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 list' [--porcelain] 14'git worktree lock' [--reason <string>] <worktree> 15'git worktree prune' [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>] 16'git worktree unlock' <worktree> 17 18DESCRIPTION 19----------- 20 21Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository. 22 23A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to check 24out more than one branch at a time. With `git worktree add` a new working 25tree is associated with the repository. This new working tree is called a 26"linked working tree" as opposed to the "main working tree" prepared by "git 27init" or "git clone". A repository has one main working tree (if it's not a 28bare repository) and zero or more linked working trees. 29 30When you are done with a linked working tree you can simply delete it. 31The working tree's administrative files in the repository (see 32"DETAILS" below) will eventually be removed automatically (see 33`gc.worktreePruneExpire` in linkgit:git-config[1]), or you can run 34`git worktree prune` in the main or any linked working tree to 35clean up any stale administrative files. 36 37If you move a linked working tree, you need to manually update the 38administrative files so that they do not get pruned automatically. See 39section "DETAILS" for more information. 40 41If a linked working tree is stored on a portable device or network share 42which is not always mounted, you can prevent its administrative files from 43being pruned by issuing the `git worktree lock` command, optionally 44specifying `--reason` to explain why the working tree is locked. 45 46COMMANDS 47-------- 48add <path> [<branch>]:: 49 50Create `<path>` and checkout `<branch>` into it. The new working directory 51is linked to the current repository, sharing everything except working 52directory specific files such as HEAD, index, etc. `-` may also be 53specified as `<branch>`; it is synonymous with `@{-1}`. 54+ 55If `<branch>` is omitted and neither `-b` nor `-B` nor `--detach` used, 56then, as a convenience, a new branch based at HEAD is created automatically, 57as if `-b $(basename <path>)` was specified. 58 59list:: 60 61List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed first, followed by 62each of the linked worktrees. The output details include if the worktree is 63bare, the revision currently checked out, and the branch currently checked out 64(or 'detached HEAD' if none). 65 66lock:: 67 68If a working tree is on a portable device or network share which 69is not always mounted, lock it to prevent its administrative 70files from being pruned automatically. This also prevents it from 71being moved or deleted. Optionally, specify a reason for the lock 72with `--reason`. 73 74prune:: 75 76Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees. 77 78unlock:: 79 80Unlock a working tree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted. 81 82OPTIONS 83------- 84 85-f:: 86--force:: 87 By default, `add` refuses to create a new working tree when `<branch>` 88 is already checked out by another working tree. This option overrides 89 that safeguard. 90 91-b <new-branch>:: 92-B <new-branch>:: 93 With `add`, create a new branch named `<new-branch>` starting at 94 `<branch>`, and check out `<new-branch>` into the new working tree. 95 If `<branch>` is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. 96 By default, `-b` refuses to create a new branch if it already 97 exists. `-B` overrides this safeguard, resetting `<new-branch>` to 98 `<branch>`. 99 100--detach:: 101 With `add`, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED HEAD" 102 in linkgit:git-checkout[1]. 103 104--[no-]checkout:: 105 By default, `add` checks out `<branch>`, however, `--no-checkout` can 106 be used to suppress checkout in order to make customizations, 107 such as configuring sparse-checkout. See "Sparse checkout" 108 in linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 109 110-n:: 111--dry-run:: 112 With `prune`, do not remove anything; just report what it would 113 remove. 114 115--porcelain:: 116 With `list`, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. 117 This format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of user 118 configuration. See below for details. 119 120-v:: 121--verbose:: 122 With `prune`, report all removals. 123 124--expire <time>:: 125 With `prune`, only expire unused working trees older than <time>. 126 127--reason <string>:: 128 With `lock`, an explanation why the working tree is locked. 129 130<worktree>:: 131 Working trees can be identified by path, either relative or 132 absolute. 133+ 134If the last path components in the working tree's path is unique among 135working trees, it can be used to identify worktrees. For example if 136you only have two working trees, at "/abc/def/ghi" and "/abc/def/ggg", 137then "ghi" or "def/ghi" is enough to point to the former working tree. 138 139DETAILS 140------- 141Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's 142$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually 143the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a 144number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the 145command `git worktree add /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked 146working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a 147`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1` 148if `test-next` is already taken). 149 150Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private 151directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and 152$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR 153(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at 154the top directory of the linked working tree. 155 156Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either 157$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the 158linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns 159`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not 160`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git 161rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses 162$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`, 163since refs are shared across all working trees. 164 165See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of 166thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to 167$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something 168inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path. 169 170If you move a linked working tree, you need to update the 'gitdir' file 171in the entry's directory. For example, if a linked working tree is moved 172to `/newpath/test-next` and its `.git` file points to 173`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next`, then update 174`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir` to reference `/newpath/test-next` 175instead. 176 177To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which 178can be useful in some situations, such as when the 179entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), use the 180`git worktree lock` command, which adds a file named 181'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in 182plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points 183to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named 184`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the 185`test-next` entry from being pruned. See 186linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details. 187 188LIST OUTPUT FORMAT 189------------------ 190The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format shows the 191details on a single line with columns. For example: 192 193------------ 194S git worktree list 195/path/to/bare-source (bare) 196/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master] 197/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD) 198------------ 199 200Porcelain Format 201~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 202The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed with a 203label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes (like 'bare' 204and 'detached') are listed as a label only, and are only present if and only 205if the value is true. An empty line indicates the end of a worktree. For 206example: 207 208------------ 209S git worktree list --porcelain 210worktree /path/to/bare-source 211bare 212 213worktree /path/to/linked-worktree 214HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234 215branch refs/heads/master 216 217worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree 218HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a 219detached 220 221------------ 222 223EXAMPLES 224-------- 225You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and 226demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use 227linkgit:git-stash[1] to store your changes away temporarily, however, your 228working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed 229files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk 230disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked working tree to 231make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier 232refactoring session. 233 234------------ 235$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master 236$ pushd ../temp 237# ... hack hack hack ... 238$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss' 239$ popd 240$ rm -rf ../temp 241$ git worktree prune 242------------ 243 244BUGS 245---- 246Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support 247for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple 248checkouts of a superproject. 249 250git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently 251performed manually, such as: 252 253- `remove` to remove a linked working tree and its administrative files (and 254 warn if the working tree is dirty) 255- `mv` to move or rename a working tree and update its administrative files 256 257GIT 258--- 259Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite