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>]]
[--orphan] [(-b | -B) <new-branch>] <path> [<commit-ish>]
git worktree list [-v | --porcelain [-z]]
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, along with additional
metadata that differentiates that working tree from others in the
same repository. The working tree, along with this metadata, is
called a "worktree".

This new worktree is called a "linked worktree" as opposed to the
"main worktree" prepared by git-init(1) or git-clone(1). A repository
has one main worktree (if it's not a bare repository) and zero or
more linked worktrees. When you are done with a linked worktree,
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
worktree, 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 worktree not associated with any branch. For instance, git
worktree add -d <path> creates a new worktree 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 worktree to clean up any stale
administrative files.

If the working tree for a linked worktree 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 worktree is locked.

COMMANDS

add <path> [<commit-ish>]
Create a worktree at <path> and checkout <commit-ish> into it.
The new worktree is linked to the current repository, sharing
everything except per-worktree 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 worktree 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 worktree, if it's
not checked out anywhere else, otherwise the command will refuse
to create the worktree (unless --force is used).

If <commit-ish> is omitted, neither --detach, or --orphan is
used, and there are no valid local branches (or remote branches
if --guess-remote is specified) then, as a convenience, the new
worktree is associated with a new unborn branch named <branch>
(after $(basename <path>) if neither -b or -B is used) as if
--orphan was passed to the command. In the event the repository
has a remote and --guess-remote is used, but no remote or local
branches exist, then the command fails with a warning reminding
the user to fetch from their remote first (or override by using
-f/--force).

list
List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed first,
followed by each of the linked worktrees. The output details
include whether the worktree 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 the prune command.

lock
If a worktree 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 worktree to a new location. Note that the main worktree or
linked worktrees containing submodules cannot be moved with this
command. (The git worktree repair command, however, can
reestablish the connection with linked worktrees if you move the
main worktree manually.)

prune
Prune worktree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees.

remove
Remove a worktree. Only clean worktrees (no untracked files and
no modification in tracked files) can be removed. Unclean
worktrees or ones with submodules can be removed with --force.
The main worktree cannot be removed.

repair [<path>...]
Repair worktree administrative files, if possible, if they have
become corrupted or outdated due to external factors.

For instance, if the main worktree (or bare repository) is moved,
linked worktrees will be unable to locate it. Running repair in
the main worktree will reestablish the connection from linked
worktrees back to the main worktree.

Similarly, if the working tree for a linked worktree is moved
without using git worktree move, the main worktree (or bare
repository) will be unable to locate it. Running repair within
the recently-moved worktree will reestablish the connection. If
multiple linked worktrees are moved, running repair from any
worktree with each tree's new <path> as an argument, will
reestablish the connection to all the specified paths.

If both the main worktree and linked worktrees have been moved or
copied manually, then running repair in the main worktree and
specifying the new <path> of each linked worktree will
reestablish all connections in both directions.

unlock
Unlock a worktree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted.

OPTIONS

-f, --force
By default, add refuses to create a new worktree when
<commit-ish> is a branch name and is already checked out by
another worktree, or if <path> is already assigned to some
worktree but is missing (for instance, if <path> was deleted
manually). This option overrides these safeguards. To add a
missing but locked worktree path, specify --force twice.

move refuses to move a locked worktree unless --force is
specified twice. If the destination is already assigned to some
other worktree 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 worktree unless --force is
used. To remove a locked worktree, 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 worktree.
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 worktree. 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-]relative-paths
Link worktrees using relative paths or absolute paths (default).
Overrides the worktree.useRelativePaths config option, see git-
config(1).

With repair, the linking files will be updated if there's an
absolute/relative mismatch, even if the links are correct.

--[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 worktree 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.

--orphan
With add, make the new worktree and index empty, associating the
worktree with a new unborn branch named <new-branch>.

--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. It is recommended to combine this with -z.
See below for details.

-z
Terminate each line with a NUL rather than a newline when
--porcelain is specified with list. This makes it possible to
parse the output when a worktree path contains a newline
character.

-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 worktrees older than <time>.

With list, annotate missing worktrees as prunable if they are
older than <time>.

--reason <string>
With lock or with add --lock, an explanation why the worktree is
locked.

<worktree>
Worktrees can be identified by path, either relative or absolute.

If the last path components in the worktree's path is unique
among worktrees, it can be used to identify a worktree. For
example if you only have two worktrees, at /abc/def/ghi and
/abc/def/ggg, then ghi or def/ghi is enough to point to the
former worktree.

REFS

When using multiple worktrees, some refs are shared between all
worktrees, but others are specific to an individual worktree. One
example is HEAD, which is different for each worktree. This section
is about the sharing rules and how to access refs of one worktree
from another.

In general, all pseudo refs are per-worktree 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, refs/worktree and
refs/rewritten are not shared.

Refs that are per-worktree can still be accessed from another
worktree via two special paths, main-worktree and worktrees. The
former gives access to per-worktree refs of the main worktree, while
the latter to all linked worktrees.

For example, main-worktree/HEAD or main-worktree/refs/bisect/good
resolve to the same value as the main worktree'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
worktrees. If the config variables core.bare or core.worktree are
present in the common config file and extensions.worktreeConfig is
disabled, then they will be applied to the main worktree only.

In order to have worktree-specific configuration, 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 worktree. You may also take this
opportunity to review and move other configuration that you do not
want to share to all worktrees:

+o core.worktree should never be shared.

+o core.bare should not be shared if the value is core.bare=true.

+o core.sparseCheckout should not be shared, unless you are sure you
always use sparse checkout for all worktrees.

See the documentation of extensions.worktreeConfig in git-config(1)
for more details.

DETAILS

Each linked worktree 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 worktree'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 worktree 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 worktree, $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 worktree's
$GIT_DIR (e.g. /path/main/.git). These settings are made in a .git
file located at the top directory of the linked worktree.

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
worktree 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 worktrees, except refs/bisect, refs/worktree and
refs/rewritten.

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 worktree, you need to update the gitdir
file in the entry's directory. For example, if a linked worktree 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 worktree 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
worktree'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 worktree, according to
its state. These annotations are:

+o locked, if the worktree is locked.

+o prunable, if the worktree 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: worktree 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
worktree itself.

Porcelain Format

The porcelain format has a line per attribute. If -z is given then
the lines are terminated with NUL rather than a newline. 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 worktree
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

Unless -z is used any "unusual" characters in the lock reason such as
newlines 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 worktree 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 2.48.1 2025-01-13 GIT-WORKTREE(1)