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. 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 58list:: 59 60List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed first, followed by 61each of the linked worktrees. The output details include if the worktree is 62bare, the revision currently checked out, and the branch currently checked out 63(or 'detached HEAD' if none). 64 65lock:: 66 67If a working tree is on a portable device or network share which 68is not always mounted, lock it to prevent its administrative 69files from being pruned automatically. This also prevents it from 70being moved or deleted. Optionally, specify a reason for the lock 71with `--reason`. 72 73prune:: 74 75Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees. 76 77unlock:: 78 79Unlock a working tree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted. 80 81OPTIONS 82------- 83 84-f:: 85--force:: 86 By default, `add` refuses to create a new working tree when `<branch>` 87 is already checked out by another working tree. This option overrides 88 that safeguard. 89 90-b <new-branch>:: 91-B <new-branch>:: 92 With `add`, create a new branch named `<new-branch>` starting at 93 `<branch>`, and check out `<new-branch>` into the new working tree. 94 If `<branch>` is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. 95 By default, `-b` refuses to create a new branch if it already 96 exists. `-B` overrides this safeguard, resetting `<new-branch>` to 97 `<branch>`. 98 99--detach:: 100 With `add`, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED HEAD" 101 in linkgit:git-checkout[1]. 102 103--[no-]checkout:: 104 By default, `add` checks out `<branch>`, however, `--no-checkout` can 105 be used to suppress checkout in order to make customizations, 106 such as configuring sparse-checkout. See "Sparse checkout" 107 in linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 108 109-n:: 110--dry-run:: 111 With `prune`, do not remove anything; just report what it would 112 remove. 113 114--porcelain:: 115 With `list`, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. 116 This format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of user 117 configuration. See below for details. 118 119-v:: 120--verbose:: 121 With `prune`, report all removals. 122 123--expire <time>:: 124 With `prune`, only expire unused working trees older than <time>. 125 126--reason <string>:: 127 With `lock`, an explanation why the working tree is locked. 128 129<worktree>:: 130 Working trees can be identified by path, either relative or 131 absolute. 132 133DETAILS 134------- 135Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's 136$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually 137the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a 138number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the 139command `git worktree add /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked 140working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a 141`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1` 142if `test-next` is already taken). 143 144Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private 145directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and 146$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR 147(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at 148the top directory of the linked working tree. 149 150Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either 151$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the 152linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns 153`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not 154`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git 155rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses 156$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`, 157since refs are shared across all working trees. 158 159See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of 160thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to 161$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something 162inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path. 163 164If you move a linked working tree, you need to update the 'gitdir' file 165in the entry's directory. For example, if a linked working tree is moved 166to `/newpath/test-next` and its `.git` file points to 167`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next`, then update 168`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir` to reference `/newpath/test-next` 169instead. 170 171To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which 172can be useful in some situations, such as when the 173entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), use the 174`git worktree lock` command, which adds a file named 175'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in 176plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points 177to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named 178`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the 179`test-next` entry from being pruned. See 180linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details. 181 182LIST OUTPUT FORMAT 183------------------ 184The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format shows the 185details on a single line with columns. For example: 186 187------------ 188S git worktree list 189/path/to/bare-source (bare) 190/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master] 191/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD) 192------------ 193 194Porcelain Format 195~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 196The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed with a 197label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes (like 'bare' 198and 'detached') are listed as a label only, and are only present if and only 199if the value is true. An empty line indicates the end of a worktree. For 200example: 201 202------------ 203S git worktree list --porcelain 204worktree /path/to/bare-source 205bare 206 207worktree /path/to/linked-worktree 208HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234 209branch refs/heads/master 210 211worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree 212HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a 213detached 214 215------------ 216 217EXAMPLES 218-------- 219You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and 220demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use 221linkgit:git-stash[1] to store your changes away temporarily, however, your 222working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed 223files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk 224disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked working tree to 225make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier 226refactoring session. 227 228------------ 229$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master 230$ pushd ../temp 231# ... hack hack hack ... 232$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss' 233$ popd 234$ rm -rf ../temp 235$ git worktree prune 236------------ 237 238BUGS 239---- 240Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support 241for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple 242checkouts of a superproject. 243 244git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently 245performed manually, such as: 246 247- `remove` to remove a linked working tree and its administrative files (and 248 warn if the working tree is dirty) 249- `mv` to move or rename a working tree and update its administrative files 250 251GIT 252--- 253Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite