worktree-manager

name

worktree-manager

description

Create, manage, and cleanup git worktrees with Claude Code agents across all projects. USE THIS SKILL when user says "create worktree", "spin up worktrees", "new worktree for X", "worktree status", "cleanup worktrees", "sync worktrees", or wants parallel development branches. Also use when creating PRs from a worktree branch (to update registry with PR number). Handles worktree creation, dependency installation, validation, agent launching in Ghostty, and global registry management.

Global Worktree Manager

Manage parallel development across ALL projects using git worktrees with Claude Code agents. Each worktree is an isolated copy of the repo on a different branch, stored centrally at ~/tmp/worktrees/.

IMPORTANT: You (Claude) can perform ALL operations manually using standard tools (jq, git, bash). Scripts are helpers, not requirements. If a script fails, fall back to manual operations described in this document.

When This Skill Activates

Trigger phrases:

• "spin up worktrees for X, Y, Z"
• "create 3 worktrees for features A, B, C"
• "new worktree for feature/auth"
• "what's the status of my worktrees?"
• "show all worktrees" / "show worktrees for this project"
• "clean up merged worktrees"
• "clean up the auth worktree"
• "launch agent in worktree X"
• "sync worktrees" / "sync worktree registry"
• "create PR" (when in a worktree - updates registry with PR number)

---

File Locations

File	Purpose
~/.claude/worktree-registry.json	Global registry - tracks all worktrees across all projects
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/config.json	Skill config - terminal, shell, port range settings
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/	Helper scripts - optional, can do everything manually
~/tmp/worktrees/	Worktree storage - all worktrees live here
.claude/worktree.json (per-project)	Project config - optional custom settings

---

Core Concepts

Centralized Worktree Storage

All worktrees live in ~/tmp/worktrees/<project-name>/<branch-slug>/

~/tmp/worktrees/
├── obsidian-ai-agent/
│   ├── feature-auth/           # branch: feature/auth
│   ├── feature-payments/       # branch: feature/payments
│   └── fix-login-bug/          # branch: fix/login-bug
└── another-project/
    └── feature-dark-mode/

Branch Slug Convention

Branch names are slugified for filesystem safety by replacing / with -:

• feature/auth → feature-auth
• fix/login-bug → fix-login-bug
• feat/user-profile → feat-user-profile

Slugify manually: echo "feature/auth" | tr '/' '-' → feature-auth

Port Allocation Rules

• Global pool: 8100-8199 (100 ports total)
• Per worktree: 2 ports allocated (for API + frontend patterns)
• Globally unique: Ports are tracked globally to avoid conflicts across projects
• Check before use: Always verify port isn't in use by system: lsof -i :<port>

---

Global Registry

Location

~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Schema

{
  "worktrees": [
    {
      "id": "unique-uuid",
      "project": "obsidian-ai-agent",
      "repoPath": "/Users/rasmus/Projects/obsidian-ai-agent",
      "branch": "feature/auth",
      "branchSlug": "feature-auth",
      "worktreePath": "/Users/rasmus/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/feature-auth",
      "ports": [8100, 8101],
      "createdAt": "2025-12-04T10:00:00Z",
      "validatedAt": "2025-12-04T10:02:00Z",
      "agentLaunchedAt": "2025-12-04T10:03:00Z",
      "task": "Implement OAuth login",
      "prNumber": null,
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "portPool": {
    "start": 8100,
    "end": 8199,
    "allocated": [8100, 8101]
  }
}

Field Descriptions

Worktree entry fields:

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique identifier (UUID)
project	string	Project name (from git remote or directory)
repoPath	string	Absolute path to original repository
branch	string	Full branch name (e.g., feature/auth)
branchSlug	string	Filesystem-safe name (e.g., feature-auth)
worktreePath	string	Absolute path to worktree
ports	number[]	Allocated port numbers (usually 2)
createdAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp
validatedAt	string|null	When validation passed
agentLaunchedAt	string|null	When agent was launched
task	string|null	Task description for the agent
prNumber	number|null	Associated PR number if exists
status	string	active, orphaned, or merged

Port pool fields:

Field	Type	Description
start	number	First port in pool (default: 8100)
end	number	Last port in pool (default: 8199)
allocated	number[]	Currently allocated ports

Manual Registry Operations

Read entire registry:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.'

