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1git-worktree(1)
2===============
3
4NAME
5----
bc483285 6git-worktree - Manage multiple working trees
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7
8
9SYNOPSIS
10--------
11[verse]
c4738aed 12'git worktree add' [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [--lock] [-b <new-branch>] <path> [<commit-ish>]
bb9c03b8 13'git worktree list' [--porcelain]
58142c09 14'git worktree lock' [--reason <string>] <worktree>
7b722d90 15'git worktree prune' [-n] [-v] [--expire <expire>]
6d308627 16'git worktree unlock' <worktree>
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17
18DESCRIPTION
19-----------
20
bc483285 21Manage multiple working trees attached to the same repository.
df0b6cfb 22
93a36493 23A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to check
4d5a3c58 24out more than one branch at a time. With `git worktree add` a new working
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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
93a36493 30When you are done with a linked working tree you can simply delete it.
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31The working tree's administrative files in the repository (see
32"DETAILS" below) will eventually be removed automatically (see
5f5f553f 33`gc.worktreePruneExpire` in linkgit:git-config[1]), or you can run
93a36493 34`git worktree prune` in the main or any linked working tree to
af189b4c 35clean up any stale administrative files.
93a36493 36
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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.
93a36493 40
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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
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43being pruned by issuing the `git worktree lock` command, optionally
44specifying `--reason` to explain why the working tree is locked.
93a36493 45
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46COMMANDS
47--------
c4738aed 48add <path> [<commit-ish>]::
fc56361f 49
c4738aed 50Create `<path>` and checkout `<commit-ish>` into it. The new working directory
fc56361f 51is linked to the current repository, sharing everything except working
1a450e2f 52directory specific files such as HEAD, index, etc. `-` may also be
c4738aed 53specified as `<commit-ish>`; it is synonymous with `@{-1}`.
1eb07d82 54+
661a5a38 55If <commit-ish> is a branch name (call it `<branch>`) and is not found,
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56and neither `-b` nor `-B` nor `--detach` are used, but there does
57exist a tracking branch in exactly one remote (call it `<remote>`)
661a5a38 58with a matching name, treat as equivalent to:
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59------------
60$ git worktree add --track -b <branch> <path> <remote>/<branch>
61------------
62+
c4738aed 63If `<commit-ish>` is omitted and neither `-b` nor `-B` nor `--detach` used,
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64then, as a convenience, a new branch based at HEAD is created automatically,
65as if `-b $(basename <path>)` was specified.
fc56361f 66
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67list::
68
69List details of each worktree. The main worktree is listed first, followed by
70each of the linked worktrees. The output details include if the worktree is
71bare, the revision currently checked out, and the branch currently checked out
72(or 'detached HEAD' if none).
73
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74lock::
75
76If a working tree is on a portable device or network share which
77is not always mounted, lock it to prevent its administrative
78files from being pruned automatically. This also prevents it from
79being moved or deleted. Optionally, specify a reason for the lock
80with `--reason`.
81
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82prune::
83
84Prune working tree information in $GIT_DIR/worktrees.
85
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86unlock::
87
88Unlock a working tree, allowing it to be pruned, moved or deleted.
89
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90OPTIONS
91-------
92
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93-f::
94--force::
c4738aed 95 By default, `add` refuses to create a new working tree when `<commit-ish>` is a branch name and
bc483285 96 is already checked out by another working tree. This option overrides
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97 that safeguard.
98
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99-b <new-branch>::
100-B <new-branch>::
101 With `add`, create a new branch named `<new-branch>` starting at
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102 `<commit-ish>`, and check out `<new-branch>` into the new working tree.
103 If `<commit-ish>` is omitted, it defaults to HEAD.
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104 By default, `-b` refuses to create a new branch if it already
105 exists. `-B` overrides this safeguard, resetting `<new-branch>` to
c4738aed 106 `<commit-ish>`.
cbdf60fa 107
39ecb274 108--detach::
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109 With `add`, detach HEAD in the new working tree. See "DETACHED HEAD"
110 in linkgit:git-checkout[1].
39ecb274 111
ef2a0ac9 112--[no-]checkout::
c4738aed 113 By default, `add` checks out `<commit-ish>`, however, `--no-checkout` can
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114 be used to suppress checkout in order to make customizations,
115 such as configuring sparse-checkout. See "Sparse checkout"
116 in linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
117
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118--[no-]guess-remote::
119 With `worktree add <path>`, without `<commit-ish>`, instead
120 of creating a new branch from HEAD, if there exists a tracking
50fdf7b1 121 branch in exactly one remote matching the basename of `<path>`,
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122 base the new branch on the remote-tracking branch, and mark
123 the remote-tracking branch as "upstream" from the new branch.
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124+
125This can also be set up as the default behaviour by using the
126`worktree.guessRemote` config option.
71d6682d 127
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128--[no-]track::
129 When creating a new branch, if `<commit-ish>` is a branch,
130 mark it as "upstream" from the new branch. This is the
131 default if `<commit-ish>` is a remote-tracking branch. See
132 "--track" in linkgit:git-branch[1] for details.
133
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134--lock::
135 Keep the working tree locked after creation. This is the
136 equivalent of `git worktree lock` after `git worktree add`,
137 but without race condition.
138
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139-n::
140--dry-run::
4f09825e 141 With `prune`, do not remove anything; just report what it would
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142 remove.
143
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144--porcelain::
145 With `list`, output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts.
146 This format will remain stable across Git versions and regardless of user
147 configuration. See below for details.
148
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149-v::
150--verbose::
4f09825e 151 With `prune`, report all removals.
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152
153--expire <time>::
bc483285 154 With `prune`, only expire unused working trees older than <time>.
df0b6cfb 155
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156--reason <string>::
157 With `lock`, an explanation why the working tree is locked.
158
159<worktree>::
160 Working trees can be identified by path, either relative or
161 absolute.
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162+
163If the last path components in the working tree's path is unique among
164working trees, it can be used to identify worktrees. For example if
2b090822 165you only have two working trees, at "/abc/def/ghi" and "/abc/def/ggg",
080739ba 166then "ghi" or "def/ghi" is enough to point to the former working tree.
58142c09 167
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168DETAILS
169-------
170Each linked working tree has a private sub-directory in the repository's
171$GIT_DIR/worktrees directory. The private sub-directory's name is usually
172the base name of the linked working tree's path, possibly appended with a
173number to make it unique. For example, when `$GIT_DIR=/path/main/.git` the
4d5a3c58 174command `git worktree add /path/other/test-next next` creates the linked
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175working tree in `/path/other/test-next` and also creates a
176`$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next` directory (or `$GIT_DIR/worktrees/test-next1`
177if `test-next` is already taken).
178
179Within a linked working tree, $GIT_DIR is set to point to this private
180directory (e.g. `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` in the example) and
181$GIT_COMMON_DIR is set to point back to the main working tree's $GIT_DIR
182(e.g. `/path/main/.git`). These settings are made in a `.git` file located at
183the top directory of the linked working tree.
184
185Path resolution via `git rev-parse --git-path` uses either
186$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR depending on the path. For example, in the
187linked working tree `git rev-parse --git-path HEAD` returns
188`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/HEAD` (not
189`/path/other/test-next/.git/HEAD` or `/path/main/.git/HEAD`) while `git
190rev-parse --git-path refs/heads/master` uses
191$GIT_COMMON_DIR and returns `/path/main/.git/refs/heads/master`,
192since refs are shared across all working trees.
193
194See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for more information. The rule of
195thumb is do not make any assumption about whether a path belongs to
196$GIT_DIR or $GIT_COMMON_DIR when you need to directly access something
197inside $GIT_DIR. Use `git rev-parse --git-path` to get the final path.
198
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199If you move a linked working tree, you need to update the 'gitdir' file
200in the entry's directory. For example, if a linked working tree is moved
201to `/newpath/test-next` and its `.git` file points to
202`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next`, then update
203`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/gitdir` to reference `/newpath/test-next`
204instead.
205
65f9b75d 206To prevent a $GIT_DIR/worktrees entry from being pruned (which
a8ba5dd7 207can be useful in some situations, such as when the
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208entry's working tree is stored on a portable device), use the
209`git worktree lock` command, which adds a file named
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210'locked' to the entry's directory. The file contains the reason in
211plain text. For example, if a linked working tree's `.git` file points
212to `/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next` then a file named
213`/path/main/.git/worktrees/test-next/locked` will prevent the
214`test-next` entry from being pruned. See
215linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] for details.
216
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217LIST OUTPUT FORMAT
218------------------
219The worktree list command has two output formats. The default format shows the
220details on a single line with columns. For example:
221
222------------
223S git worktree list
224/path/to/bare-source (bare)
225/path/to/linked-worktree abcd1234 [master]
226/path/to/other-linked-worktree 1234abc (detached HEAD)
227------------
228
229Porcelain Format
230~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
231The porcelain format has a line per attribute. Attributes are listed with a
232label and value separated by a single space. Boolean attributes (like 'bare'
233and 'detached') are listed as a label only, and are only present if and only
234if the value is true. An empty line indicates the end of a worktree. For
235example:
236
237------------
238S git worktree list --porcelain
239worktree /path/to/bare-source
240bare
241
242worktree /path/to/linked-worktree
243HEAD abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234abcd1234
244branch refs/heads/master
245
246worktree /path/to/other-linked-worktree
247HEAD 1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234abc1234a
248detached
249
250------------
251
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252EXAMPLES
253--------
254You are in the middle of a refactoring session and your boss comes in and
255demands that you fix something immediately. You might typically use
256linkgit:git-stash[1] to store your changes away temporarily, however, your
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257working tree is in such a state of disarray (with new, moved, and removed
258files, and other bits and pieces strewn around) that you don't want to risk
259disturbing any of it. Instead, you create a temporary linked working tree to
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260make the emergency fix, remove it when done, and then resume your earlier
261refactoring session.
262
263------------
cbdf60fa 264$ git worktree add -b emergency-fix ../temp master
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265$ pushd ../temp
266# ... hack hack hack ...
267$ git commit -a -m 'emergency fix for boss'
268$ popd
269$ rm -rf ../temp
270$ git worktree prune
271------------
272
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273BUGS
274----
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275Multiple checkout in general is still experimental, and the support
276for submodules is incomplete. It is NOT recommended to make multiple
277checkouts of a superproject.
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278
279git-worktree could provide more automation for tasks currently
fc56361f 280performed manually, such as:
6d3824cf 281
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282- `remove` to remove a linked working tree and its administrative files (and
283 warn if the working tree is dirty)
284- `mv` to move or rename a working tree and update its administrative files
6d3824cf 285
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286GIT
287---
288Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite