implemented OAuth)
- src/routes/auth.ts (added endpoints)
- tests/auth.test.ts (created tests)
]

## Current Focus

[What user is working on right now:
- Feature: Authentication with OAuth
- Phase: Integration complete, testing pending
- Blockers: [if any]
]

## Technical Decisions

[Key architectural choices:
- Using passport.js over next-auth (better control)
- JWT tokens in httpOnly cookies (XSS protection)
- Redis for session storage (scalability)
]

## Next Steps

[What to do after restore:
1. Finish writing tests for OAuth flow
2. Add error handling for failed logins
3. Document setup in README
]

## User Intent & Goals (ToM) [CAPTURE ACTIVELY]

[Theory of Mind section - captures user's mental state for better restoration]

**⚠️ CRITICAL: Analyze conversation to extract these - do not leave empty!**

**Primary goal this session**:
[What the user was ultimately trying to accomplish - not just the surface task]
- Review conversation for "I want to...", "The goal is...", "We need to..."
- Infer from task context if not explicitly stated

**Stated preferences**:
[Any preferences expressed during session:
- Communication style (concise/detailed)
- Code patterns preferred
- Confirmation behavior wanted
]
- Look for "I prefer...", "Don't do...", "Always use..."

**Corrections made**:
[Important corrections that should persist:
- "Should be /users not /user (plural convention)"
- "Prefer functional components over class"
- "Always use TypeScript strict mode"
]
- Look for "No, I meant...", "Actually...", "Not X, use Y"
- These MUST be captured to avoid repeating mistakes

## Belief State [CAPTURE ACTIVELY]

[Captures mutual understanding state for accurate restoration]

**⚠️ CRITICAL: Infer from conversation - do not leave empty!**

**What user knows**:
[User's demonstrated knowledge level:
- Familiar with Express, new to Passport
- Knows about JWT, unfamiliar with refresh tokens
- Senior developer, skip basics
]

**Assumptions I made**:
[Key assumptions during session:
- Using Redis for sessions (confirmed by user)
- Auth endpoints follow /api/auth/* pattern
- Testing with Jest + React Testing Library
]

**Uncertainty areas**:
[Questions that weren't fully resolved:
- Not sure if user wants social logins beyond Google
- Rate limiting requirements unclear
- Error message format preferences unknown
]

## Loop State (if in loop mode)

[Capture loop mode state for resumption - skip if not in loop mode]

**Iteration**: [N]/[MAX] (e.g., 3/5)
**Phase**: [INIT|RESEARCH|IMPL|VERIFY|COMPLETE]
**State Hash**: [6-char hash for continuity]
**Completion Indicators**:
- [ ] Code committed
- [ ] Tests passing
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Ticket closed
- [ ] Marker created

**EXIT_SIGNAL**: [true/false]
**Stagnation Count**: [N]/[THRESHOLD]

## Knowledge Graph State (v6.0.0+)

[Capture graph state for restoration - skip if no knowledge graph]

**Check if graph exists**:
```bash
PLUGIN_DIR="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$(cat "${NAVIGATOR_CONFIG_HOME:-${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/navigator}/plugin-root" 2>/dev/null)}"
[ -d "$PLUGIN_DIR/skills" ] || PLUGIN_DIR="$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/navigator-marketplace"
if [ -f ".agent/knowledge/graph.json" ]; then
  python3 "$PLUGIN_DIR/skills/nav-graph/functions/graph_manager.py" --action stats --graph-path .agent/knowledge/graph.json
fi

Memories surfaced this session: [List memories that were queried or created:

  • mem-001: "Auth changes break session tests" (surfaced)
  • mem-002: "Use plural REST endpoints" (created from correction) ]

Concepts active: [Concepts relevant to current work:

  • authentication
  • testing
  • api ]

Graph queries made: [Knowledge graph queries from this session:

  • "What do we know about auth?" → 3 tasks, 1 memory ]

This allows restoration to re-surface relevant memories when resuming.

Restore Instructions

To restore this marker: ```bash Read .agent/.context-markers/[filename] ```

Or use: /nav:markers and select this marker


### Step 4: Save Marker File

Write marker to file:

Write( file_path: ".agent/.context-markers/[timestamp]_[name].md", content: [generated marker content] )


Filename format: `{YYYY-MM-DD-HHmm}_{name}.md`
Example: `2025-10-16-1430_before-big-refactor.md`

### Step 4.5: Verify Marker Creation

After creating marker, verify it was written successfully:

```bash
# Verify file exists and is non-empty
if [ -f ".agent/.context-markers/[filename]" ] && [ -s ".agent/.context-markers/[filename]" ]; then
  # Calculate checksum for verification
  checksum=$(md5 -q ".agent/.context-markers/[filename]" 2>/dev/null || md5sum ".agent/.context-markers/[filename]" | cut -d' ' -f1)

  # Log to central marker log
  echo "[$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")] ✅ Marker created: [filename] (checksum: $checksum)" >> .agent/.marker-log

  echo "✅ Marker verified successfully"
else
  echo "❌ Marker creation failed - file missing or empty"
  exit 1
fi

Marker verification ensures:

  • File exists on disk
  • File has content (non-empty)
  • Checksum logged for integrity verification
  • Creation event logged to central log
Step 5: Confirm Creation

Show success message with verification details:

✅ Context marker created!

