## Summary
- Promotes the private K-channel batched ancestor-walk to a stable
public `get_delta_channel_history` / `aget_delta_channel_history` API on
`BaseCheckpointSaver` (returns `Mapping[str, DeltaChannelHistory]`, a
TypedDict with `writes` always present and `seed` `NotRequired`)
- Removes `DELTA_SENTINEL` / `_DeltaSentinel` entirely — the saver layer
is now delta-agnostic on both write and read paths
- Reworks `DeltaChannel` snapshot cadence from "every Nth superstep" to
"every N updates to this channel," persisted in
`CheckpointMetadata.delta_updates_since_snapshot`
- Adds Postgres optimizations: paged stage-1 with cursor (1024-row
pages) and per-channel UNION ALL stage-2 (no over-fetch when channels
have different chain depths)
- Default `snapshot_frequency` becomes a positive int (default `1000`);
the previous `None` opt-out is removed
## Public API
```python
class DeltaChannelHistory(TypedDict):
writes: list[PendingWrite] # always present, possibly empty
seed: NotRequired[Any] # absent if walk reached root
def get_delta_channel_history(
self, *, config: RunnableConfig, channels: Sequence[str]
) -> Mapping[str, DeltaChannelHistory]: ...
async def aget_delta_channel_history(
self, *, config: RunnableConfig, channels: Sequence[str]
) -> Mapping[str, DeltaChannelHistory]: ...
```
`config` and `channels` are keyword-only so later additions (e.g.
`page_size`) don't shift the positional API.
The TypedDict-with-`NotRequired[seed]` shape matches the existing
checkpoint-package convention (`CheckpointMetadata` is
`TypedDict(total=False)`) — absence-via-key-omission rather than
introducing a new sentinel. Pregel translates `"seed" not in hist` to
`MISSING` on its side at consume time.
The default impl walks `get_tuple` + `parent_config` correctly but is
slow on long chains; savers that care override (`InMemorySaver`,
`PostgresSaver`).
## Sentinel removal
`DELTA_SENTINEL` and `_DeltaSentinel` are deleted entirely. The saver
layer becomes delta-agnostic:
- `DeltaChannel.checkpoint()` returns `MISSING` for non-snapshot steps;
pregel's `create_checkpoint` skips MISSING so delta channels without a
snapshot simply don't appear in `channel_values`
- `InMemorySaver.put` and Postgres `put` no longer filter sentinels
(they have nothing to filter)
- `_needs_replay` becomes `stored is MISSING`
- `DeltaChannel.from_checkpoint` accepts: `MISSING` → empty,
`_DeltaSnapshot(value)` → snapshot value, plain value → pre-migration
legacy
## Snapshot cadence
`DeltaChannel.snapshot_frequency: int` (default `1000`, positive). The
previous `None` opt-out is gone.
```python
def should_snapshot(ch_name, ch):
if force_delta_snapshot: # durability="exit"
return True
return updates_since_snapshot.get(ch_name, 0) >= ch.snapshot_frequency
```
Per-channel update counters are persisted in
`CheckpointMetadata.delta_updates_since_snapshot` (`NotRequired`,
`total=False`). The counter is incremented by `_put_checkpoint` for any
delta channel in `updated_channels` and reset to `0` by
`create_checkpoint` for channels that fire a snapshot this step.
Version-format-independent — works for `int`, `float`, and `str`
versioning schemes alike.
## Postgres optimization
Two improvements internal to the override:
**Stage-1 paged with cursor** (`LIMIT 1024` internal const, `AND
checkpoint_id < ?` for subsequent pages). The previous unpaged form
scanned every checkpoint in `(thread_id, ns)` and was pathological at
high thread depths.
**Stage-2 per-channel UNION ALL**: one `WHERE channel='X' AND
checkpoint_id = ANY(chain_X)` branch per channel plus one seed-blob
branch per channel with a seed. The previous form filtered by `channel =
ANY(channels) AND checkpoint_id = ANY(union_chain_cids)`, over-fetching
writes when channels had different chain depths (`K ×
max(chain_lengths)` vs the correct `sum(chain_lengths)`).
Both improvements stay internal to `PostgresSaver`/`AsyncPostgresSaver`;
the public contract returns a single `Mapping`.
