1GIT-WORKTREE(1)                   Git Manual                   GIT-WORKTREE(1)
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NAME

6       git-worktree - Manage multiple working trees
7

SYNOPSIS

9       git worktree add [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [--lock] [-b <new-branch>] <path> [<commit-ish>]
10       git worktree list [--porcelain]
11       git worktree lock [--reason <string>] <worktree>
12       git worktree move <worktree> <new-path>
13       git worktree prune [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>]
14       git worktree remove [-f] <worktree>
15       git worktree repair [<path>...]
16       git worktree unlock <worktree>
17

DESCRIPTION

19       Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository.
20
21       A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to
22       check out more than one branch at a time. With git worktree add a new
23       working tree is associated with the repository. This new working tree
24       is called a "linked working tree" as opposed to the "main working tree"
25       prepared by git-init(1) or git-clone(1). A repository has one main
26       working tree (if it’s not a bare repository) and zero or more linked
27       working trees. When you are done with a linked working tree, remove it
28       with git worktree remove.
29
30       In its simplest form, git worktree add <path> automatically creates a
31       new branch whose name is the final component of <path>, which is
32       convenient if you plan to work on a new topic. For instance, git
33       worktree add ../hotfix creates new branch hotfix and checks it out at
34       path ../hotfix. To instead work on an existing branch in a new working
35       tree, use git worktree add <path> <branch>. On the other hand, if you
36       just plan to make some experimental changes or do testing without
37       disturbing existing development, it is often convenient to create a
38       throwaway working tree not associated with any branch. For instance,
39       git worktree add -d <path> creates a new working tree with a detached
40       HEAD at the same commit as the current branch.
41
42       If a working tree is deleted without using git worktree remove, then
43       its associated administrative files, which reside in the repository
44       (see "DETAILS" below), will eventually be removed automatically (see
45       gc.worktreePruneExpire in git-config(1)), or you can run git worktree
46       prune in the main or any linked working tree to clean up any stale
47       administrative files.
48
49       If a linked working tree is stored on a portable device or network
50       share which is not always mounted, you can prevent its administrative
51       files from being pruned by issuing the git worktree lock command,
52       optionally specifying --reason to explain why the working tree is
53       locked.
54

COMMANDS

56       add <path> [<commit-ish>]
57           Create <path> and checkout <commit-ish> into it. The new working
58           directory is linked to the current repository, sharing everything
59           except working directory specific files such as HEAD, index, etc.
60           As a convenience, <commit-ish> may be a bare "-", which is
61           synonymous with @{-1}.
62
63           If <commit-ish> is a branch name (call it <branch>) and is not
64           found, and neither -b nor -B nor --detach are used, but there does
65           exist a tracking branch in exactly one remote (call it <remote>)
66           with a matching name, treat as equivalent to:
67
68               $ git worktree add --track -b <branch> <path> <remote>/<branch>
69
70           If the branch exists in multiple remotes and one of them is named
71           by the checkout.defaultRemote configuration variable, we’ll use
72           that one for the purposes of disambiguation, even if the <branch>
73           isn’t unique across all remotes. Set it to e.g.
74           checkout.defaultRemote=origin to always checkout remote branches
75           from there if <branch> is ambiguous but exists on the origin
76           remote. See also checkout.defaultRemote in git-config(1).
77
78           If <commit-ish> is omitted and neither -b nor -B nor --detach used,
79           then, as a convenience, the new working tree is associated with a
80           branch (call it <branch>) named after $(basename <path>). If
81           <branch> doesn’t exist, a new branch based on HEAD is automatically
82           created as if -b <branch> was given. If <branch> does exist, it
83           will be checked out in the new working tree, if it’s not checked
84           out anywhere else, otherwise the command will refuse to create the
85           working tree (unless --force is used).
86
87       list
88           List details of each working tree. The main working tree is listed
89           first, followed by each of the linked working trees. The output
90           details include whether the working tree is bare, the revision
91           currently checked out, the branch currently checked out (or
92           "detached HEAD" if none), "locked" if the worktree is locked,
93           "prunable" if the worktree can be pruned by prune command.
94
95       lock
96           If a working tree is on a portable device or network share which is
97           not always mounted, lock it to prevent its administrative files
98           from being pruned automatically. This also prevents it from being
99           moved or deleted. Optionally, specify a reason for the lock with
100           --reason.
101
102       move
103           Move a working tree to a new location. Note that the main working
104           tree or linked working trees containing submodules cannot be moved
105           with this command. (The git worktree repair command, however, can
106           reestablish the connection with linked working trees if you move
107           the main working tree manually.)
108
109       prune
110           Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees.
111
112       remove
113           Remove a working tree. Only clean working trees (no untracked files
114           and no modification in tracked files) can be removed. Unclean
115           working trees or ones with submodules can be removed with --force.
116           The main working tree cannot be removed.
117
118       repair [<path>...]
119           Repair working tree administrative files, if possible, if they have
120           become corrupted or outdated due to external factors.
121
122           For instance, if the main working tree (or bare repository) is
123           moved, linked working trees will be unable to locate it. Running
124           repair in the main working tree will reestablish the connection
125           from linked working trees back to the main working tree.
126
127           Similarly, if a linked working tree is moved without using git
128           worktree move, the main working tree (or bare repository) will be
129           unable to locate it. Running repair within the recently-moved
130           working tree will reestablish the connection. If multiple linked
131           working trees are moved, running repair from any working tree with
132           each tree’s new <path> as an argument, will reestablish the
133           connection to all the specified paths.
134
135           If both the main working tree and linked working trees have been
136           moved manually, then running repair in the main working tree and
137           specifying the new <path> of each linked working tree will
138           reestablish all connections in both directions.
139
140       unlock
141           Unlock a working tree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted.
142