List all worktrees:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[]'

List worktrees for specific project:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[] | select(.project == "my-project")'

Get allocated ports:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.portPool.allocated'

Find worktree by branch (partial match):

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[] | select(.branch | contains("auth"))'

Add worktree entry manually:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.worktrees += [{
  "id": "'$(uuidgen)'",
  "project": "my-project",
  "repoPath": "/path/to/repo",
  "branch": "feature/auth",
  "branchSlug": "feature-auth",
  "worktreePath": "/Users/me/tmp/worktrees/my-project/feature-auth",
  "ports": [8100, 8101],
  "createdAt": "'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'",
  "validatedAt": null,
  "agentLaunchedAt": null,
  "task": "My task",
  "prNumber": null,
  "status": "active"
}]' ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Add ports to allocated pool:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.portPool.allocated += [8100, 8101] | .portPool.allocated |= unique | .portPool.allocated |= sort_by(.)' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Remove worktree entry:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq 'del(.worktrees[] | select(.project == "my-project" and .branch == "feature/auth"))' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Release ports from pool:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.portPool.allocated = (.portPool.allocated | map(select(. != 8100 and . != 8101)))' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Initialize empty registry (if missing):

mkdir -p ~/.claude
cat > ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json << 'EOF'
{
  "worktrees": [],
  "portPool": {
    "start": 8100,
    "end": 8199,
    "allocated": []
  }
}
EOF

---

Manual Port Allocation

If scripts/allocate-ports.sh fails, allocate ports manually:

Step 1: Get currently allocated ports

ALLOCATED=$(cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq -r '.portPool.allocated[]' | sort -n)
echo "Currently allocated: $ALLOCATED"

Step 2: Find first available port (not in allocated list AND not in use by system)

for PORT in $(seq 8100 8199); do
  # Check if in registry
  if ! echo "$ALLOCATED" | grep -q "^${PORT}$"; then
    # Check if in use by system
    if ! lsof -i :"$PORT" &>/dev/null; then
      echo "Available: $PORT"
      break
    fi
  fi
done

Step 3: Add to allocated pool

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.portPool.allocated += [8100] | .portPool.allocated |= unique | .portPool.allocated |= sort_by(.)' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

---

What You (Claude) Do vs What Scripts Do

Task	Script Available	Manual Fallback
Determine project name	No	Parse git remote get-url origin or basename $(pwd)
Detect package manager	No	Check for lockfiles (see Detection section)
Create git worktree	No	git worktree add <path> -b <branch>
Copy .agents/ directory	No	cp -r .agents <worktree-path>/
Install dependencies	No	Run detected install command
Validate (health check)	No	Start server, curl endpoint, stop server
Allocate ports	scripts/allocate-ports.sh 2	Manual (see above)
Register worktree	scripts/register.sh	Manual jq (see above)
Launch agent in terminal	scripts/launch-agent.sh	Manual (see below)
Show status	scripts/status.sh	cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq ...
Cleanup worktree	scripts/cleanup.sh	Manual (see Cleanup section)

---

Workflows

1. Create Multiple Worktrees with Agents

User says: "Spin up 3 worktrees for feature/auth, feature/payments, and fix/login-bug"

You do (can parallelize with subagents):

For EACH branch (can run in parallel):

1. SETUP
   a. Get project name:
      PROJECT=$(basename $(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null | sed 's/\.git$//') 2>/dev/null || basename $(pwd))
   b. Get repo root:
      REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
   c. Slugify branch:
      BRANCH_SLUG=$(echo "feature/auth" | tr '/' '-')
   d. Determine worktree path:
      WORKTREE_PATH=~/tmp/worktrees/$PROJECT/$BRANCH_SLUG

2. ALLOCATE PORTS
   Option A (script): ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/allocate-ports.sh 2
   Option B (manual): Find 2 unused ports from 8100-8199, add to registry

3. CREATE WORKTREE
   mkdir -p ~/tmp/worktrees/$PROJECT
   git worktree add $WORKTREE_PATH -b $BRANCH
   # If branch exists already, omit -b flag

4. COPY UNCOMMITTED RESOURCES
   cp -r .agents $WORKTREE_PATH/ 2>/dev/null || true
   cp .env.example $WORKTREE_PATH/.env 2>/dev/null || true

5. INSTALL DEPENDENCIES
   cd $WORKTREE_PATH
   # Detect and run: npm install / uv sync / etc.

6. VALIDATE (start server, health check, stop)
   a. Start server with allocated port
   b. Wait and health check: curl -sf http://localhost:$PORT/health
   c. Stop server
   d. If FAILS: report error but continue with other worktrees

7. REGISTER IN GLOBAL REGISTRY
   Option A (script): ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/register.sh ...
   Option B (manual): Update ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json with jq

8. LAUNCH AGENT
   Option A (script): ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/launch-agent.sh $WORKTREE_PATH "task"
   Option B (manual): Open terminal manually, cd to path, run claude

AFTER ALL COMPLETE:
- Report summary table to user
- Note any failures with details

2. Check Status

With script:

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/status.sh
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/status.sh --project my-project

Manual:

# All worktrees
cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq -r '.worktrees[] | "\(.project)\t\(.branch)\t\(.ports | join(","))\t\(.status)\t\(.task // "-")"'

# For current project
PROJECT=$(basename $(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null | sed 's/\.git$//'))
cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq -r ".worktrees[] | select(.project == \"$PROJECT\") | \"\(.branch)\t\(.ports | join(\",\"))\t\(.status)\""

3. Launch Agent Manually

If launch-agent.sh fails:

