1git-worktree(1) 2=============== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-worktree - Manage multiple worktrees 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git worktree add' <path> <branch> 13'git worktree prune' [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>] 14 15DESCRIPTION 16----------- 17 18Manage multiple worktrees attached to the same repository. 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-------- 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 54prune:: 55 56Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees. 57 58OPTIONS 59------- 60 61-n:: 62--dry-run:: 63 With `prune`, do not remove anything; just report what it would 64 remove. 65 66-v:: 67--verbose:: 68 With `prune`, report all removals. 69 70--expire <time>:: 71 With `prune`, only expire unused worktrees older than <time>. 72 73DETAILS 74------- 75Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's 76$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually 77the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a 78number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the 79command `git checkout --to /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked 80working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a 81`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1` 82if `test-next` is already taken). 83 84Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private 85directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and 86$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR 87(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at 88the top directory of the linked working tree. 89 90Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either 91$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the 92linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns 93`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not 94`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git 95rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses 96$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`, 97since refs are shared across all working trees. 98 99See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of 100thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to 101$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something 102inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path. 103 104To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from from being pruned (which 105can be useful in some situations, such as when the 106entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), add a file named 107'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in 108plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points 109to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named 110`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the 111`test-next` entry from being pruned. See 112linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details. 113 114EXAMPLES 115-------- 116You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and 117demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use 118linkgit:git-stash[1] to store your changes away temporarily, however, your 119worktree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed files, 120and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk 121disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked worktree to 122make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier 123refactoring session. 124 125------------ 126$ git branch emergency-fix master 127$ git worktree add ../temp emergency-fix 128$ pushd ../temp 129# ... hack hack hack ... 130$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss' 131$ popd 132$ rm -rf ../temp 133$ git worktree prune 134------------ 135 136BUGS 137---- 138Multiple checkout support for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT 139recommended to make multiple checkouts of a superproject. 140 141git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently 142performed manually, such as: 143 144- `remove` to remove a linked worktree and its administrative files (and 145 warn if the worktree is dirty) 146- `mv` to move or rename a worktree and update its administrative files 147- `list` to list linked worktrees 148- `lock` to prevent automatic pruning of administrative files (for instance, 149 for a worktree on a portable device) 150 151GIT 152--- 153Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite