@zkochan/git-wt

Create git worktrees quickly from branches or PRs, with a shell helper that cds into the new worktree for you.

Install

pnpm add -g @zkochan/git-wt

Then wire the wt shell function into your shell config so it's available in every future session. Pick the one-liner for your shell — it appends the snippet to the right rc file and activates it in the current session too:

fish:

echo 'git-wt init fish | source' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish
git-wt init fish | source

bash:

echo 'eval "$(git-wt init bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc
eval "$(git-wt init bash)"

zsh:

echo 'eval "$(git-wt init zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc
eval "$(git-wt init zsh)"

Usage

From inside any existing worktree:

# Create a worktree for an existing branch and switch to it
wt fix/4444

# Create a worktree for a new branch (branched from the default branch) and switch to it
wt feat/my-feature

# Create a worktree for a GitHub PR (works for forks too) and switch to it
wt 10000

The new worktree is created as a sibling of the current one. Slashes in branch names are replaced with dashes in the directory name (feat/my-feature → feat-my-feature/).

Passing a number is interpreted as a PR number. The PR is fetched from the appropriate remote (the fork's remote is added automatically if it doesn't exist yet) into a local branch named pr-<number>, with upstream tracking set so git push targets the right fork and branch. Requires the GitHub CLI (gh).

Without the shell helper

If you just want the path, invoke the binary directly:

git-wt feat/my-feature
git-wt 10000

Because git-wt follows the git-<cmd> plugin convention, you can also call it as a native git subcommand:

git wt feat/my-feature

(Note: git wt can't change your shell's directory — that's what the wt shell function is for.)

Cleaning up merged worktrees

Over time, worktrees pile up for PRs that have long since been merged. Run:

git-wt cleanup --dry-run   # preview what would be removed
git-wt cleanup             # actually remove them

For each worktree, git-wt looks up the branch on GitHub via gh pr list and — if the branch belongs to a merged PR — removes the worktree and deletes the local branch. The current worktree, the bare repo, detached HEADs, and protected branches (main, master, v<NN>) are always left alone.

Requires the GitHub CLI (gh) to be authenticated.

Shared config across worktrees

If .claude or .local-settings exists in your repo's git common dir (i.e. the shared gitdir, which for a bare repo is the bare repo directory itself), git-wt will symlink it into every new worktree. This lets all your worktrees share the same Claude Code / local settings without duplication. Non-existent dirs are silently skipped.

Recommended layout: bare repo with worktrees as children

git-wt works great with a bare-repo layout where every branch is a directory next to the others, instead of having one "main clone" with siblings:

~/src/pnpm/pnpm/          # the bare repo (HEAD, config, objects/, refs/, worktrees/)
├── main/                 # worktree for main
├── fix-1234/             # worktree for branch fix/1234
└── feat-my-feature/      # worktree for branch feat/my-feature

One-time setup:

# Clone as bare at the directory that will hold all worktrees
git clone --bare https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>.git ~/src/<owner>/<repo>
cd ~/src/<owner>/<repo>

# (Optional) If you use Husky, point it at a path that exists in every worktree
git config core.hooksPath .husky/_

# Add the first worktree for the default branch
git worktree add main main
cd main

From then on, wt <branch> or wt <pr-number> creates new worktrees as siblings of main/.

License

MIT