1git-worktree(1) 2=============== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-worktree - Manage multiple working trees 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git worktree add' [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [-b <new-branch>] <path> [<branch>] 13'git worktree prune' [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>] 14'git worktree list' [--porcelain] 15 16DESCRIPTION 17----------- 18 19Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository. 20 21A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to check 22out more than one branch at a time. With `git worktree add` a new working 23tree is associated with the repository. This new working tree is called a 24"linked working tree" as opposed to the "main working tree" prepared by "git 25init" or "git clone". A repository has one main working tree (if it's not a 26bare repository) and zero or more linked working trees. 27 28When you are done with a linked working tree you can simply delete it. 29The working tree's administrative files in the repository (see 30"DETAILS" below) will eventually be removed automatically (see 31`gc.worktreePruneExpire` in linkgit:git-config[1]), or you can run 32`git worktree prune` in the main or any linked working tree to 33clean up any stale administrative files. 34 35If you move a linked working tree, you need to manually update the 36administrative files so that they do not get pruned automatically. See 37section "DETAILS" for more information. 38 39If a linked working tree is stored on a portable device or network share 40which is not always mounted, you can prevent its administrative files from 41being pruned by creating a file named 'locked' alongside the other 42administrative files, optionally containing a plain text reason that 43pruning should be suppressed. See section "DETAILS" for more information. 44 45COMMANDS 46-------- 47add <path> [<branch>]:: 48 49Create `<path>` and checkout `<branch>` into it. The new working directory 50is linked to the current repository, sharing everything except working 51directory specific files such as HEAD, index, etc. `-` may also be 52specified as `<branch>`; it is synonymous with `@{-1}`. 53+ 54If `<branch>` is omitted and neither `-b` nor `-B` nor `--detached` used, 55then, as a convenience, a new branch based at HEAD is created automatically, 56as if `-b $(basename <path>)` was specified. 57 58prune:: 59 60Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees. 61 62list:: 63 64List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed first, followed by 65each of the linked worktrees. The output details include if the worktree is 66bare, the revision currently checked out, and the branch currently checked out 67(or 'detached HEAD' if none). 68 69OPTIONS 70------- 71 72-f:: 73--force:: 74 By default, `add` refuses to create a new working tree when `<branch>` 75 is already checked out by another working tree. This option overrides 76 that safeguard. 77 78-b <new-branch>:: 79-B <new-branch>:: 80 With `add`, create a new branch named `<new-branch>` starting at 81 `<branch>`, and check out `<new-branch>` into the new working tree. 82 If `<branch>` is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. 83 By default, `-b` refuses to create a new branch if it already 84 exists. `-B` overrides this safeguard, resetting `<new-branch>` to 85 `<branch>`. 86 87--detach:: 88 With `add`, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED HEAD" 89 in linkgit:git-checkout[1]. 90 91--[no-]checkout:: 92 By default, `add` checks out `<branch>`, however, `--no-checkout` can 93 be used to suppress checkout in order to make customizations, 94 such as configuring sparse-checkout. See "Sparse checkout" 95 in linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 96 97-n:: 98--dry-run:: 99 With `prune`, do not remove anything; just report what it would 100 remove. 101 102--porcelain:: 103 With `list`, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. 104 This format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of user 105 configuration. See below for details. 106 107-v:: 108--verbose:: 109 With `prune`, report all removals. 110 111--expire <time>:: 112 With `prune`, only expire unused working trees older than <time>. 113 114DETAILS 115------- 116Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's 117$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually 118the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a 119number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the 120command `git worktree add /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked 121working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a 122`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1` 123if `test-next` is already taken). 124 125Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private 126directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and 127$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR 128(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at 129the top directory of the linked working tree. 130 131Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either 132$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the 133linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns 134`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not 135`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git 136rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses 137$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`, 138since refs are shared across all working trees. 139 140See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of 141thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to 142$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something 143inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path. 144 145If you move a linked working tree, you need to update the 'gitdir' file 146in the entry's directory. For example, if a linked working tree is moved 147to `/newpath/test-next` and its `.git` file points to 148`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next`, then update 149`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir` to reference `/newpath/test-next` 150instead. 151 152To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which 153can be useful in some situations, such as when the 154entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), add a file named 155'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in 156plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points 157to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named 158`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the 159`test-next` entry from being pruned. See 160linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details. 161 162LIST OUTPUT FORMAT 163------------------ 164The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format shows the 165details on a single line with columns. For example: 166 167------------ 168S git worktree list 169/path/to/bare-source (bare) 170/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master] 171/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD) 172------------ 173 174Porcelain Format 175~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 176The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed with a 177label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes (like 'bare' 178and 'detached') are listed as a label only, and are only present if and only 179if the value is true. An empty line indicates the end of a worktree. For 180example: 181 182------------ 183S git worktree list --porcelain 184worktree /path/to/bare-source 185bare 186 187worktree /path/to/linked-worktree 188HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234 189branch refs/heads/master 190 191worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree 192HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a 193detached 194 195------------ 196 197EXAMPLES 198-------- 199You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and 200demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use 201linkgit:git-stash[1] to store your changes away temporarily, however, your 202working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed 203files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk 204disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked working tree to 205make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier 206refactoring session. 207 208------------ 209$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master 210$ pushd ../temp 211# ... hack hack hack ... 212$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss' 213$ popd 214$ rm -rf ../temp 215$ git worktree prune 216------------ 217 218BUGS 219---- 220Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support 221for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple 222checkouts of a superproject. 223 224git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently 225performed manually, such as: 226 227- `remove` to remove a linked working tree and its administrative files (and 228 warn if the working tree is dirty) 229- `mv` to move or rename a working tree and update its administrative files 230- `lock` to prevent automatic pruning of administrative files (for instance, 231 for a working tree on a portable device) 232 233GIT 234--- 235Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite