skinnyandbald/git-worktree

Git Worktree Manager

Manage isolated Git worktrees for parallel development, following project conventions.

Quick Reference

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | create <name> [base] | Create worktree with symlinked .env | | list | List all worktrees | | cleanup | Remove inactive worktrees | | switch <name> | Switch to a worktree |

CRITICAL: Always Use the Manager Script

NEVER call git worktree add directly. Always use the script.

# CORRECT
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh create feature-name

# WRONG - Never do this directly
git worktree add .github/worktrees/feature-name -b feature-name develop

The script handles:

1. Symlinks .env file (not copy) from project root
2. Ensures .github/worktrees/ is in .gitignore
3. Creates consistent directory structure at .github/worktrees/

CRITICAL: Create the Worktree, Then STOP

After creating a worktree, STOP. Do NOT implement anything in the current session. Do NOT cd into the worktree and keep working.

Your job in this session is ONLY:

1. Create the worktree
2. Show the user the copy-paste command from the script output
3. STOP and tell the user to run that command in a new terminal

All planning, brainstorming, and implementation happens in the new Claude Code instance inside the worktree — NOT here.

Why: Claude Code's working directory and statusline are set at launch time. If you work here after creating a worktree, auto-compact will lose the worktree context and revert to the main repo mid-work.

Project Conventions

• Default base branch: develop (not main)
• Symlinks for .env files, not copies — single source of truth
• Worktree directory: .github/worktrees/

Commands

create <branch-name> [from-branch]

Creates worktree in .github/worktrees/<branch-name>. Defaults to branching from develop.

# Create from develop (default)
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh create feature/pipeline-steps

# Create from specific branch
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh create hotfix/auth main

What happens:

1. Checks if worktree exists
2. Creates .github/worktrees/ directory if needed
3. Updates base branch from remote
4. Creates worktree and branch
5. Symlinks .env from project root
6. Verifies symlink
7. Outputs a copy-paste command to launch Claude Code in the worktree

list or ls

bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh list

Shows:

• Worktree name and branch
• Current worktree marked with *
• Main repo status

switch <name> or go <name>

bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh switch feature/pipeline-steps

cleanup or clean

Removes inactive worktrees interactively.

bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh cleanup

Safety: Won't remove current worktree.

Workflow Examples

Feature Development

# 1. Create worktree from develop
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh create feature/auth-system

# Script output:
#   ━━━ Launch Claude Code in this worktree ━━━
#   cd /path/to/.github/worktrees/feature-auth-system && claude
#   ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

# 2. CLAUDE STOPS HERE. Tells user to copy-paste the command above into a new terminal.
#    DO NOT continue with any work in this session.

# 3. User pastes command → new Claude Code instance starts in the worktree
#    User brainstorms, plans, and implements in that fresh session

# 4. When done, cleanup from main repo
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh cleanup

PR Review in Isolation

# Create worktree from PR branch
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh create pr-42-auth-fix origin/pr-branch

# CLAUDE STOPS HERE. Tells user to copy-paste the launch command into a new terminal.

# Cleanup after review
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh cleanup

Directory Structure

project-root/
├── .env                              # Source of truth
├── .github/
│   └── worktrees/                    # All worktrees live here
│       ├── feature-auth/
│       │   ├── .env -> ../../..      # Relative symlink to root .env
│       │   ├── src/
│       │   └── ...
│       └── feature-pipeline/
│           ├── .env -> ../../..      # Relative symlink to root .env
│           └── ...
└── .gitignore                        # Includes .github/worktrees

Troubleshooting

"Worktree already exists"

Switch to it instead:

bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh switch <name>

"Cannot remove worktree: it is current"

Return to main repo first:

cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
bash ~/.claude/skills/git-worktree/scripts/worktree-manager.sh cleanup

Symlink broken?

Recreate manually from the worktree directory:

cd .github/worktrees/<name>
rm .env
# Compute relative path to project root .env
GIT_ROOT=$(git -C "$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)/.." rev-parse --show-toplevel)
ln -s "$(python3 -c "import os; print(os.path.relpath('$GIT_ROOT/.env', '$(pwd)'))")" .env
ls -la .env  # Verify

Why a New Terminal?

Claude Code's CWD and statusline are set at launch. If you cd into a worktree from an existing session, the statusline stays wrong, and auto-compact causes Claude to revert to the main repo.

The script outputs a copy-paste command that:

1. cds to the worktree
2. Launches a new claude instance

This ensures correct statusline and stable context throughout the session.