diff --git a/cli/src/commands/hatch.ts b/cli/src/commands/hatch.ts
index 394dfd86299..86f61b96fb5 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/hatch.ts
+++ b/cli/src/commands/hatch.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import type { PollResult, WatchHatchingResult } from "../lib/gcp";
 import { startLocalDaemon, startGateway, stopLocalProcesses } from "../lib/local";
 import { isProcessAlive } from "../lib/process";
 import { generateRandomSuffix } from "../lib/random-name";
+import { validateAssistantName } from "../lib/retire-archive";
 import { exec } from "../lib/step-runner";
 
 export type { PollResult, WatchHatchingResult } from "../lib/gcp";
@@ -169,6 +170,12 @@ function parseArgs(): HatchArgs {
         console.error("Error: --name requires a value");
         process.exit(1);
       }
+      try {
+        validateAssistantName(next);
+      } catch {
+        console.error(`Error: --name contains invalid characters (path separators or traversal segments are not allowed)`);
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
       name = next;
       i++;
     } else if (arg === "--remote") {
diff --git a/cli/src/commands/recover.ts b/cli/src/commands/recover.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e9dd04f87c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/src/commands/recover.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import { existsSync, readFileSync, unlinkSync } from "fs";
+import { homedir } from "os";
+import { join } from "path";
+
+import { saveAssistantEntry } from "../lib/assistant-config";
+import type { AssistantEntry } from "../lib/assistant-config";
+import { startLocalDaemon, startGateway } from "../lib/local";
+import { getArchivePath, getMetadataPath } from "../lib/retire-archive";
+import { exec } from "../lib/step-runner";
+
+export async function recover(): Promise<void> {
+  const name = process.argv[3];
+  if (!name) {
+    console.error("Usage: vellum-cli recover <name>");
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  const archivePath = getArchivePath(name);
+  const metadataPath = getMetadataPath(name);
+
+  // 1. Verify archive exists
+  if (!existsSync(archivePath) || !existsSync(metadataPath)) {
+    console.error(`No retired archive found for '${name}'.`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  // 2. Check ~/.vellum doesn't already exist
+  const vellumDir = join(homedir(), ".vellum");
+  if (existsSync(vellumDir)) {
+    console.error(
+      "Error: ~/.vellum already exists. Retire the current assistant first."
+    );
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  // 3. Extract archive
+  await exec("tar", ["xzf", archivePath, "-C", homedir()]);
+
+  // 4. Restore lockfile entry
+  const entry: AssistantEntry = JSON.parse(readFileSync(metadataPath, "utf-8"));
+  saveAssistantEntry(entry);
+
+  // 5. Clean up archive
+  unlinkSync(archivePath);
+  unlinkSync(metadataPath);
+
+  // 6. Start daemon + gateway (same as wake)
+  await startLocalDaemon();
+  if (!process.env.VELLUM_DESKTOP_APP) {
+    await startGateway();
+  }
+
+  console.log(`✅ Recovered assistant '${name}'.`);
+}
diff --git a/cli/src/commands/retire.ts b/cli/src/commands/retire.ts
index bb0306759a4..03bb0ee348d 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/retire.ts
+++ b/cli/src/commands/retire.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 import { spawn } from "child_process";
-import { rmSync } from "fs";
+import { rmSync, writeFileSync } from "fs";
 import { homedir } from "os";
-import { join } from "path";
+import { basename, dirname, join } from "path";
 
 import { findAssistantByName, removeAssistantEntry } from "../lib/assistant-config";
 import type { AssistantEntry } from "../lib/assistant-config";
 import { retireInstance as retireAwsInstance } from "../lib/aws";
 import { retireInstance as retireGcpInstance } from "../lib/gcp";
 import { stopProcessByPidFile } from "../lib/process";
+import { getArchivePath, getMetadataPath } from "../lib/retire-archive";
 import { exec } from "../lib/step-runner";
 
 function resolveCloud(entry: AssistantEntry): string {
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ function extractHostFromUrl(url: string): string {
   }
 }
 
-async function retireLocal(): Promise<void> {
+async function retireLocal(name: string, entry: AssistantEntry): Promise<void> {
   console.log("\u{1F5D1}\ufe0f  Stopping local daemon...\n");
 
   const vellumDir = join(homedir(), ".vellum");
@@ -61,6 +62,18 @@ async function retireLocal(): Promise<void> {
     } catch {}
   }
 
+  // Archive ~/.vellum before deleting
+  try {
+    const archivePath = getArchivePath(name);
+    const metadataPath = getMetadataPath(name);
+    await exec("tar", ["czf", archivePath, "-C", dirname(vellumDir), basename(vellumDir)]);
+    writeFileSync(metadataPath, JSON.stringify(entry, null, 2) + "\n");
+    console.log(`📦 Archived to ${archivePath}`);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.warn(`⚠️  Failed to archive: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : err}`);
+    console.warn("Proceeding with permanent deletion.");
+  }
+
   rmSync(vellumDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
 
   console.log("\u2705 Local instance retired.");
@@ -142,7 +155,7 @@ export async function retire(): Promise<void> {
     }
     await retireAwsInstance(name, region, source);
   } else if (cloud === "local") {
-    await retireLocal();
+    await retireLocal(name, entry);
   } else if (cloud === "custom") {
     await retireCustom(entry);
   } else {
diff --git a/cli/src/index.ts b/cli/src/index.ts
index 98acf636148..d68c9de1612 100755
--- a/cli/src/index.ts
+++ b/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { client } from "./commands/client";
 import { email } from "./commands/email";
 import { hatch } from "./commands/hatch";
 import { ps } from "./commands/ps";
+import { recover } from "./commands/recover";
 import { retire } from "./commands/retire";
 import { sleep } from "./commands/sleep";
 import { ssh } from "./commands/ssh";
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ const commands = {
   email,
   hatch,
   ps,
+  recover,
   retire,
   sleep,
   ssh,
@@ -65,6 +67,7 @@ async function main() {
     console.log("  email    Email operations (status, create inbox)");
     console.log("  hatch    Create a new assistant instance");
     console.log("  ps       List assistants (or processes for a specific assistant)");
+    console.log("  recover  Restore a previously retired local assistant");
     console.log("  retire   Delete an assistant instance");
     console.log("  sleep    Stop the daemon process");
     console.log("  ssh      SSH into a remote assistant instance");
diff --git a/cli/src/lib/retire-archive.ts b/cli/src/lib/retire-archive.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..55a5120b880
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/src/lib/retire-archive.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { mkdirSync } from "fs";
+import { homedir } from "os";
+import { basename, join, resolve } from "path";
+
+export function getRetiredDir(): string {
+  const xdgData =
+    process.env.XDG_DATA_HOME?.trim() || join(homedir(), ".local", "share");
+  const dir = join(xdgData, "vellum", "retired");
+  mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+  return dir;
+}
+
+/** Throws if the name contains path separators or traversal segments. */
+export function validateAssistantName(name: string): void {
+  if (
+    !name ||
+    name.includes("/") ||
+    name.includes("\\") ||
+    name === ".." ||
+    name === "."
+  ) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid assistant name: '${name}'`);
+  }
+}
+
+function safeName(assistantId: string): string {
+  validateAssistantName(assistantId);
+  // Canonicalize and verify the result stays inside the retired directory
+  const retiredDir = getRetiredDir();
+  const candidate = resolve(retiredDir, basename(assistantId));
+  if (!candidate.startsWith(retiredDir + "/")) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid assistant name: '${assistantId}'`);
+  }
+  return basename(assistantId);
+}
+
+export function getArchivePath(assistantId: string): string {
+  return join(getRetiredDir(), `${safeName(assistantId)}.tar.gz`);
+}
+
+export function getMetadataPath(assistantId: string): string {
+  return join(getRetiredDir(), `${safeName(assistantId)}.json`);
+}