## Benchmarks
`libs/langgraph/tests/test_delta_channel_benchmark.py`. Run via `python
libs/langgraph/tests/test_delta_channel_benchmark.py`. Postgres against
local pg:5441.
Results below trimmed to the high-signal cells. Sub-millisecond /
sub-100-turn rows omitted as warmup-bound; freq=1 omitted (chain depth =
1, nothing to optimize); peak read-time memory and Postgres storage are
flat between branches and omitted. Deep-thread reads and the
cadence-rework storage win are the load-bearing numbers.
### Postgres reads, 500 turns
| Scenario | main | branch | Δ |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Single-channel deep read | 17.7 ms | **6.1 ms** | **-66%** |
| Single-channel, 1000 turns | 35.0 ms | **14.3 ms** | **-59%** |
| K=3 channels, freq=50 uniform | 70.5 ms | **41.4 ms** | **-41%** |
| K=8 channels, freq=50 uniform | 214.2 ms | **139.4 ms** | **-35%** |
| K=8 channels, mixed freq (25/50/100/.../1000) | 295.6 ms | **214.4
ms** | **-27%** |
K-channel batching + paged stage-1 + per-channel UNION ALL stage-2 doing
exactly what they should at depth.
### InMemory reads, 500 turns
| Scenario | main | branch | Δ |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Single-channel deep read | 7.9 ms | **3.8 ms** | **-52%** |
| Single-channel, 1000 turns | 15.6 ms | **7.2 ms** | **-54%** |
| K=8 channels, freq=50 uniform | 112.3 ms | 94.6 ms | -16% |
| K=8 channels, mixed freq | 184.9 ms | **134.5 ms** | **-27%** |
### InMemory storage, 500 turns (cadence-rework win)
| Scenario | main | branch | Δ |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| K=3, freq=50 uniform | 8.7 MB | **3.3 MB** | **-62%** |
| K=3 mixed freq | 3.8 MB | **1.3 MB** | **-66%** |
| K=8, freq=50 uniform | 23.1 MB | **8.7 MB** | **-62%** |
| K=8 mixed freq | 11.5 MB | **4.2 MB** | **-64%** |
Snapshot frequency now counts **channel updates** instead of
**supersteps**. On graphs where supersteps outpace per-channel updates
(e.g., input/end steps that don't write to channels), branch stores ~3×
fewer snapshot blobs.
### Tradeoff worth flagging
InMemory K=3 with mixed frequencies (50/200/1000) at 500 turns: **+64%
read latency** (46.6 → 76.5 ms). The mixed scenario has a channel with
`freq=1000` that goes the entire 500-turn run with no snapshot. On main,
the old superstep-counted cadence happened to fire at step=500 anyway.
New cadence gives users explicit control over walk depth via
`snapshot_frequency`. The K=8 mixed case still wins overall (-27%); this
regression is specific to the K=3 mixed shape.
Default `snapshot_frequency=1000` is the upper bound on walk depth —
it's a tunable knob.
## Tests
- New sqlite smoke test (`test_get_delta_channel_history.py`) exercises
the inherited default `BaseCheckpointSaver` impl via `SqliteSaver` /
`AsyncSqliteSaver` end-to-end with a real `DeltaChannel`-backed graph.
Sqlite uses the default unchanged — this validates the default path
actually works on a real second saver, not just on the optimized
override.
- Module-level `pytest.importorskip("langgraph.channels.delta")` guards
the test for sqlite's standalone CI environment (matches the postgres
pattern).
## Test plan
- [x] `libs/checkpoint`: 150 passed, 16 skipped
- [x] `libs/langgraph` (channels + delta migration): 41/41 (post-merge)
- [x] `libs/langgraph` (full pregel suite): 1784 passing — 6 "failures"
verified via `env -i` clean shell are local LangSmith env vars + `git
describe revision_id` polluting LangChain metadata fixtures; CI is
unaffected
- [x] `libs/checkpoint-postgres`: 40/40 saver tests + 3/3 delta channel
reconstruction tests against local Postgres
- [x] `libs/checkpoint-sqlite`: 105/105 (incl. retry-passed flake
`test_ttl_refresh`, unrelated to this PR)
- [x] Lint clean across all four libs (`ruff format`, `ruff check`,
`mypy`)
- [x] Branch-vs-main benchmarks — see results above
---------
Co-authored-by: Quanzheng Long <long@langchain.dev>
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
LangGraph Checkpoint
This library defines the base interface for LangGraph checkpointers. Checkpointers provide a persistence layer for LangGraph. They allow you to interact with and manage the graph's state. When you use a graph with a checkpointer, the checkpointer saves a checkpoint of the graph state at every superstep, enabling several powerful capabilities like human-in-the-loop, "memory" between interactions and more.
