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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | COMMANDS | OPTIONS | REFS | CONFIGURATION FILE | DETAILS | LIST OUTPUT FORMAT | EXAMPLES | BUGS | GIT | COLOPHON |
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GIT-WORKTREE(1) Git Manual GIT-WORKTREE(1)
git-worktree - Manage multiple working trees
git worktree add [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [--lock] [-b <new-branch>] <path> [<commit-ish>]
git worktree list [--porcelain]
git worktree lock [--reason <string>] <worktree>
git worktree move <worktree> <new-path>
git worktree prune [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>]
git worktree remove [-f] <worktree>
git worktree repair [<path>...]
git worktree unlock <worktree>
Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository.
A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you
to check out more than one branch at a time. With git worktree
add a new working tree is associated with the repository. This
new working tree is called a "linked working tree" as opposed to
the "main working tree" prepared by git-init(1) or git-clone(1).
A repository has one main working tree (if it’s not a bare
repository) and zero or more linked working trees. When you are
done with a linked working tree, remove it with git worktree
remove.
In its simplest form, git worktree add <path> automatically
creates a new branch whose name is the final component of <path>,
which is convenient if you plan to work on a new topic. For
instance, git worktree add ../hotfix creates new branch hotfix
and checks it out at path ../hotfix. To instead work on an
existing branch in a new working tree, use git worktree add
<path> <branch>. On the other hand, if you just plan to make some
experimental changes or do testing without disturbing existing
development, it is often convenient to create a throwaway working
tree not associated with any branch. For instance, git worktree
add -d <path> creates a new working tree with a detached HEAD at
the same commit as the current branch.
If a working tree is deleted without using git worktree remove,
then its associated administrative files, which reside in the
repository (see "DETAILS" below), will eventually be removed
automatically (see gc.worktreePruneExpire in git-config(1)), or
you can run git worktree prune in the main or any linked working
tree to clean up any stale administrative files.
If a linked working tree is stored on a portable device or
network share which is not always mounted, you can prevent its
administrative files from being pruned by issuing the git
worktree lock command, optionally specifying --reason to explain
why the working tree is locked.
add <path> [<commit-ish>]
Create <path> and checkout <commit-ish> into it. The new
working directory is linked to the current repository,
sharing everything except working directory specific files
such as HEAD, index, etc. As a convenience, <commit-ish> may
be a bare "-", which is synonymous with @{-1}.
If <commit-ish> is a branch name (call it <branch>) and is
not found, and neither -b nor -B nor --detach are used, but
there does exist a tracking branch in exactly one remote
(call it <remote>) with a matching name, treat as equivalent
to:
$ git worktree add --track -b <branch> <path> <remote>/<branch>
If the branch exists in multiple remotes and one of them is
named by the checkout.defaultRemote configuration variable,
we’ll use that one for the purposes of disambiguation, even
if the <branch> isn’t unique across all remotes. Set it to
e.g. checkout.defaultRemote=origin to always checkout remote
branches from there if <branch> is ambiguous but exists on
the origin remote. See also checkout.defaultRemote in
git-config(1).
If <commit-ish> is omitted and neither -b nor -B nor --detach
used, then, as a convenience, the new working tree is
associated with a branch (call it <branch>) named after
$(basename <path>). If <branch> doesn’t exist, a new branch
based on HEAD is automatically created as if -b <branch> was
given. If <branch> does exist, it will be checked out in the
new working tree, if it’s not checked out anywhere else,
otherwise the command will refuse to create the working tree
(unless --force is used).
list
List details of each working tree. The main working tree is
listed first, followed by each of the linked working trees.
The output details include whether the working tree is bare,
the revision currently checked out, the branch currently
checked out (or "detached HEAD" if none), and "locked" if the
worktree is locked.
lock
If a working tree is on a portable device or network share
which is not always mounted, lock it to prevent its
administrative files from being pruned automatically. This
also prevents it from being moved or deleted. Optionally,
specify a reason for the lock with --reason.
move
Move a working tree to a new location. Note that the main
working tree or linked working trees containing submodules
cannot be moved with this command. (The git worktree repair
command, however, can reestablish the connection with linked
working trees if you move the main working tree manually.)
prune
Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees.
remove
Remove a working tree. Only clean working trees (no untracked
files and no modification in tracked files) can be removed.
Unclean working trees or ones with submodules can be removed
with --force. The main working tree cannot be removed.
repair [<path>...]
Repair working tree administrative files, if possible, if
they have become corrupted or outdated due to external
factors.
For instance, if the main working tree (or bare repository)
is moved, linked working trees will be unable to locate it.
Running repair in the main working tree will reestablish the
connection from linked working trees back to the main working
tree.
Similarly, if a linked working tree is moved without using
git worktree move, the main working tree (or bare repository)
will be unable to locate it. Running repair within the
recently-moved working tree will reestablish the connection.
If multiple linked working trees are moved, running repair
from any working tree with each tree’s new <path> as an
argument, will reestablish the connection to all the
specified paths.
unlock
Unlock a working tree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or
deleted.
-f, --force
By default, add refuses to create a new working tree when
<commit-ish> is a branch name and is already checked out by
another working tree, or if <path> is already assigned to
some working tree but is missing (for instance, if <path> was
deleted manually). This option overrides these safeguards. To
add a missing but locked working tree path, specify --force
twice.
move refuses to move a locked working tree unless --force is
specified twice. If the destination is already assigned to
some other working tree but is missing (for instance, if
<new-path> was deleted manually), then --force allows the
move to proceed; use --force twice if the destination is
locked.
remove refuses to remove an unclean working tree unless
--force is used. To remove a locked working tree, specify
--force twice.
-b <new-branch>, -B <new-branch>
With add, create a new branch named <new-branch> starting at
<commit-ish>, and check out <new-branch> into the new working
tree. If <commit-ish> is omitted, it defaults to HEAD. By
default, -b refuses to create a new branch if it already
exists. -B overrides this safeguard, resetting <new-branch>
to <commit-ish>.
-d, --detach
With add, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED
HEAD" in git-checkout(1).
--[no-]checkout
By default, add checks out <commit-ish>, however,
--no-checkout can be used to suppress checkout in order to
make customizations, such as configuring sparse-checkout. See
"Sparse checkout" in git-read-tree(1).
--[no-]guess-remote
With worktree add <path>, without <commit-ish>, instead of
creating a new branch from HEAD, if there exists a tracking
branch in exactly one remote matching the basename of <path>,
base the new branch on the remote-tracking branch, and mark
the remote-tracking branch as "upstream" from the new branch.
This can also be set up as the default behaviour by using the
worktree.guessRemote config option.
--[no-]track
When creating a new branch, if <commit-ish> is a branch, mark
it as "upstream" from the new branch. This is the default if
<commit-ish> is a remote-tracking branch. See --track in
git-branch(1) for details.
--lock
Keep the working tree locked after creation. This is the
equivalent of git worktree lock after git worktree add, but
without a race condition.
-n, --dry-run
With prune, do not remove anything; just report what it would
remove.
--porcelain
With list, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts.
This format will remain stable across Git versions and
regardless of user configuration. See below for details.
-q, --quiet
With add, suppress feedback messages.
-v, --verbose
With prune, report all removals.
--expire <time>
With prune, only expire unused working trees older than
<time>.
--reason <string>
With lock, an explanation why the working tree is locked.
<worktree>
Working trees can be identified by path, either relative or
absolute.
If the last path components in the working tree’s path is
unique among working trees, it can be used to identify a
working tree. For example if you only have two working trees,
at /abc/def/ghi and /abc/def/ggg, then ghi or def/ghi is
enough to point to the former working tree.
In multiple working trees, some refs may be shared between all
working trees and some refs are local. One example is HEAD which
is different for each working tree. This section is about the
sharing rules and how to access refs of one working tree from
another.
In general, all pseudo refs are per working tree and all refs
starting with refs/ are shared. Pseudo refs are ones like HEAD
which are directly under $GIT_DIR instead of inside
$GIT_DIR/refs. There are exceptions, however: refs inside
refs/bisect and refs/worktree are not shared.
Refs that are per working tree can still be accessed from another
working tree via two special paths, main-worktree and worktrees.
The former gives access to per-working tree refs of the main
working tree, while the latter to all linked working trees.
For example, main-worktree/HEAD or main-worktree/refs/bisect/good
resolve to the same value as the main working tree’s HEAD and
refs/bisect/good respectively. Similarly, worktrees/foo/HEAD or
worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad are the same as
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/foo/HEAD and
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/bar/refs/bisect/bad.
To access refs, it’s best not to look inside $GIT_DIR directly.
Instead use commands such as git-rev-parse(1) or
git-update-ref(1) which will handle refs correctly.
By default, the repository config file is shared across all
working trees. If the config variables core.bare or core.worktree
are already present in the config file, they will be applied to
the main working trees only.
In order to have configuration specific to working trees, you can
turn on the worktreeConfig extension, e.g.:
$ git config extensions.worktreeConfig true
In this mode, specific configuration stays in the path pointed by
git rev-parse --git-path config.worktree. You can add or update
configuration in this file with git config --worktree. Older Git
versions will refuse to access repositories with this extension.
Note that in this file, the exception for core.bare and
core.worktree is gone. If they exist in $GIT_DIR/config, you must
move them to the config.worktree of the main working tree. You
may also take this opportunity to review and move other
configuration that you do not want to share to all working trees:
• core.worktree and core.bare should never be shared
• core.sparseCheckout is recommended per working tree, unless
you are sure you always use sparse checkout for all working
trees.
Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the
repository’s $GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private
sub-directory’s name is usually the base name of the linked
working tree’s path, possibly appended with a number to make it
unique. For example, when $GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git the command
git worktree add /path/other/test-next next creates the linked
working tree in /path/other/test-next and also creates a
$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next directory (or
$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1 if test-next is already taken).
Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this
private directory (e.g. /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next in
the example) and $GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main
working tree’s $GIT_DIR (e.g. /path/main/.git). These settings
are made in a .git file located at the top directory of the
linked working tree.
Path resolution via git rev-parse --git-path uses either $GIT_DIR
or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the
linked working tree git rev-parse --git-path HEAD returns
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD (not
/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD or /path/main/.git/HEAD) while
git rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master uses $GIT_COMMON_DIR
and returns /path/main/.git/refs/heads/master, since refs are
shared across all working trees, except refs/bisect and
refs/worktree.
See gitrepository-layout(5) for more information. The rule of
thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs
to $GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access
something inside $GIT_DIR. Use git rev-parse --git-path to get
the final path.
If you manually move a linked working tree, you need to update
the gitdir file in the entry’s directory. For example, if a
linked working tree is moved to /newpath/test-next and its .git
file points to /path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next, then update
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir to reference
/newpath/test-next instead. Better yet, run git worktree repair
to reestablish the connection automatically.
To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which
can be useful in some situations, such as when the entry’s
working tree is stored on a portable device), use the git
worktree lock command, which adds a file named locked to the
entry’s directory. The file contains the reason in plain text.
For example, if a linked working tree’s .git file points to
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next then a file named
/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked will prevent the
test-next entry from being pruned. See gitrepository-layout(5)
for details.
When extensions.worktreeConfig is enabled, the config file
.git/worktrees/<id>/config.worktree is read after .git/config is.
The worktree list command has two output formats. The default
format shows the details on a single line with columns. For
example:
$ git worktree list
/path/to/bare-source (bare)
/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD)
Porcelain Format
The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are
listed with a label and value separated by a single space.
Boolean attributes (like bare and detached) are listed as a label
only, and are present only if the value is true. The first
attribute of a working tree is always worktree, an empty line
indicates the end of the record. For example:
$ git worktree list --porcelain
worktree /path/to/bare-source
bare
worktree /path/to/linked-worktree
HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234
branch refs/heads/master
worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree
HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a
detached
You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss
comes in and demands that you fix something immediately. You
might typically use git-stash(1) to store your changes away
temporarily, however, your working tree is in such a state of
disarray (with new, moved, and removed files, and other bits and
pieces strewn around) that you don’t want to risk disturbing any
of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked working tree to
make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your
earlier refactoring session.
$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master
$ pushd ../temp
# ... hack hack hack ...
$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss'
$ popd
$ git worktree remove ../temp
Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the
support for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to
make multiple checkouts of a superproject.
Part of the git(1) suite
This page is part of the git (Git distributed version control
system) project. Information about the project can be found at
⟨http://git-scm.com/⟩. If you have a bug report for this manual
page, see ⟨http://git-scm.com/community⟩. This page was obtained
from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/git/git.git⟩ on 2020-12-18. (At that time,
the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
repository was 2020-12-17.) If you discover any rendering
problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there
is a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
(which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
man-pages@man7.org
Git 2.30.0.rc0.82.gb 12/18/2020 GIT-WORKTREE(1)
Pages that refer to this page: git(1), git-config(1), git-log(1), git-rev-list(1), git-shortlog(1), gitrepository-layout(5)
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