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+ 133If the last path components in the working tree's path is unique among 134working trees, it can be used to identify worktrees. For example if 135you only have to working trees at "/abc/def/ghi" and "/abc/def/ggg", 136then "ghi" or "def/ghi" is enough to point to the former working tree. 137 138DETAILS 139------- 140Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's 141$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually 142the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a 143number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the 144command `git worktree add /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked 145working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a 146`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1` 147if `test-next` is already taken). 148 149Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private 150directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and 151$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR 152(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at 153the top directory of the linked working tree. 154 155Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either 156$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the 157linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns 158`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not 159`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git 160rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses 161$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`, 162since refs are shared across all working trees. 163 164See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of 165thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to 166$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something 167inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path. 168 169If you move a linked working tree, you need to update the 'gitdir' file 170in the entry's directory. For example, if a linked working tree is moved 171to `/newpath/test-next` and its `.git` file points to 172`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next`, then update 173`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir` to reference `/newpath/test-next` 174instead. 175 176To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which 177can be useful in some situations, such as when the 178entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), use the 179`git worktree lock` command, which adds a file named 180'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in 181plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points 182to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named 183`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the 184`test-next` entry from being pruned. See 185linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details. 186 187LIST OUTPUT FORMAT 188------------------ 189The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format shows the 190details on a single line with columns. For example: 191 192------------ 193S git worktree list 194/path/to/bare-source (bare) 195/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master] 196/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD) 197------------ 198 199Porcelain Format 200~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 201The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed with a 202label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes (like 'bare' 203and 'detached') are listed as a label only, and are only present if and only 204if the value is true. An empty line indicates the end of a worktree. For 205example: 206 207------------ 208S git worktree list --porcelain 209worktree /path/to/bare-source 210bare 211 212worktree /path/to/linked-worktree 213HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234 214branch refs/heads/master 215 216worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree 217HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a 218detached 219 220------------ 221 222EXAMPLES 223-------- 224You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and 225demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use 226linkgit:git-stash[1] to store your changes away temporarily, however, your 227working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed 228files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk 229disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked working tree to 230make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier 231refactoring session. 232 233------------ 234$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master 235$ pushd ../temp 236# ... hack hack hack ... 237$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss' 238$ popd 239$ rm -rf ../temp 240$ git worktree prune 241------------ 242 243BUGS 244---- 245Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support 246for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple 247checkouts of a superproject. 248 249git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently 250performed manually, such as: 251 252- `remove` to remove a linked working tree and its administrative files (and 253 warn if the working tree is dirty) 254- `mv` to move or rename a working tree and update its administrative files 255 256GIT 257--- 258Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite