diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e4b3640..7aa58ba 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>com.tidesdb</groupId>
     <artifactId>tidesdb-java</artifactId>
-    <version>0.6.0</version>
+    <version>0.6.1</version>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <name>TidesDB Java</name>
diff --git a/src/main/c/com_tidesdb_TidesDB.c b/src/main/c/com_tidesdb_TidesDB.c
index 7072b56..cef7a40 100644
--- a/src/main/c/com_tidesdb_TidesDB.c
+++ b/src/main/c/com_tidesdb_TidesDB.c
@@ -366,6 +366,27 @@ JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_tidesdb_TidesDB_nativeBackup(JNIEnv *env, jclass
     }
 }
 
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_tidesdb_TidesDB_nativeCheckpoint(JNIEnv *env, jclass cls,
+                                                                 jlong handle, jstring dir)
+{
+    tidesdb_t *db = (tidesdb_t *)(uintptr_t)handle;
+    const char *checkpointDir = (*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, dir, NULL);
+    if (checkpointDir == NULL)
+    {
+        throwTidesDBException(env, TDB_ERR_MEMORY, "Failed to get checkpoint directory");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    int result = tidesdb_checkpoint(db, checkpointDir);
+
+    (*env)->ReleaseStringUTFChars(env, dir, checkpointDir);
+
+    if (result != TDB_SUCCESS)
+    {
+        throwTidesDBException(env, result, getErrorMessage(result));
+    }
+}
+
 JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_tidesdb_TidesDB_nativeRenameColumnFamily(JNIEnv *env, jclass cls,
                                                                           jlong handle,
                                                                           jstring oldName,
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDB.java b/src/main/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDB.java
index 4281140..5c0b7ed 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDB.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDB.java
@@ -228,6 +228,21 @@ public void backup(String dir) throws TidesDBException {
         nativeBackup(nativeHandle, dir);
     }
     
+    /**
+     * Creates a lightweight, near-instant snapshot of an open database using hard links
+     * instead of copying SSTable data.
+     *
+     * @param dir the checkpoint directory (must be non-existent or empty)
+     * @throws TidesDBException if the checkpoint fails
+     */
+    public void checkpoint(String dir) throws TidesDBException {
+        checkNotClosed();
+        if (dir == null || dir.isEmpty()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Checkpoint directory cannot be null or empty");
+        }
+        nativeCheckpoint(nativeHandle, dir);
+    }
+    
     /**
      * Atomically renames a column family and its underlying directory.
      * The operation waits for any in-progress flush or compaction to complete before renaming.
@@ -307,6 +322,8 @@ private static native void nativeCreateColumnFamily(long handle, String name,
     
     private static native void nativeBackup(long handle, String dir) throws TidesDBException;
     
+    private static native void nativeCheckpoint(long handle, String dir) throws TidesDBException;
+    
     private static native void nativeRenameColumnFamily(long handle, String oldName, String newName) throws TidesDBException;
     
     private static native void nativeCloneColumnFamily(long handle, String sourceName, String destName) throws TidesDBException;
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDBTest.java b/src/test/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDBTest.java
index 5af56de..8606c62 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDBTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/tidesdb/TidesDBTest.java
@@ -614,6 +614,76 @@ void testCloneColumnFamily() throws TidesDBException {
     
     @Test
     @Order(16)
+    void testCheckpoint() throws TidesDBException {
+        Config config = Config.builder(tempDir.resolve("testdb16").toString())
+            .numFlushThreads(2)
+            .numCompactionThreads(2)
+            .logLevel(LogLevel.INFO)
+            .blockCacheSize(64 * 1024 * 1024)
+            .maxOpenSSTables(256)
+            .build();
+        
+        try (TidesDB db = TidesDB.open(config)) {
+            ColumnFamilyConfig cfConfig = ColumnFamilyConfig.defaultConfig();
+            db.createColumnFamily("test_cf", cfConfig);
+            
+            ColumnFamily cf = db.getColumnFamily("test_cf");
+            
+            // Insert some data
+            try (Transaction txn = db.beginTransaction()) {
+                for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+                    txn.put(cf, ("key" + i).getBytes(), ("value" + i).getBytes());
+                }
+                txn.commit();
+            }
+            
+            // Create checkpoint
+            String checkpointDir = tempDir.resolve("testdb16_checkpoint").toString();
+            db.checkpoint(checkpointDir);
+            
+            // Open the checkpoint as a separate database and verify data
+            Config checkpointConfig = Config.builder(checkpointDir)
+                .numFlushThreads(2)
+                .numCompactionThreads(2)
+                .logLevel(LogLevel.INFO)
+                .blockCacheSize(64 * 1024 * 1024)
+                .maxOpenSSTables(256)
+                .build();
+            
+            try (TidesDB checkpointDb = TidesDB.open(checkpointConfig)) {
+                ColumnFamily checkpointCf = checkpointDb.getColumnFamily("test_cf");
+                assertNotNull(checkpointCf);
+                
+                try (Transaction txn = checkpointDb.beginTransaction()) {
+                    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+                        byte[] result = txn.get(checkpointCf, ("key" + i).getBytes());
+                        assertNotNull(result);
+                        assertArrayEquals(("value" + i).getBytes(), result);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    @Order(17)
+    void testCheckpointNullDir() throws TidesDBException {
+        Config config = Config.builder(tempDir.resolve("testdb16b").toString())
+            .numFlushThreads(2)
+            .numCompactionThreads(2)
+            .logLevel(LogLevel.INFO)
+            .blockCacheSize(64 * 1024 * 1024)
+            .maxOpenSSTables(256)
+            .build();
+        
+        try (TidesDB db = TidesDB.open(config)) {
+            assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> db.checkpoint(null));
+            assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> db.checkpoint(""));
+        }
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    @Order(18)
     void testTransactionPutGetDeleteBadKey() throws TidesDBException {
         Config config = Config.builder(tempDir.resolve("testdb3").toString())
                 .numFlushThreads(2)
@@ -656,7 +726,7 @@ void testTransactionPutGetDeleteBadKey() throws TidesDBException {
     }
     
     @Test
-    @Order(17)
+    @Order(19)
     void testTransactionReset() throws TidesDBException {
         Config config = Config.builder(tempDir.resolve("testdb17").toString())
             .numFlushThreads(2)
@@ -701,7 +771,7 @@ void testTransactionReset() throws TidesDBException {
     }
     
     @Test
-    @Order(18)
+    @Order(20)
     void testTransactionResetWithDifferentIsolation() throws TidesDBException {
         Config config = Config.builder(tempDir.resolve("testdb18").toString())
             .numFlushThreads(2)
@@ -746,7 +816,7 @@ void testTransactionResetWithDifferentIsolation() throws TidesDBException {
     }
     
     @Test
-    @Order(19)
+    @Order(21)
     void testTransactionResetNullIsolation() throws TidesDBException {
         Config config = Config.builder(tempDir.resolve("testdb19").toString())
             .numFlushThreads(2)