Key concepts
Checkpoint
Checkpoint is a snapshot of the graph state at a given point in time. Checkpoint tuple refers to an object containing checkpoint and the associated config, metadata and pending writes.
Thread
Threads enable the checkpointing of multiple different runs, making them essential for multi-tenant chat applications and other scenarios where maintaining separate states is necessary. A thread is a unique ID assigned to a series of checkpoints saved by a checkpointer. When using a checkpointer, you must specify a thread_id and optionally checkpoint_id when running the graph.
thread_idis simply the ID of a thread. This is always required.checkpoint_idcan optionally be passed. This identifier refers to a specific checkpoint within a thread. This can be used to kick off a run of a graph from some point halfway through a thread.
You must pass these when invoking the graph as part of the configurable part of the config, e.g.
{"configurable": {"thread_id": "1"}} # valid config
{"configurable": {"thread_id": "1", "checkpoint_id": "0c62ca34-ac19-445d-bbb0-5b4984975b2a"}} # also valid config
Serde
langgraph_checkpoint also defines protocol for serialization/deserialization (serde) and provides an default implementation (langgraph.checkpoint.serde.jsonplus.JsonPlusSerializer) that handles a wide variety of types, including LangChain and LangGraph primitives, datetimes, enums and more.
Important
Checkpoint deserialization security: By default the serializer allows any Python type found in checkpoint data. New applications should set the environment variable
LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=trueor pass an explicitallowed_msgpack_moduleslist toJsonPlusSerializerto restrict deserialization to known-safe types.
Pending writes
When a graph node fails mid-execution at a given superstep, LangGraph stores pending checkpoint writes from any other nodes that completed successfully at that superstep, so that whenever we resume graph execution from that superstep we don't re-run the successful nodes.
Interface
Each checkpointer should conform to langgraph.checkpoint.base.BaseCheckpointSaver interface and must implement the following methods:
.put- Store a checkpoint with its configuration and metadata..put_writes- Store intermediate writes linked to a checkpoint (i.e. pending writes)..get_tuple- Fetch a checkpoint tuple using for a given configuration (thread_idandcheckpoint_id)..list- List checkpoints that match a given configuration and filter criteria..delete_thread()- Delete all checkpoints and writes associated with a thread..get_next_version()- Generate the next version ID for a channel.
If the checkpointer will be used with asynchronous graph execution (i.e. executing the graph via .ainvoke, .astream, .abatch), checkpointer must implement asynchronous versions of the above methods (.aput, .aput_writes, .aget_tuple, .alist). Similarly, the checkpointer must implement .adelete_thread() if asynchronous thread cleanup is desired. The base class provides a default implementation of .get_next_version() that generates an integer sequence starting from 1, but this method should be overridden for custom versioning schemes.
Usage
from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import InMemorySaver
write_config = {"configurable": {"thread_id": "1", "checkpoint_ns": ""}}
read_config = {"configurable": {"thread_id": "1"}}
checkpointer = InMemorySaver()
checkpoint = {
"v": 4,
"ts": "2024-07-31T20:14:19.804150+00:00",
"id": "1ef4f797-8335-6428-8001-8a1503f9b875",
"channel_values": {
"my_key": "meow",
"node": "node"
},
"channel_versions": {
"__start__": 2,
"my_key": 3,
"start:node": 3,
"node": 3
},
"versions_seen": {
"__input__": {},
"__start__": {
"__start__": 1
},
"node": {
"start:node": 2
}
},
}
# store checkpoint
checkpointer.put(write_config, checkpoint, {}, {})
# load checkpoint
checkpointer.get(read_config)
# list checkpoints
list(checkpointer.list(read_config))