GIT-WORKTREE(1) Git Manual GIT-WORKTREE(1)
NAME
git-worktree - Manage multiple working trees
SYNOPSIS
git worktree add [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [--lock [--reason <string>]] [-b <new-branch>] <path> [<commit-ish>]
git worktree list [--porcelain]
git worktree lock [--reason <string>] <worktree>
git worktree move <worktree> <new-path>
git worktree prune [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>]
git worktree remove [-f] <worktree>
git worktree repair [<path>...]
git worktree unlock <worktree>
DESCRIPTION
Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository.
A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to
check out more than one branch at a time. With git worktree add a new
working tree is associated with the repository. This new working tree
is called a "linked working tree" as opposed to the "main working tree"
prepared by git-init(1) or git-clone(1). A repository has one main
working tree (if it’s not a bare repository) and zero or more linked
working trees. When you are done with a linked working tree, remove it
with git worktree remove.
In its simplest form, git worktree add <path> automatically creates a
new branch whose name is the final component of <path>, which is
convenient if you plan to work on a new topic. For instance, git
worktree add ../hotfix creates new branch hotfix and checks it out at
path ../hotfix. To instead work on an existing branch in a new working
tree, use git worktree add <path> <branch>. On the other hand, if you
just plan to make some experimental changes or do testing without
disturbing existing development, it is often convenient to create a
throwaway working tree not associated with any branch. For instance,
git worktree add -d <path> creates a new working tree with a detached
HEAD at the same commit as the current branch.
If a working tree is deleted without using git worktree remove, then
its associated administrative files, which reside in the repository
(see "DETAILS" below), will eventually be removed automatically (see
gc.worktreePruneExpire in git-config(1)), or you can run git worktree
prune in the main or any linked working tree to clean up any stale
administrative files.
If a linked working tree is stored on a portable device or network
share which is not always mounted, you can prevent its administrative
files from being pruned by issuing the git worktree lock command,
optionally specifying --reason to explain why the working tree is
locked.
COMMANDS
add <path> [<commit-ish>]
Create <path> and checkout <commit-ish> into it. The new working
directory is linked to the current repository, sharing everything
except working directory specific files such as HEAD, index, etc.
As a convenience, <commit-ish> may be a bare "-", which is
synonymous with @{-1}.
If <commit-ish> is a branch name (call it <branch>) and is not
found, and neither -b nor -B nor --detach are used, but there does
exist a tracking branch in exactly one remote (call it <remote>)
with a matching name, treat as equivalent to:
$ git worktree add --track -b <branch> <path> <remote>/<branch>
If the branch exists in multiple remotes and one of them is named
by the checkout.defaultRemote configuration variable, we’ll use
that one for the purposes of disambiguation, even if the <branch>
isn’t unique across all remotes. Set it to e.g.
checkout.defaultRemote=origin to always checkout remote branches
from there if <branch> is ambiguous but exists on the origin
remote. See also checkout.defaultRemote in git-config(1).
If <commit-ish> is omitted and neither -b nor -B nor --detach used,
then, as a convenience, the new working tree is associated with a
branch (call it <branch>) named after $(basename <path>). If
<branch> doesn’t exist, a new branch based on HEAD is automatically
created as if -b <branch> was given. If <branch> does exist, it
will be checked out in the new working tree, if it’s not checked
out anywhere else, otherwise the command will refuse to create the
working tree (unless --force is used).
list
List details of each working tree. The main working tree is listed
first, followed by each of the linked working trees. The output
details include whether the working tree is bare, the revision
currently checked out, the branch currently checked out (or
"detached HEAD" if none), "locked" if the worktree is locked,
"prunable" if the worktree can be pruned by prune command.
lock
If a working tree is on a portable device or network share which is
not always mounted, lock it to prevent its administrative files
from being pruned automatically. This also prevents it from being
moved or deleted. Optionally, specify a reason for the lock with
--reason.
move
Move a working tree to a new location. Note that the main working
tree or linked working trees containing submodules cannot be moved
with this command. (The git worktree repair command, however, can
reestablish the connection with linked working trees if you move
the main working tree manually.)
prune
Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees.
remove
Remove a working tree. Only clean working trees (no untracked files
and no modification in tracked files) can be removed. Unclean
working trees or ones with submodules can be removed with --force.
The main working tree cannot be removed.
repair [<path>...]
Repair working tree administrative files, if possible, if they have
become corrupted or outdated due to external factors.
For instance, if the main working tree (or bare repository) is
moved, linked working trees will be unable to locate it. Running
repair in the main working tree will reestablish the connection
from linked working trees back to the main working tree.