OPTIONS

144       -f, --force
145           By default, add refuses to create a new working tree when
146           <commit-ish> is a branch name and is already checked out by another
147           working tree, or if <path> is already assigned to some working tree
148           but is missing (for instance, if <path> was deleted manually). This
149           option overrides these safeguards. To add a missing but locked
150           working tree path, specify --force twice.
151
152           move refuses to move a locked working tree unless --force is
153           specified twice. If the destination is already assigned to some
154           other working tree but is missing (for instance, if <new-path> was
155           deleted manually), then --force allows the move to proceed; use
156           --force twice if the destination is locked.
157
158           remove refuses to remove an unclean working tree unless --force is
159           used. To remove a locked working tree, specify --force twice.
160
161       -b <new-branch>, -B <new-branch>
162           With add, create a new branch named <new-branch> starting at
163           <commit-ish>, and check out <new-branch> into the new working tree.
164           If <commit-ish> is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. By default, -b
165           refuses to create a new branch if it already exists.  -B overrides
166           this safeguard, resetting <new-branch> to <commit-ish>.
167
168       -d, --detach
169           With add, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED HEAD"
170           in git-checkout(1).
171
172       --[no-]checkout
173           By default, add checks out <commit-ish>, however, --no-checkout can
174           be used to suppress checkout in order to make customizations, such
175           as configuring sparse-checkout. See "Sparse checkout" in git-read-
176           tree(1).
177
178       --[no-]guess-remote
179           With worktree add <path>, without <commit-ish>, instead of creating
180           a new branch from HEAD, if there exists a tracking branch in
181           exactly one remote matching the basename of <path>, base the new
182           branch on the remote-tracking branch, and mark the remote-tracking
183           branch as "upstream" from the new branch.
184
185           This can also be set up as the default behaviour by using the
186           worktree.guessRemote config option.
187
188       --[no-]track
189           When creating a new branch, if <commit-ish> is a branch, mark it as
190           "upstream" from the new branch. This is the default if <commit-ish>
191           is a remote-tracking branch. See --track in git-branch(1) for
192           details.
193
194       --lock
195           Keep the working tree locked after creation. This is the equivalent
196           of git worktree lock after git worktree add, but without a race
197           condition.
198
199       -n, --dry-run
200           With prune, do not remove anything; just report what it would
201           remove.
202
203       --porcelain
204           With list, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. This
205           format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of
206           user configuration. See below for details.
207
208       -q, --quiet
209           With add, suppress feedback messages.
210
211       -v, --verbose
212           With prune, report all removals.
213
214           With list, output additional information about worktrees (see
215           below).
216
217       --expire <time>
218           With prune, only expire unused working trees older than <time>.
219
220           With list, annotate missing working trees as prunable if they are
221           older than <time>.
222
223       --reason <string>
224           With lock, an explanation why the working tree is locked.
225
226       <worktree>
227           Working trees can be identified by path, either relative or
228           absolute.
229
230           If the last path components in the working tree’s path is unique
231           among working trees, it can be used to identify a working tree. For
232           example if you only have two working trees, at /abc/def/ghi and
233           /abc/def/ggg, then ghi or def/ghi is enough to point to the former
234           working tree.
235

REFS

237       In multiple working trees, some refs may be shared between all working
238       trees and some refs are local. One example is HEAD which is different
239       for each working tree. This section is about the sharing rules and how
240       to access refs of one working tree from another.
241
242       In general, all pseudo refs are per working tree and all refs starting
243       with refs/ are shared. Pseudo refs are ones like HEAD which are
244       directly under $GIT_DIR instead of inside $GIT_DIR/refs. There are
245       exceptions, however: refs inside refs/bisect and refs/worktree are not
246       shared.
247
248       Refs that are per working tree can still be accessed from another
249       working tree via two special paths, main-worktree and worktrees. The
250       former gives access to per-working tree refs of the main working tree,
251       while the latter to all linked working trees.
252
253       For example, main-worktree/HEAD or main-worktree/refs/bisect/good
254       resolve to the same value as the main working tree’s HEAD and
255       refs/bisect/good respectively. Similarly, worktrees/foo/HEAD or
256       worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad are the same as
257       $GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/foo/HEAD and
258       $GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad.
259
260       To access refs, it’s best not to look inside $GIT_DIR directly. Instead
261       use commands such as git-rev-parse(1) or git-update-ref(1) which will
262       handle refs correctly.
263

CONFIGURATION FILE

265       By default, the repository config file is shared across all working
266       trees. If the config variables core.bare or core.worktree are already
267       present in the config file, they will be applied to the main working
268       trees only.
269
270       In order to have configuration specific to working trees, you can turn
271       on the worktreeConfig extension, e.g.:
272
273           $ git config extensions.worktreeConfig true
274
275       In this mode, specific configuration stays in the path pointed by git
276       rev-parse --git-path config.worktree. You can add or update
277       configuration in this file with git config --worktree. Older Git
278       versions will refuse to access repositories with this extension.
279
280       Note that in this file, the exception for core.bare and core.worktree
281       is gone. If they exist in $GIT_DIR/config, you must move them to the
282       config.worktree of the main working tree. You may also take this
283       opportunity to review and move other configuration that you do not want
284       to share to all working trees:
285
286core.worktree and core.bare should never be shared
287
288core.sparseCheckout is recommended per working tree, unless you are
289           sure you always use sparse checkout for all working trees.
290

DETAILS

292       Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the
293       repository’s $GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory’s
294       name is usually the base name of the linked working tree’s path,
295       possibly appended with a number to make it unique. For example, when
296       $GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git the command git worktree add
297       /path/other/test-next next creates the linked working tree in
298       /path/other/test-next and also creates a $GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next
299       directory (or $GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1 if test-next is already
300       taken).
301
302       Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private
303       directory (e.g. /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next in the example) and
304       $GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree’s
305       $GIT_DIR (e.g. /path/main/.git). These settings are made in a .git file
306       located at the top directory of the linked working tree.
307
308       Path resolution via git rev-parse --git-path uses either $GIT_DIR or
309       $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the linked
310       working tree git rev-parse --git-path HEAD returns
311       /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD (not
312       /path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD or /path/main/.git/HEAD) while git
313       rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master uses $GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns
314       /path/main/.git/refs/heads/master, since refs are shared across all
315       working trees, except refs/bisect and refs/worktree.
316
317       See gitrepository-layout(5) for more information. The rule of thumb is
318       do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to $GIT_DIR or
319       $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something inside
320       $GIT_DIR. Use git rev-parse --git-path to get the final path.
321
322       If you manually move a linked working tree, you need to update the
323       gitdir file in the entry’s directory. For example, if a linked working
324       tree is moved to /newpath/test-next and its .git file points to
325       /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next, then update
326       /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir to reference
327       /newpath/test-next instead. Better yet, run git worktree repair to
328       reestablish the connection automatically.
329
330       To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which can be
331       useful in some situations, such as when the entry’s working tree is
332       stored on a portable device), use the git worktree lock command, which
333       adds a file named locked to the entry’s directory. The file contains
334       the reason in plain text. For example, if a linked working tree’s .git
335       file points to /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next then a file named
336       /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked will prevent the test-next
337       entry from being pruned. See gitrepository-layout(5) for details.
338
339       When extensions.worktreeConfig is enabled, the config file
340       .git/worktrees/<id>/config.worktree is read after .git/config is.
341

LIST OUTPUT FORMAT

343       The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format
344       shows the details on a single line with columns. For example:
345
346           $ git worktree list
347           /path/to/bare-source            (bare)
348           /path/to/linked-worktree        abcd1234 [master]
349           /path/to/other-linked-worktree  1234abc  (detached HEAD)
350
351       The command also shows annotations for each working tree, according to
352       its state. These annotations are:
353
354locked, if the working tree is locked.
355
356prunable, if the working tree can be pruned via git worktree prune.
357
358           $ git worktree list
359           /path/to/linked-worktree    abcd1234 [master]
360           /path/to/locked-worktreee   acbd5678 (brancha) locked
361           /path/to/prunable-worktree  5678abc  (detached HEAD) prunable
362
363       For these annotations, a reason might also be available and this can be
364       seen using the verbose mode. The annotation is then moved to the next
365       line indented followed by the additional information.
366
367           $ git worktree list --verbose
368           /path/to/linked-worktree              abcd1234 [master]
369           /path/to/locked-worktree-no-reason    abcd5678 (detached HEAD) locked
370           /path/to/locked-worktree-with-reason  1234abcd (brancha)
371                   locked: working tree path is mounted on a portable device
372           /path/to/prunable-worktree            5678abc1 (detached HEAD)
373                   prunable: gitdir file points to non-existent location
374
375       Note that the annotation is moved to the next line if the additional
376       information is available, otherwise it stays on the same line as the
377       working tree itself.
378
379   Porcelain Format
380       The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed
381       with a label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes
382       (like bare and detached) are listed as a label only, and are present
383       only if the value is true. Some attributes (like locked) can be listed
384       as a label only or with a value depending upon whether a reason is
385       available. The first attribute of a working tree is always worktree, an
386       empty line indicates the end of the record. For example:
387
388           $ git worktree list --porcelain
389           worktree /path/to/bare-source
390           bare
391
392           worktree /path/to/linked-worktree
393           HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234
394           branch refs/heads/master
395
396           worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree
397           HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a
398           detached
399
400           worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-no-reason
401           HEAD 5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678abc5678c
402           branch refs/heads/locked-no-reason
403           locked
404
405           worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-locked-with-reason
406           HEAD 3456def3456def3456def3456def3456def3456b
407           branch refs/heads/locked-with-reason
408           locked reason why is locked
409
410           worktree /path/to/linked-worktree-prunable
411           HEAD 1233def1234def1234def1234def1234def1234b
412           detached
413           prunable gitdir file points to non-existent location
414
415       If the lock reason contains "unusual" characters such as newline, they
416       are escaped and the entire reason is quoted as explained for the
417       configuration variable core.quotePath (see git-config(1)). For Example:
418
419           $ git worktree list --porcelain
420           ...
421           locked "reason\nwhy is locked"
422           ...
423

EXAMPLES

425       You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in
426       and demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use
427       git-stash(1) to store your changes away temporarily, however, your
428       working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and
429       removed files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don’t
430       want to risk disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary
431       linked working tree to make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and
432       then resume your earlier refactoring session.
433
434           $ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master
435           $ pushd ../temp
436           # ... hack hack hack ...
437           $ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss'
438           $ popd
439           $ git worktree remove ../temp
440

BUGS

442       Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support for
443       submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple
444       checkouts of a superproject.
445

GIT

447       Part of the git(1) suite
448
449
450
451Git 2.31.1                        2021-03-26                   GIT-WORKTREE(1)
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