Feature request: Create worktree from existing branch

[isaacharrisholt]

Fairly simple, would be nice not to have to create a new branch when creating a new worktree. I often work on stuff in branches in my default worktree, then want to hand off to agents running in Supacode. There's no easy way to do this, currently!

[brodie-euc]

This would be awesome 👍

[sbertix]

Hey 👋

I agree that this is probably more urgent than the ability to create worktrees from arbitrary local or remote branches (which was discussed a while back). However, it comes with an additional set of concerns.

Specifically, I’d like to limit this to this case:

I often work on stuff in branches in my default worktree, then want to hand off to agents running in Supacode.

So, in short, the following:

• Only the primary worktree. Linked worktrees are already worktrees, so there’s nothing to convert. The trigger for this action is: “I started ad-hoc work in my main checkout and want to hand it off.”
• Only a named branch (no detached HEAD).
• The branch must differ from the repo default. If you’re already on main, there’s nothing meaningful to extract.
• After handoff, the primary worktree moves back to the default branch. Git won’t check out the same branch in two worktrees, so we need to move the primary off the branch before creating the new worktree for it. Switching to the default branch (instead of detaching) keeps the primary in a clean, named state and matches the “hand off and go back to main” intent.

Wdyt?

[isaacharrisholt]

That looks sensible. Honestly, I'd be happy having to create the branch myself, but this seems neater. For context, my current workflow is this:

• Do work in primary checkout (often against main)
• Create branch
• git checkout main
• Create Supacode worktree
• In worktree, git checkout <branch I just created>
• git branch -D <supacode-created branch>

It's not the end of the world, it's a small annoyance. Being able to create from arbitrary local or remote branches (without creating a new branch -- could be optional?) would cut out the last two steps, which I would be happy with.

[josefmichalek-etnetera]

+1 on this

[sbertix]

Being able to create from arbitrary local or remote branches (without creating a new branch -- could be optional?)

Creating a new branch is super easy. It’s the “without creating a new branch” part that scares me. Do we still run the setup script? Do we copy files according to “Copy ignored/untracked files” plus any existing changes? What happens if the branch is already checked out in a different worktree and we can’t check it out? What state do we leave the previous worktree in? Do we just fail?

There are too many assumptions we’d need to make to generalize it properly, and I’m worried it’s not worth the added complexity (especially cause it's pretty easy/quick to address each specific case for the user, without any additional setup).

[isaacharrisholt]

That's fair! I will leave the judgement call to you.