Brunch

Brunch runs isolated development environments for Git branches and worktrees.

Each branch gets its own environment. With Compose, that means a separate project, network, containers, and named volumes. Branches checked out in the same worktree share its host port, while additional worktrees get different ports and can run in parallel.

Docker Compose is the default manager. Podman Compose, local processes, and custom project commands are also supported.

• Ruby 3.1+
• Git 2.28+ (2.39.3+ for ghe worktree lifecycle events)
• Docker Compose, Podman Compose, or another supported manager
• git-hooks-ext 0.6.0+ for reliable branch deletion events

Install git-hooks-ext so that ghe is available on your PATH, then install Brunch:

gem install brunch

Inside each repository you want Brunch to manage:

brunch install

Brunch installs the git-hooks-ext bridge and its own event hooks without overwriting hooks owned by another tool. After upgrading Brunch or git-hooks-ext, run brunch install again in each managed repository to refresh its hooks and bridge.

Add brunch.yml to the repository root.

For Docker Compose:

compose_file: compose.yaml

For a Rails app with SQLite databases in storage/, add Dockerfile.dev:

FROM ruby:3.4-slim

WORKDIR /rails

RUN apt-get update -qq && \
    apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y build-essential git libsqlite3-dev libvips libyaml-dev pkg-config && \
    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

COPY Gemfile Gemfile.lock ./
RUN bundle install
COPY . .

Use the Ruby version required by your application. Then add compose.yaml:

services:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile.dev
    command: sh -c 'bin/rails db:prepare && exec bin/rails server -b 0.0.0.0 -p 3000'
    environment:
      RAILS_ENV: development
    volumes:
      - .:/rails
      - storage:/rails/storage
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:${BRUNCH_PORT}:3000"

volumes:
  storage:

The bind mount makes source edits visible to Rails. The named volume keeps the SQLite database separate for each branch and preserves it across container rebuilds. If your app stores its database elsewhere, mount that location instead. Brunch runs on the host, so it does not need to be in the Rails Gemfile. After changing Gemfile or Gemfile.lock, run brunch restart to rebuild the image with the new gems; the named volume remains intact.

The first activated worktree prefers port 3000. Additional worktrees receive another free port.

To prefer a different starting port:

preferred_port: 4000

Port assignments are persisted per worktree in .git/brunch/state.json.

Commit brunch.yml and the application configuration first. The repository must contain at least one commit.

Then run:

brunch install
brunch doctor
brunch activate
brunch status

brunch activate starts the environment for the currently checked-out branch.

To print only the current worktree's port:

brunch port

Open the application on the printed port, for example:

http://127.0.0.1:3000

With Compose, the application must listen on the container port mapped in the Compose file.

Once the hooks are installed, normal Git branch switches automatically stop the previous branch environment and start the new one:

git switch -c feature/login
git switch main

Branches checked out in the same worktree reuse that worktree's host port.

With Compose, each branch keeps its own Compose project and named volumes, so persistent resources remain isolated between branches. Returning to a previously activated branch starts its stopped containers again, preserving files written inside them. The branch keeps the same host port.

To manually start the environment after brunch stop:

brunch activate

To rebuild and recreate its containers explicitly:

brunch restart

brunch restart may discard data stored only in a container's writable layer. Put important data, such as databases, in named volumes.

Compose builds use files from the live worktree, including uncommitted changes.

If you want source edits to appear in an already running container without rebuilding, configure a bind mount or another reload mechanism in your Compose setup.

Additional worktrees run independently on different host ports.

Create them with git-hooks-ext:

ghe worktree add -b feature-a ../feature-a
ghe worktree add -b feature-b ../feature-b

Then:

cd ../feature-a

brunch port
brunch list

brunch port prints the current worktree's port.

brunch list groups the current and previously activated branches under each worktree. Stopped branches appear in gray and retain their worktree's port for the next activation.

brunch watch

brunch watch shows the same view and refreshes it every second. Press Ctrl-C to stop watching.

Switching branches inside one worktree does not affect environments running in other worktrees.

If you create a worktree with plain Git:

git worktree add -b feature-c ../feature-c

activate Brunch manually inside it:

cd ../feature-c
brunch activate

After moving or removing worktrees with plain Git, run:

brunch cleanup

Brunch never deletes the worktree source directory.

Docker Compose is the default manager:

compose_file: compose.yaml

Podman Compose uses the same Compose file contract:

manager: podman_compose
compose_file: compose.yaml

Use local_process for a development command such as bin/dev:

manager: local_process
command: bin/dev

Brunch starts and stops the process together with the branch environment and stores its output under .git/brunch/controls.

Use the command manager to integrate Brunch with project-specific tooling:

manager: command
commands:
  create: bin/environment create
  start: bin/environment start
  stop: bin/environment stop
  remove: bin/environment remove

Brunch runs these commands from the live worktree with:

BRUNCH_REF
BRUNCH_PORT
BRUNCH_PROJECT
BRUNCH_SNAPSHOT

BRUNCH_SNAPSHOT points to the live worktree for compatibility with manager adapters.

create is optional.

start must return after launching the environment.

stop is called when switching away from the active branch.

remove is called when the corresponding worktree environment is deleted and should remove manager-owned persistent resources.

Optional commands:

commands:
  status: bin/environment status
  health: bin/environment health
  logs: bin/environment logs

These power the corresponding Brunch operations.

A branch checkout stops the previous environment in that worktree and starts the new one on the same host port.

Other worktrees continue running.

Removing a worktree removes its Brunch environments. Brunch keeps the information needed to shut down manager resources under .git/brunch/controls, so cleanup can still run after the worktree itself is gone.

If a custom remove command depends on project files, those files must be committed because cleanup after worktree removal uses the last committed state.

brunch cleanup removes environments belonging to worktrees that no longer exist.

With git-hooks-ext 0.6.0+, deleting a local branch queues its Brunch environments for removal. On the next regular Brunch command, such as brunch status or brunch cleanup, Brunch checks the current refs and removes the branch's managed resources, including Compose containers and volumes. It also checks for missing branches when Git emits no deletion event. This delay protects environments when git branch -m reports a deletion before creating the renamed branch. A renamed branch keeps its environment under the new name. If Git reflogs are unavailable and Brunch cannot distinguish a rename from a deletion, it keeps the environment. A later brunch restart recreates the container in the same Compose project, preserving named volumes.

brunch install

Install Brunch hooks for the repository.

brunch activate

Start the environment for the current branch.

brunch status

Show the current environment, manager status, and port.

brunch port

Print the current worktree's port.

brunch list

List current and stopped branch environments grouped by worktree.

brunch watch

Continuously refresh the branch-environment list in an interactive terminal.

brunch stop

Stop the active environment without removing it.

brunch restart

Recreate and start the active environment.

brunch logs
brunch logs --follow

Show environment logs.

brunch run -- bin/rails console

Run a command on the host from the live worktree.

brunch doctor

Check Git, installed hooks, configuration, manager availability, and ports.

brunch cleanup

Remove environments belonging to deleted worktrees and process pending branch deletions.

Before upgrading from an older branch-only configuration, stop its running environment and clean up its legacy state.

Brunch will not reinterpret an existing non-empty branch-only state as worktree state.

bundle install
bin/install-pre-commit
bundle exec rake quality
gem build brunch.gemspec

Run container integration tests with Docker Compose:

BRUNCH_INTEGRATION_MANAGER=docker_compose bundle exec rake test

Or Podman Compose:

BRUNCH_INTEGRATION_MANAGER=podman_compose bundle exec rake test

Without BRUNCH_INTEGRATION_MANAGER, container integration tests are skipped by the local quality check.

The pre-commit hook runs RuboCop with automatic corrections, Reek, and the full test suite. SimpleCov requires 100% line and branch coverage for lib/**/*.rb.

If RuboCop modifies a file, review and stage the changes before committing.