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] [-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 to another file system, or 36within a file system that does not support hard links, you need to run 37at least one git command inside the linked working tree 38(e.g. `git status`) in order to update its administrative files in the 39repository so that they do not get automatically pruned. 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 creating a file named 'locked' alongside the other 44administrative files, optionally containing a plain text reason that 45pruning should be suppressed. See section "DETAILS" for more information. 46 47COMMANDS 48-------- 49add <path> [<branch>]:: 50 51Create `<path>` and checkout `<branch>` into it. The new working directory 52is linked to the current repository, sharing everything except working 53directory specific files such as HEAD, index, etc. 54+ 55If `<branch>` is omitted and neither `-b` nor `-B` nor `--detached` used, 56then, as a convenience, a new branch based at HEAD is created automatically, 57as if `-b $(basename <path>)` was specified. 58 59prune:: 60 61Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees. 62 63list:: 64 65List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed first, followed by 66each of the linked worktrees. The output details include if the worktree is 67bare, the revision currently checked out, and the branch currently checked out 68(or 'detached HEAD' if none). 69 70OPTIONS 71------- 72 73-f:: 74--force:: 75 By default, `add` refuses to create a new working tree when `<branch>` 76 is already checked out by another working tree. This option overrides 77 that safeguard. 78 79-b <new-branch>:: 80-B <new-branch>:: 81 With `add`, create a new branch named `<new-branch>` starting at 82 `<branch>`, and check out `<new-branch>` into the new working tree. 83 If `<branch>` is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. 84 By default, `-b` refuses to create a new branch if it already 85 exists. `-B` overrides this safeguard, resetting `<new-branch>` to 86 `<branch>`. 87 88--detach:: 89 With `add`, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED HEAD" 90 in linkgit:git-checkout[1]. 91 92-n:: 93--dry-run:: 94 With `prune`, do not remove anything; just report what it would 95 remove. 96 97--porcelain:: 98 With `list`, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. 99 This format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of user 100 configuration. See below for details. 101 102-v:: 103--verbose:: 104 With `prune`, report all removals. 105 106--expire <time>:: 107 With `prune`, only expire unused working trees older than <time>. 108 109DETAILS 110------- 111Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's 112$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually 113the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a 114number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the 115command `git worktree add /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked 116working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a 117`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1` 118if `test-next` is already taken). 119 120Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private 121directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and 122$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR 123(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at 124the top directory of the linked working tree. 125 126Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either 127$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the 128linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns 129`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not 130`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git 131rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses 132$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`, 133since refs are shared across all working trees. 134 135See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of 136thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to 137$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something 138inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path. 139 140To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which 141can be useful in some situations, such as when the 142entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), add a file named 143'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in 144plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points 145to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named 146`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the 147`test-next` entry from being pruned. See 148linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details. 149 150LIST OUTPUT FORMAT 151------------------ 152The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format shows the 153details on a single line with columns. For example: 154 155------------ 156S git worktree list 157/path/to/bare-source (bare) 158/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master] 159/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD) 160------------ 161 162Porcelain Format 163~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 164The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed with a 165label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes (like 'bare' 166and 'detached') are listed as a label only, and are only present if and only 167if the value is true. An empty line indicates the end of a worktree. For 168example: 169 170------------ 171S git worktree list --porcelain 172worktree /path/to/bare-source 173bare 174 175worktree /path/to/linked-worktree 176HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234 177branch refs/heads/master 178 179worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree 180HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a 181detached 182 183------------ 184 185EXAMPLES 186-------- 187You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and 188demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use 189linkgit:git-stash[1] to store your changes away temporarily, however, your 190working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed 191files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk 192disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked working tree to 193make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier 194refactoring session. 195 196------------ 197$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master 198$ pushd ../temp 199# ... hack hack hack ... 200$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss' 201$ popd 202$ rm -rf ../temp 203$ git worktree prune 204------------ 205 206BUGS 207---- 208Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support 209for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple 210checkouts of a superproject. 211 212git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently 213performed manually, such as: 214 215- `remove` to remove a linked working tree and its administrative files (and 216 warn if the working tree is dirty) 217- `mv` to move or rename a working tree and update its administrative files 218- `lock` to prevent automatic pruning of administrative files (for instance, 219 for a working tree on a portable device) 220 221GIT 222--- 223Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite