Git Worktree Workflow

Create and manage isolated git worktrees for parallel development with automatic permission inheritance.

Permission Handling

Claude Code permissions work as follows in worktrees:

Key insight: If your team's permissions are in .claude/settings.json (committed), all worktrees automatically get them with zero additional setup.

Creating a Worktree

Step 1: Gather Information

If not already clear, ask:

• Feature name: What are you working on? (will be used for branch/directory name)
• Base branch: Create from main/master or another branch?

Step 2: Verify Prerequisites

# Ensure we're in a git repository
git rev-parse --show-toplevel || { echo "Not a git repository"; exit 1; }

# Check for uncommitted changes that might cause issues
git status --porcelain

Step 3: Create the Worktree

# Set up variables
REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
REPO_NAME=$(basename "$REPO_ROOT")
PARENT_DIR=$(dirname "$REPO_ROOT")
FEATURE_NAME="<kebab-case-feature-name>"  # e.g., add-auth, fix-pagination
BASE_BRANCH="${BASE_BRANCH:-main}"  # or master, develop, etc.

# Create worktree with new branch
WORKTREE_PATH="$PARENT_DIR/$REPO_NAME-$FEATURE_NAME"
git worktree add "$WORKTREE_PATH" -b "$FEATURE_NAME" "$BASE_BRANCH"

Step 4: Copy Local Settings (if they exist)

# Copy local settings if present (these are gitignored so not shared automatically)
if [ -f "$REPO_ROOT/.claude/settings.local.json" ]; then
    mkdir -p "$WORKTREE_PATH/.claude"
    cp "$REPO_ROOT/.claude/settings.local.json" "$WORKTREE_PATH/.claude/"
    echo "Copied .claude/settings.local.json to worktree"
fi

Step 5: Initialize Environment

Detect and run appropriate setup commands:

cd "$WORKTREE_PATH"

# Node.js projects
if [ -f "package-lock.json" ]; then
    npm ci  # or npm install
elif [ -f "yarn.lock" ]; then
    yarn install --frozen-lockfile
elif [ -f "pnpm-lock.yaml" ]; then
    pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
elif [ -f "bun.lockb" ]; then
    bun install

# Python projects
elif [ -f "requirements.txt" ]; then
    # Suggest virtual environment
    echo "Python project detected. Consider:"
    echo "  python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt"
elif [ -f "pyproject.toml" ]; then
    # Poetry or other Python build system
    if command -v poetry &> /dev/null && grep -q "\[tool.poetry\]" pyproject.toml; then
        poetry install
    elif command -v uv &> /dev/null; then
        uv sync
    fi

# Go projects
elif [ -f "go.mod" ]; then
    go mod download

# Rust projects
elif [ -f "Cargo.toml" ]; then
    cargo fetch
fi

Step 6: Confirm Setup

echo ""
echo "Worktree created successfully!"
echo "  Directory: $WORKTREE_PATH"
echo "  Branch: $FEATURE_NAME"
echo "  Based on: $BASE_BRANCH"
echo ""
echo "To start working:"
echo "  cd $WORKTREE_PATH"
echo "  claude"

Managing Worktrees

List All Worktrees

git worktree list

Switch to an Existing Worktree

# Just cd to the worktree directory
cd "$PARENT_DIR/$REPO_NAME-<feature-name>"

Check Worktree Status

# From any worktree, list all with status
git worktree list --porcelain

Completing Work

After Making Changes

1. Commit your changes:

   git add -A
   git commit -m "feat: description of changes"
   

2. Push the branch:

   git push -u origin "$FEATURE_NAME"
   

3. Create a PR (optional):

   gh pr create --fill
   

Cleanup

# Return to main repository
cd "$PARENT_DIR/$REPO_NAME"

# Remove the worktree (use -f if there are uncommitted changes)
git worktree remove "$WORKTREE_PATH"

# If branch was merged, delete it
git branch -d "$FEATURE_NAME"

Bulk Cleanup (remove stale worktrees)

# Preview what would be pruned
git worktree prune --dry-run

# Actually prune stale worktree entries
git worktree prune

Error Handling

Worktree Already Exists

# Check if worktree exists
if git worktree list | grep -q "$FEATURE_NAME"; then
    echo "Worktree for '$FEATURE_NAME' already exists."
    # Offer: reuse existing, create with suffix, or abort
fi

Branch Already Exists

# If branch exists but no worktree, use it
git worktree add "$WORKTREE_PATH" "$FEATURE_NAME"

# Or create with a unique suffix
git worktree add "$WORKTREE_PATH-2" -b "$FEATURE_NAME-2" "$BASE_BRANCH"

Dirty Worktree During Removal

# Force remove (discards uncommitted changes!)
git worktree remove --force "$WORKTREE_PATH"

Best Practices

1. Permission Setup: Put common tool permissions in .claude/settings.json (committed) so all worktrees inherit them automatically

2. Naming Convention: Use descriptive names like repo-feature-auth, repo-fix-login-bug

3. Environment Variables: Keep .env files consistent or copy them to new worktrees

4. Session Isolation: Each worktree gets its own Claude Code session context - use /resume to see sessions from all worktrees in the same repo

5. Cleanup Regularly: Remove worktrees after PRs are merged to avoid confusion

Quick Reference