Create New Worktree

Create an isolated worktree for parallel development.

Arguments

• <name> - Worktree and branch name (required)
• --base <branch> - Base branch (default: main)
• --lock - Lock worktree after creation

Procedure

1. Verify Gitignore Setup

First, check if .worktrees/ is in .gitignore:

grep -q "^\.worktrees" .gitignore 2>/dev/null && echo "OK: .worktrees already gitignored" || echo "MISSING: Need to add .worktrees to gitignore"

If missing, add and commit:

echo ".worktrees/" >> .gitignore
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "chore: add .worktrees to gitignore"

Why gitignore? Each worktree contains a complete checkout. Without gitignoring, you'd accidentally commit nested copies of your entire codebase.

2. Create the Worktree

Standard creation (new branch from base):

# Replace <name> with the provided name, <base> with --base value or "main"
git worktree add -b feature/<name> .worktrees/<name> <base>

With lock flag:

git worktree add --lock -b feature/<name> .worktrees/<name> <base>

3. Verify Creation

git worktree list

Expected output shows new worktree:

/path/to/project              abc1234 [main]
/path/to/project/.worktrees/<name>  abc1234 [feature/<name>]

4. Navigate to Worktree

cd .worktrees/<name>

Next Steps

After creating the worktree:

1. Start development in the isolated environment
2. Make atomic commits as you work
3. Push regularly to remote: git push -u origin feature/<name>
4. When done, use /worktrees:finish to clean up

Common Options

Scenario	Command
Basic feature	git worktree add -b feature/my-feature .worktrees/my-feature main
From release branch	git worktree add -b hotfix/urgent .worktrees/urgent release/v2
Locked worktree	git worktree add --lock -b feature/critical .worktrees/critical main
With existing branch	git worktree add .worktrees/existing-branch existing-branch

Troubleshooting

Branch Already Checked Out

Error: fatal: 'branch-name' is already checked out at '/path'

Solution: Each branch can only exist in one worktree. Either:

• Use the existing worktree: git worktree list
• Create with a different branch name
• Remove the existing worktree first

Directory Already Exists

Error: fatal: destination path already exists

Solution: The .worktrees/<name> directory exists. Either:

• Choose a different name
• Remove existing: rm -rf .worktrees/<name> && git worktree prune

Quick Reference

# Create worktree with new branch
git worktree add -b <branch> .worktrees/<name> [base]

# Create worktree with existing branch
git worktree add .worktrees/<name> <branch>

# List worktrees
git worktree list

# Lock/unlock
git worktree lock .worktrees/<name>
git worktree unlock .worktrees/<name>