GDP prepares local rollback snapshots before protected write operations. Rollback History lets you inspect those safety snapshots and explicitly restore or delete one; a successful restore consumes the selected snapshot and changes the covered working-tree state.
Understand the pre-write safety snapshot
Before protected GDP-managed patch or archive writes, GDP prepares a local rollback snapshot so the pre-write file state can be recovered. For patch-style work it can snapshot only the affected repository paths; when that targeted snapshot cannot be proven safe, GDP falls back to a full working-tree snapshot.
Snapshot preparation is designed to be non-mutating. If GDP cannot establish the required rollback protection, the protected write path should fail instead of applying blindly. Rollback snapshots live in GDP-managed Git storage rather than as ordinary working-tree files.
A rollback snapshot is a local safety artifact, not a commit and not remote backup.
The snapshot records the operation and current Git HEAD metadata for review.
Affected-path snapshots can also remember paths that did not exist before the write so newly created files can be removed during restore.
Snapshot retention is a safety mechanism, not an unlimited archival history.
Inspect Rollback History before restoring
Open Tools > Rollback History in GDP Desktop.
Select the snapshot whose creation time and originating operation match the change you want to undo.
Review the file count, snapshot size and recorded Git HEAD before choosing a destructive action.
If no snapshots exist yet, no restore action is required; snapshots appear after protected GDP write operations.
The history window is evidence about GDP safety snapshots. It is not a replacement for inspecting current Git status or diff when deciding what else changed after that snapshot was created.
Restore or delete the selected snapshot deliberately
Restore Selected is an explicit local action with confirmation. An affected-path snapshot restores only its recorded paths to their pre-write state. A full snapshot validates and extracts the archive before replacing the current working-tree contents. After a successful restore, GDP removes the restored snapshot from rollback storage.
Delete Snapshot is different: it removes the selected rollback archive and its manifest without changing the repository files. Use delete only when you intentionally no longer need that recovery point.
Read current repository evidence before restore because later work may be overwritten within the snapshot's restore scope.
Do not treat deleting a snapshot as undoing a patch.
After restore, refresh repository status and diff before claiming the desired state was recovered.
Rollback protection does not authorize commit, push, reset, clean or deployment.
Restore is intentionally local and destructive within its covered scope. Confirm the exact snapshot and current repository state before using it.
