patch-review

A CLI tool for managing git worktrees during patch review workflows.

Installation

Build from source:

CGO_ENABLED=0 go build

Or use go install to fetch and build the binary, installing it into $HOME/go/bin/patch-review:

CGO_ENABLED=0 GOPROXY=direct go install github.com/jwdevantier/patch-review@latest

Quick Start

1. Create a configuration file at ~/.config/patch-review/patch-review.config.toml:

[settings]
branch_prefix = "review"
default_source = "qemu"

[sources.qemu]
path = "~/repos/qemu"
branch = "nvme.next"
remote = "staging"

[sources.linux]
path = "/path/to/linux"
branch = "main"
remote = "origin"

2. Create a review directory:

patch-review reset ~/reviews/my-patch

This creates a new git worktree with a fresh branch based on the latest upstream code.

3. Apply a patch:

patch-review apply ~/reviews/my-patch.patch ~/reviews/my-patch

4. Clean up when done:

patch-review rm ~/reviews/my-patch

Commands

reset

Creates or refreshes a git worktree directory.

patch-review reset [--source <name>] <review-dir>

• Fetches latest updates from the configured remote
• Creates a new branch from the upstream branch
• Creates a new worktree at the specified path
• If the worktree already exists, it removes and recreates it

Use --source to specify a source (defaults to default_source in config).

rm

Removes a worktree and cleans up git state.

patch-review rm <review-dir>

• Validates the path is a known worktree
• Removes the worktree directory
• Deletes the associated git branch
• Updates state tracking

apply

Applies a patch file to a worktree.

patch-review apply <review-dir> <patch-file>

• Validates the worktree path is known
• Applies the patch using git am

Configuration

Config files are stored in ~/.config/patch-review/ by default. Override with --dir.

patch-review.config.toml

[settings]
branch_prefix = "review"       # Prefix for created branches
default_source = "qemu"        # Default source when --source not specified

[sources.<name>]
path = "~/repos/qemu"          # Path to repository
branch = "nvme.next"           # Branch to use as base
remote = "staging"             # Git remote to fetch from

State File

patch-review.state.json tracks active worktrees. Do not edit manually.

Global Flags

• --dir <path>: Override config directory location

---

Developer Notes

Project Structure

.
├── main.go              # Entry point, CLI setup
├── cmds/
│   ├── reset.go         # reset command
│   ├── rm.go            # rm command
│   └── apply.go         # apply command
├── internal/
│   ├── config.go        # Configuration loading (TOML)
│   ├── state.go         # State persistence (JSON)
│   └── git.go           # Git operations
├── go.mod / go.sum      # Dependencies
└── DESIGN.md           # Design document

Dependencies

• spf13/cobra - CLI framework
• BurntSushi/toml - TOML parsing

Building

go build .

Running Tests

go test ./...