Marker: [name]
File: .agent/.context-markers/[filename]
Size: [X] KB (~[Y] tokens)
Checksum: [md5-hash]
Verified: ✅

This marker captures:
- Last [N] messages of conversation
- Files you were working on
- Technical decisions made
- Next steps to continue

To restore later:
- Start new session
- Say "load marker [name]"
- Or use /nav:markers to list all markers

Logged to: .agent/.marker-log
Show full SKILL.md (185 more words)Show less

Scripts

create_marker.py: Generates marker content from conversation analysis

  • Input: Conversation history (from Claude)
  • Output: Formatted markdown marker

Common Use Cases

Before Lunch Break
User: "Save my progress, taking lunch"
→ Creates marker: "lunch-break-2025-10-16"
→ Captures current state
→ User resumes after lunch: "Load my lunch marker"
Before Risky Refactor
User: "Mark this before I refactor routing"
→ Creates marker: "before-routing-refactor"
→ If refactor fails, restore marker
→ If refactor succeeds, delete marker
End of Day
User: "End of day checkpoint"
→ Creates marker: "eod-2025-10-16"
→ Note: "OAuth done, tests tomorrow"
→ Next morning: "Load yesterday's marker"
Before Context Compact
Automatic (via nav-compact skill):
→ Creates marker: "before-compact-2025-10-16-1500"
→ Compact clears conversation
→ Marker preserves knowledge
→ Next session: Auto-offers to restore

Marker Best Practices

Good marker names:

  • lunch-break (clear when/why)
  • before-api-refactor (indicates purpose)
  • feature-complete (marks milestone)
  • eod-friday (specific timing)

Bad marker names:

  • temp (not descriptive)
  • marker1 (meaningless)
  • test (confusing)

When to create markers:

  • ✅ Before breaks (lunch, EOD)
  • ✅ Before risky changes
  • ✅ Before context compact
  • ✅ At milestones (feature complete)
  • ❌ After every single message (noise)
  • ❌ When context is fresh (< 5 messages)

Error Handling

Marker directory missing:

Creating .agent/.context-markers/ directory...
✅ Ready to save markers

Duplicate marker name:

⚠️  Marker "[name]" already exists

Options:
1. Overwrite (replace existing)
2. Append timestamp (create "[name]-v2")
3. Choose different name

Your choice [1-3]:

Insufficient context:

⚠️  Very little context to save (< 5 messages)

Markers work best when there's significant progress to preserve.
Continue anyway? [y/N]:

Success Criteria

Marker creation is successful when:

  • Marker file created in .agent/.context-markers/
  • Filename is unique and descriptive
  • Content includes: summary, loaded docs, files modified, next steps
  • User knows how to restore marker later
  • Marker is 2-5k tokens (comprehensive but efficient)

Notes

  • Markers are git-ignored (personal session save points)
  • Team members don't see each other's markers
  • Markers can be deleted anytime with /nav:markers clean
  • Typical marker size: 2-5k tokens (97.7% compression from 130k conversation)

This skill provides same functionality as /nav:marker command but with natural language invocation.

© qf-studio, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file in skills/nav-marker of qf-studio/navigator.

  • SKILL.md
  • functions/marker_compressor.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 3bb9eac

Compare with similar skills

Nav Marker next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Nav Marker compared with similar skills
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Nav Marker this skillqf-studio/navigator355—~2.6kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
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Hook Development for Claude Code Pluginsanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k10 repos~4.1kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Using Superpowersfarm-fe/farm5.6k36 repos~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Executing Plans Inlineobra/superpowers297k2 repos~5.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Skill CreatorAzure/azqr79689 repos~8.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Categories

Questions about Nav Marker

What does Nav Marker do?

Create context save points to preserve conversation state before breaks, risky changes, or compaction. Nav Marker is an agent skill from qf-studio/navigator. Create context save points to preserve conversation state before breaks, risky changes, or compaction.

When should I use Nav Marker?

Nav Marker fits situations like: user says save my progress; create checkpoint; mark this point; before clearing context.

How do I install Nav Marker in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add qf-studio/navigator --skill nav-marker -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/nav-marker in qf-studio/navigator) into .claude/skills/nav-marker in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Nav Marker in Codex?

Run `npx skills add qf-studio/navigator --skill nav-marker -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/nav-marker in qf-studio/navigator) into .agents/skills/nav-marker in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Nav Marker in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add qf-studio/navigator --skill nav-marker -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/nav-marker, .gemini/skills/nav-marker, .github/skills/nav-marker and .opencode/skills/nav-marker in your project.

What does Nav Marker need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Nav Marker needs Python for the scripts in its folder. Our summary lists: Python 3. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Write, Bash.

Does Nav Marker access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Nav Marker safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: bash)), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Nav Marker use?

Nav Marker is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Nav Marker use?

About 2.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 11k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Nav Marker?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Nav Marker: MCP Server Builder (anthropics/skills, 180k stars), Hook Development for Claude Code Plugins (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars), Using Superpowers (farm-fe/farm, 5.6k stars) and Executing Plans Inline (obra/superpowers, 297k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Nav Marker?

qf-studio (a GitHub organization) maintains it in qf-studio/navigator, which has 355 GitHub stars. The repository holds 32 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

Source: qf-studio/navigator on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.