1git-worktree(1) 2=============== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-worktree - Manage multiple worktrees 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git worktree prune' [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>] 13 14DESCRIPTION 15----------- 16 17Manage multiple worktrees attached to the same repository. These are 18created by the command `git checkout --to`. 19 20A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to check 21out more than one branch at a time. With `git checkout --to` a new working 22tree is associated with the repository. This new working tree is called a 23"linked working tree" as opposed to the "main working tree" prepared by "git 24init" or "git clone". A repository has one main working tree (if it's not a 25bare repository) and zero or more linked working trees. 26 27When you are done with a linked working tree you can simply delete it. 28The working tree's administrative files in the repository (see 29"DETAILS" below) will eventually be removed automatically (see 30`gc.pruneworktreesexpire` in linkgit::git-config[1]), or you can run 31`git worktree prune` in the main or any linked working tree to 32clean up any stale administrative files. 33 34If you move a linked working directory to another file system, or 35within a file system that does not support hard links, you need to run 36at least one git command inside the linked working directory 37(e.g. `git status`) in order to update its administrative files in the 38repository so that they do not get automatically pruned. 39 40If a linked working tree is stored on a portable device or network share 41which is not always mounted, you can prevent its administrative files from 42being pruned by creating a file named 'lock' alongside the other 43administrative files, optionally containing a plain text reason that 44pruning should be suppressed. See section "DETAILS" for more information. 45 46COMMANDS 47-------- 48prune:: 49 50Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees. 51 52OPTIONS 53------- 54 55-n:: 56--dry-run:: 57 With `prune`, do not remove anything; just report what it would 58 remove. 59 60-v:: 61--verbose:: 62 With `prune`, report all removals. 63 64--expire <time>:: 65 With `prune`, only expire unused worktrees older than <time>. 66 67DETAILS 68------- 69Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's 70$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually 71the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a 72number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the 73command `git checkout --to /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked 74working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a 75`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1` 76if `test-next` is already taken). 77 78Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private 79directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and 80$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR 81(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at 82the top directory of the linked working tree. 83 84Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either 85$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the 86linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns 87`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not 88`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git 89rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses 90$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`, 91since refs are shared across all working trees. 92 93See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of 94thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to 95$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something 96inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path. 97 98To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from from being pruned (which 99can be useful in some situations, such as when the 100entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), add a file named 101'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in 102plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points 103to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named 104`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the 105`test-next` entry from being pruned. See 106linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details. 107 108BUGS 109---- 110Multiple checkout support for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT 111recommended to make multiple checkouts of a superproject. 112 113git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently 114performed manually or via other commands, such as: 115 116- `add` to create a new linked worktree 117- `remove` to remove a linked worktree and its administrative files (and 118 warn if the worktree is dirty) 119- `mv` to move or rename a worktree and update its administrative files 120- `list` to list linked worktrees 121- `lock` to prevent automatic pruning of administrative files (for instance, 122 for a worktree on a portable device) 123 124SEE ALSO 125-------- 126 127linkgit:git-checkout[1] 128 129GIT 130--- 131Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite