exp - the missing primitive for orchestrating parallel AI agents.

Instant directory forking via macOS APFS clonefile -- git worktrees but dumber and faster.

thebrubaker.github.io/exp

Why

APFS copy-on-write cloning gives you a full project copy — .env, .git, node_modules, everything — in under a second with near-zero disk overhead. exp wraps this into a CLI that creates numbered forks, seeds them with context, and opens a terminal (for humans).

No shared state. No branch switching. No cleanup. Just fork, work, merge via git, trash.

The unlock: AI agent orchestration

When Claude Code needs to work on three things at once, each agent needs its own isolated workspace. exp gives every agent a full directory fork with its own git branch — zero conflicts, near-zero cost.

# Claude dispatches three agents, each in their own fork
exp new "upgrade-turbo" --no-terminal    # Agent 1 → branch exp/upgrade-turbo
exp new "fix-ci" --no-terminal           # Agent 2 → branch exp/fix-ci
exp new "dark-mode" --no-terminal        # Agent 3 → branch exp/dark-mode

# Each agent commits, pushes, opens a PR. Your working branch is untouched.

No file collisions. No orchestrator needed to prevent conflicts. Each fork is a real git repo with its own branch — agents push and merge via PR like any developer would.

Also useful to humans!

If you've ever been in the middle of a task and wanted to quickly start a side-quest -- just run exp new "try swapping in redis" and you'll get a fast fork of your directory in a new terminal -- run claude and take it away.

Install

brew install digitalpine/tap/exp

Or grab a binary from releases:

curl -L https://github.com/thebrubaker/exp/releases/latest/download/exp-darwin-arm64 -o exp
chmod +x exp && sudo mv exp /usr/local/bin/exp

Requires macOS with APFS (the default since High Sierra).

Quick start

exp init                          # One-time setup (terminal, editor, clean targets)
exp new "try redis caching"       # Fork + new terminal + git branch
# ...work freely...
exp trash 1                       # Done? Toss it.

How it works

exp calls the macOS clonefile(2) syscall — an atomic copy-on-write clone of your entire project directory. Both copies share the same physical disk blocks until a file diverges, at which point only the changed blocks are duplicated.

~/Code/
  my-project/                    # Your original (untouched)
  .exp-my-project/
    001-try-redis/               # Fork 1 — own git branch, full isolation
    002-refactor-auth/           # Fork 2 — same deal

A 2GB project with node_modules clones in ~1 second and uses a few KB until you start changing files.

Commands

Command	Alias	Description
exp new "desc"	n	Fork project → git branch → open terminal
exp ls	l, list	List forks (with diverged size)
exp diff <id>	d	What changed vs original
exp trash <id>	t, rm	Delete fork
exp open <id>	o	Open terminal in fork
exp cd <id>	--	Print path (cd $(exp cd 3))
exp status	st	Project info
exp nuke	--	Delete ALL forks
exp home	--	Print original project path (from inside a fork)
exp init	--	Interactive onboarding (terminal, editor, clean targets)
exp clean-export	ce	Remove Claude export files from project

IDs are flexible: number (1), full name (001-try-redis), or partial match (redis).

Every fork automatically gets a git branch (exp/<slug>) so work is PR-ready from the start.

Configuration

Create ~/.config/exp:

terminal=ghostty          # ghostty | iterm | warp | tmux | terminal | none
open_editor=cursor        # Open editor after forking
clean=.next .turbo .cache # Delete these dirs post-clone (saves rebuild time)

Variable	Config Key	Description
EXP_ROOT	root	Override fork storage location
EXP_TERMINAL	terminal	Terminal to open (auto-detected by default)
EXP_OPEN_EDITOR	open_editor	Editor to open in fork
EXP_CLEAN	clean	Dirs to nuke after clone

Claude Code integration

exp was built for Claude Code. Every fork gets:

• CLAUDE.md seeding — fork context (goal, diff/trash commands) prepended so Claude knows it's in a fork
• Auto git branch — exp/<slug> branch created automatically, ready for PR
• TTY detection — agents get --no-terminal behavior automatically (no terminal flood)
• JSON output — exp new --json returns structured data for programmatic use

# In Claude Code: /export
exp new "try redis caching"     # Export rides along with the clone
exp clean-export                # Remove export from original (clone keeps it)

License

MIT