Git Worktree Commands

Create Worktrees for All Open PRs

This command fetches all open pull requests using GitHub CLI, then creates a git worktree for each PR's branch in the ./tree/<BRANCH_NAME> directory.

Ensure GitHub CLI is installed and authenticated

gh auth status || (echo "Please run 'gh auth login' first" && exit 1)

Create the tree directory if it doesn't exist

mkdir -p ./tree

List all open PRs and create worktrees for each branch

gh pr list --json headRefName --jq '.[].headRefName' | while read branch; do

# Handle branch names with slashes (like "feature/foo")

branch_path="./tree/${branch}"

# For branches with slashes, create the directory structure

if [[ "$branch" == */* ]]; then

dir_path=$(dirname "$branch_path")

mkdir -p "$dir_path"

fi

# Check if worktree already exists

if [ ! -d "$branch_path" ]; then

echo "Creating worktree for $branch"

git worktree add "$branch_path" "$branch"

else

echo "Worktree for $branch already exists"

fi

done

Display all created worktrees

echo "\nWorktree list:"

git worktree list

Example Output

Creating worktree for fix-bug-123

HEAD is now at a1b2c3d Fix bug 123

Creating worktree for feature/new-feature

HEAD is now at e4f5g6h Add new feature

Worktree for documentation-update already exists

Worktree list:

/path/to/repo abc1234 [main]

/path/to/repo/tree/fix-bug-123 a1b2c3d [fix-bug-123]

/path/to/repo/tree/feature/new-feature e4f5g6h [feature/new-feature]

/path/to/repo/tree/documentation-update d5e6f7g [documentation-update]

Cleanup Stale Worktrees (Optional)

You can add this to remove stale worktrees for branches that no longer exist:

Get current branches

current_branches=$(git branch -a | grep -v HEAD | grep -v main | sed 's/^[ *]*//' | sed 's|remotes/origin/||' | sort | uniq)

Get existing worktrees (excluding main worktree)

worktree_paths=$(git worktree list | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $1}')

for path in $worktree_paths; do

# Extract branch name from path

branch_name=$(basename "$path")

# Skip special cases

if [[ "$branch_name" == "main" ]]; then

continue

fi

# Check if branch still exists

if ! echo "$current_branches" | grep -q "^$branch_name$"; then

echo "Removing stale worktree for deleted branch: $branch_name"

git worktree remove --force "$path"

fi

done

Create New Branch and Worktree

This interactive command creates a new git branch and sets up a worktree for it:

#!/bin/bash

Ensure we're in a git repository

if ! git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree > /dev/null 2>&1; then

echo "Error: Not in a git repository"

exit 1

fi

Get the repository root

repo_root=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)

Prompt for branch name

read -p "Enter new branch name: " branch_name

Validate branch name (basic validation)

if [[ -z "$branch_name" ]]; then

echo "Error: Branch name cannot be empty"

exit 1

fi

if git show-ref --verify --quiet "refs/heads/$branch_name"; then

echo "Warning: Branch '$branch_name' already exists"

read -p "Do you want to use the existing branch? (y/n): " use_existing

if [[ "$use_existing" != "y" ]]; then

exit 1

fi

fi

Create branch directory

branch_path="$repo_root/tree/$branch_name"

Handle branch names with slashes (like "feature/foo")

if [[ "$branch_name" == */* ]]; then

dir_path=$(dirname "$branch_path")

mkdir -p "$dir_path"

fi

Make sure parent directory exists

mkdir -p "$(dirname "$branch_path")"

Check if a worktree already exists

if [ -d "$branch_path" ]; then

echo "Error: Worktree directory already exists: $branch_path"

exit 1

fi

Create branch and worktree

if git show-ref --verify --quiet "refs/heads/$branch_name"; then

# Branch exists, create worktree

echo "Creating worktree for existing branch '$branch_name'..."

git worktree add "$branch_path" "$branch_name"

else

# Create new branch and worktree

echo "Creating new branch '$branch_name' and worktree..."

git worktree add -b "$branch_name" "$branch_path"

fi

echo "Success! New worktree created at: $branch_path"

echo "To start working on this branch, run: cd $branch_path"

Example Usage

$ ./create-branch-worktree.sh

Enter new branch name: feature/user-authentication

Creating new branch 'feature/user-authentication' and worktree...

Preparing worktree (creating new branch 'feature/user-authentication')

HEAD is now at abc1234 Previous commit message

Success! New worktree created at: /path/to/repo/tree/feature/user-authentication

To start working on this branch, run: cd /path/to/repo/tree/feature/user-authentication

Creating a New Branch from a Different Base

If you want to start your branch from a different base (not the current HEAD), you can modify the script:

read -p "Enter new branch name: " branch_name

read -p "Enter base branch/commit (default: HEAD): " base_commit

base_commit=${base_commit:-HEAD}

Then use the specified base when creating the worktree

git worktree add -b "$branch_name" "$branch_path" "$base_commit"

This will allow you to specify any commit, tag, or branch name as the starting point for your new branch.