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