git-wt

Git worktree helper that combines worktree creation, setup, and navigation into a single command.

wt add feature/login master   # create worktree + cd into it
wt cd feature/login           # cd into existing worktree
wt rm feature/login           # remove worktree
wt ls                              # list worktrees

Installation

Clone the repo and add two lines to your ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bashrc):

export PATH="$HOME/Projects/git-wt:$PATH"
source ~/Projects/git-wt/git-wt.sh

This gives you:

• git wt — works as a git subcommand (via PATH auto-discovery)
• wt — shell function wrapper that adds cd support for add and cd commands

Alternatively, use a git alias without the shell wrapper (no auto-cd):

git config --global alias.wt '!git-wt'

Commands

Command	Description
wt add <branch> [source]	Create a worktree for <branch>, optionally from [source] branch. If the branch exists only on origin, prompts to use it
wt rm [branch]	Remove a worktree. Without args, removes the current one
wt cd <branch>	cd into an existing worktree
wt ls	List all worktrees (git worktree list)
wt init	Interactively create worktree.conf.local
wt help	Show help

Configuration

git-wt uses two shell-sourceable config files in each project's repo root:

worktree.conf — committed project defaults:

WORKTREE_DIR=".."
WORKTREE_PREFIX="myapp"
WORKTREE_SETUP=("./setup.sh")
WORKTREE_TEARDOWN=("./teardown.sh")

worktree.conf.local — personal overrides (gitignored):

WORKTREE_DIR="/home/me/worktrees"
WORKTREE_SETUP=("./setup.sh" "direnv allow")
WORKTREE_TEARDOWN=("docker compose down")

The script sources worktree.conf first, then worktree.conf.local. Later values fully replace earlier ones.

Variables

Variable	Default	Description
WORKTREE_DIR	..	Base directory for worktrees (relative to repo root)
WORKTREE_PREFIX	repo name	Prefix for worktree directory names
WORKTREE_SETUP	()	Commands to run after creating a worktree
WORKTREE_TEARDOWN	()	Commands to run before removing a worktree

Directory naming

Format: <base>/<prefix>-<sanitized-branch>

Branch feature/login with prefix myapp and base ..:

../myapp-feature-login

Sanitization: / becomes -, everything lowercased.

Remote branch detection

When you wt add a branch that doesn't exist locally but exists on origin, the script prompts you:

$ wt add jirka/DMD-875/fix-autority-typo
[wt] Branch 'jirka/DMD-875/fix-autority-typo' not found locally, but exists on origin.
Use origin/jirka/DMD-875/fix-autority-typo? [Y/n]

• Y (default) — creates the worktree tracking the remote branch
• n — creates a new branch from HEAD instead

This check is skipped when you explicitly provide a [source] argument.

How it works

git-wt is a standalone bash script. When placed in PATH, git discovers it automatically as git wt (git's subcommand convention for git-<name> executables).

The wt shell function (from git-wt.sh) wraps git wt and adds directory changing — a subprocess can't change the parent shell's directory, so the function captures the path from stdout and runs cd.

All info messages go to stderr. Only the worktree path goes to stdout (as the last line), enabling the shell wrapper to capture it.

Example workflow

# Set up per-project config
cd ~/projects/my-app
cat > worktree.conf <<'EOF'
WORKTREE_DIR=".."
WORKTREE_PREFIX="my-app"
WORKTREE_SETUP=("npm install")
EOF
echo "worktree.conf.local" >> .gitignore

# Create a worktree (auto-creates branch, runs setup, cd's into it)
wt add feature/login master

# Work on the feature...

# List worktrees
wt ls

# Switch to another worktree
wt cd main

# Clean up
wt rm feature/login

License

MIT