Similarly, if a linked working tree is moved without using git
worktree move, the main working tree (or bare repository) will be
unable to locate it. Running repair within the recently-moved
working tree will reestablish the connection. If multiple linked
working trees are moved, running repair from any working tree with
each tree’s new <path> as an argument, will reestablish the
connection to all the specified paths.
If both the main working tree and linked working trees have been
moved manually, then running repair in the main working tree and
specifying the new <path> of each linked working tree will
reestablish all connections in both directions.
unlock
Unlock a working tree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted.
OPTIONS
-f, --force
By default, add refuses to create a new working tree when
<commit-ish> is a branch name and is already checked out by another
working tree, or if <path> is already assigned to some working tree
but is missing (for instance, if <path> was deleted manually). This
option overrides these safeguards. To add a missing but locked
working tree path, specify --force twice.
move refuses to move a locked working tree unless --force is
specified twice. If the destination is already assigned to some
other working tree but is missing (for instance, if <new-path> was
deleted manually), then --force allows the move to proceed; use
--force twice if the destination is locked.
remove refuses to remove an unclean working tree unless --force is
used. To remove a locked working tree, specify --force twice.
-b <new-branch>, -B <new-branch>
With add, create a new branch named <new-branch> starting at
<commit-ish>, and check out <new-branch> into the new working tree.
If <commit-ish> is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. By default, -b
refuses to create a new branch if it already exists. -B overrides
this safeguard, resetting <new-branch> to <commit-ish>.
-d, --detach
With add, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED HEAD"
in git-checkout(1).
--[no-]checkout
By default, add checks out <commit-ish>, however, --no-checkout can
be used to suppress checkout in order to make customizations, such
as configuring sparse-checkout. See "Sparse checkout" in git-read-
tree(1).
--[no-]guess-remote
With worktree add <path>, without <commit-ish>, instead of creating
a new branch from HEAD, if there exists a tracking branch in
exactly one remote matching the basename of <path>, base the new
branch on the remote-tracking branch, and mark the remote-tracking
branch as "upstream" from the new branch.
This can also be set up as the default behaviour by using the
worktree.guessRemote config option.
--[no-]track
When creating a new branch, if <commit-ish> is a branch, mark it as
"upstream" from the new branch. This is the default if <commit-ish>
is a remote-tracking branch. See --track in git-branch(1) for
details.
--lock
Keep the working tree locked after creation. This is the equivalent
of git worktree lock after git worktree add, but without a race
condition.
-n, --dry-run
With prune, do not remove anything; just report what it would
remove.
--porcelain
With list, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. This
format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of
user configuration. See below for details.
-q, --quiet
With add, suppress feedback messages.
-v, --verbose
With prune, report all removals.
With list, output additional information about worktrees (see
below).
--expire <time>
With prune, only expire unused working trees older than <time>.
With list, annotate missing working trees as prunable if they are
older than <time>.
--reason <string>
With lock or with add --lock, an explanation why the working tree
is locked.
<worktree>
Working trees can be identified by path, either relative or
absolute.
If the last path components in the working tree’s path is unique
among working trees, it can be used to identify a working tree. For
example if you only have two working trees, at /abc/def/ghi and
/abc/def/ggg, then ghi or def/ghi is enough to point to the former
working tree.
REFS
In multiple working trees, some refs may be shared between all working
trees and some refs are local. One example is HEAD which is different
for each working tree. This section is about the sharing rules and how
to access refs of one working tree from another.
In general, all pseudo refs are per working tree and all refs starting
with refs/ are shared. Pseudo refs are ones like HEAD which are
directly under $GIT_DIR instead of inside $GIT_DIR/refs. There are
exceptions, however: refs inside refs/bisect and refs/worktree are not
shared.
Refs that are per working tree can still be accessed from another
working tree via two special paths, main-worktree and worktrees. The
former gives access to per-working tree refs of the main working tree,
while the latter to all linked working trees.
For example, main-worktree/HEAD or main-worktree/refs/bisect/good
resolve to the same value as the main working tree’s HEAD and
refs/bisect/good respectively. Similarly, worktrees/foo/HEAD or
worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad are the same as
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/foo/HEAD and
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad.
To access refs, it’s best not to look inside $GIT_DIR directly. Instead
use commands such as git-rev-parse(1) or git-update-ref(1) which will
handle refs correctly.
CONFIGURATION FILE
By default, the repository config file is shared across all working
trees. If the config variables core.bare or core.worktree are already
present in the config file, they will be applied to the main working
trees only.
In order to have configuration specific to working trees, you can turn
on the worktreeConfig extension, e.g.:
$ git config extensions.worktreeConfig true
In this mode, specific configuration stays in the path pointed by git
rev-parse --git-path config.worktree. You can add or update
configuration in this file with git config --worktree. Older Git
versions will refuse to access repositories with this extension.
Note that in this file, the exception for core.bare and core.worktree
is gone. If they exist in $GIT_DIR/config, you must move them to the
config.worktree of the main working tree. You may also take this
opportunity to review and move other configuration that you do not want
to share to all working trees:
• core.worktree and core.bare should never be shared
• core.sparseCheckout is recommended per working tree, unless you are
sure you always use sparse checkout for all working trees.
DETAILS
Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the
repository’s $GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory’s
name is usually the base name of the linked working tree’s path,
possibly appended with a number to make it unique. For example, when
$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git the command git worktree add
/path/other/test-next next creates the linked working tree in
/path/other/test-next and also creates a $GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next
directory (or $GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1 if test-next is already
taken).
Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private
directory (e.g. /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next in the example) and
$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree’s
$GIT_DIR (e.g. /path/main/.git). These settings are made in a .git file
located at the top directory of the linked working tree.
Path resolution via git rev-parse --git-path uses either $GIT_DIR or
$GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the linked
working tree git rev-parse --git-path HEAD returns
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD (not
/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD or /path/main/.git/HEAD) while git
rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master uses $GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns
/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master, since refs are shared across all
working trees, except refs/bisect and refs/worktree.
See gitrepository-layout(5) for more information. The rule of thumb is
do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to $GIT_DIR or
$GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something inside
$GIT_DIR. Use git rev-parse --git-path to get the final path.
If you manually move a linked working tree, you need to update the
gitdir file in the entry’s directory. For example, if a linked working
tree is moved to /newpath/test-next and its .git file points to
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next, then update
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir to reference
/newpath/test-next instead. Better yet, run git worktree repair to
reestablish the connection automatically.
To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which can be
useful in some situations, such as when the entry’s working tree is
stored on a portable device), use the git worktree lock command, which
adds a file named locked to the entry’s directory. The file contains
the reason in plain text. For example, if a linked working tree’s .git
file points to /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next then a file named
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked will prevent the test-next
entry from being pruned. See gitrepository-layout(5) for details.
When extensions.worktreeConfig is enabled, the config file
.git/worktrees/<id>/config.worktree is read after .git/config is.
LIST OUTPUT FORMAT
The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format
shows the details on a single line with columns. For example:
$ git worktree list
/path/to/bare-source (bare)
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD)
The command also shows annotations for each working tree, according to
its state. These annotations are:
• locked, if the working tree is locked.
• prunable, if the working tree can be pruned via git worktree prune.
$ git worktree list
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/locked-worktree acbd5678 (brancha) locked
/path/to/prunable-worktree 5678abc (detached HEAD) prunable
For these annotations, a reason might also be available and this can be
seen using the verbose mode. The annotation is then moved to the next
line indented followed by the additional information.
$ git worktree list --verbose
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/locked-worktree-no-reason abcd5678 (detached HEAD) locked
/path/to/locked-worktree-with-reason 1234abcd (brancha)
locked: working tree path is mounted on a portable device
/path/to/prunable-worktree 5678abc1 (detached HEAD)
prunable: gitdir file points to non-existent location
Note that the annotation is moved to the next line if the additional
information is available, otherwise it stays on the same line as the
working tree itself.
Porcelain Format
The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed
with a label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes
(like bare and detached) are listed as a label only, and are present
only if the value is true. Some attributes (like locked) can be listed
as a label only or with a value depending upon whether a reason is
available. The first attribute of a working tree is always worktree, an
empty line indicates the end of the record. For example:
$ git worktree list --porcelain
worktree /path/to/bare-source
bare
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree
HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234
branch refs/heads/master
worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree
HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a
detached
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-no-reason
HEAD 5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678c
branch refs/heads/locked-no-reason
locked
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-with-reason
HEAD 3456def3456def3456def3456def3456def3456b
branch refs/heads/locked-with-reason
locked reason why is locked
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-prunable
HEAD 1233def1234def1234def1234def1234def1234b
detached
prunable gitdir file points to non-existent location
If the lock reason contains "unusual" characters such as newline, they
are escaped and the entire reason is quoted as explained for the
configuration variable core.quotePath (see git-config(1)). For Example:
$ git worktree list --porcelain
...
locked "reason\nwhy is locked"
...
EXAMPLES
You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in
and demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use
git-stash(1) to store your changes away temporarily, however, your
working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and
removed files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don’t
want to risk disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary
linked working tree to make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and
then resume your earlier refactoring session.
$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master
$ pushd ../temp
# ... hack hack hack ...
$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss'
$ popd
$ git worktree remove ../temp
BUGS
Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support for
submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple
checkouts of a superproject.
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.34.1 01/13/2025 GIT-WORKTREE(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.14 on Thu Jan 23 15:45:54 CET 2025.