For Ghostty:

open -na "Ghostty.app" --args -e fish -c "cd '$WORKTREE_PATH' && claude"

For iTerm2:

osascript -e 'tell application "iTerm2" to create window with default profile' \
  -e 'tell application "iTerm2" to tell current session of current window to write text "cd '"$WORKTREE_PATH"' && claude"'

For tmux:

tmux new-session -d -s "wt-$PROJECT-$BRANCH_SLUG" -c "$WORKTREE_PATH" "fish -c 'claude'"

4. Cleanup Worktree

With script:

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/cleanup.sh my-project feature/auth --delete-branch

Manual cleanup:

# 1. Get worktree info from registry
ENTRY=$(cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[] | select(.project == "my-project" and .branch == "feature/auth")')
WORKTREE_PATH=$(echo "$ENTRY" | jq -r '.worktreePath')
PORTS=$(echo "$ENTRY" | jq -r '.ports[]')
REPO_PATH=$(echo "$ENTRY" | jq -r '.repoPath')

# 2. Kill processes on ports
for PORT in $PORTS; do
  lsof -ti:"$PORT" | xargs kill -9 2>/dev/null || true
done

# 3. Remove worktree
cd "$REPO_PATH"
git worktree remove "$WORKTREE_PATH" --force 2>/dev/null || rm -rf "$WORKTREE_PATH"
git worktree prune

# 4. Remove from registry
TMP=$(mktemp)
jq 'del(.worktrees[] | select(.project == "my-project" and .branch == "feature/auth"))' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

# 5. Release ports
TMP=$(mktemp)
for PORT in $PORTS; do
  jq ".portPool.allocated = (.portPool.allocated | map(select(. != $PORT)))" \
    ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json
done

# 6. Optionally delete branch
git branch -D feature/auth
git push origin --delete feature/auth

5. Create PR from Worktree

When creating a PR from a worktree branch, update the registry with the PR number:

# After gh pr create succeeds, get the PR number
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
PR_NUM=$(gh pr view --json number -q '.number')

# Update registry with PR number
if [ -n "$PR_NUM" ] && [ -f ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json ]; then
    TMP=$(mktemp)
    jq "(.worktrees[] | select(.branch == \"$BRANCH\")).prNumber = $PR_NUM" \
      ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json
    echo "Updated worktree registry with PR #$PR_NUM"
fi

This enables cleanup.sh --merged to automatically find and clean up worktrees after their PRs are merged.

6. Sync Registry

Reconcile registry with actual worktrees and PR status:

# Check status (no changes)
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/sync.sh

# Auto-fix issues (update PR numbers, remove missing entries)
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/sync.sh --fix

# Quiet mode (only show problems)
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/sync.sh --quiet

---

Package Manager Detection

Detect by checking for lockfiles in priority order:

File	Package Manager	Install Command
bun.lockb	bun	bun install
pnpm-lock.yaml	pnpm	pnpm install
yarn.lock	yarn	yarn install
package-lock.json	npm	npm install
uv.lock	uv	uv sync
pyproject.toml (no uv.lock)	uv	uv sync
requirements.txt	pip	pip install -r requirements.txt
go.mod	go	go mod download
Cargo.toml	cargo	cargo build

Detection logic:

cd $WORKTREE_PATH
if [ -f "bun.lockb" ]; then bun install
elif [ -f "pnpm-lock.yaml" ]; then pnpm install
elif [ -f "yarn.lock" ]; then yarn install
elif [ -f "package-lock.json" ]; then npm install
elif [ -f "uv.lock" ]; then uv sync
elif [ -f "pyproject.toml" ]; then uv sync
elif [ -f "requirements.txt" ]; then pip install -r requirements.txt
elif [ -f "go.mod" ]; then go mod download
elif [ -f "Cargo.toml" ]; then cargo build
fi

---

Dev Server Detection

Look for dev commands in this order:

1. docker-compose.yml / compose.yml: docker-compose up -d or docker compose up -d
2. package.json scripts: Look for dev, start:dev, serve
3. Python with uvicorn: uv run uvicorn app.main:app --port $PORT
4. Python with Flask: flask run --port $PORT
5. Go: go run .

Port injection: Most servers accept PORT env var or --port flag

---

Project-Specific Config (Optional)

Projects can provide .claude/worktree.json for custom settings:

{
  "ports": {
    "count": 2,
    "services": ["api", "frontend"]
  },
  "install": "uv sync && cd frontend && npm install",
  "validate": {
    "start": "docker-compose up -d",
    "healthCheck": "curl -sf http://localhost:{{PORT}}/health",
    "stop": "docker-compose down"
  },
  "copyDirs": [".agents", ".env.example", "data/fixtures"]
}

If this file exists, use its settings. Otherwise, auto-detect.

---

Parallel Worktree Creation

When creating multiple worktrees, use subagents for parallelization:

User: "Spin up worktrees for feature/a, feature/b, feature/c"

You:
1. Allocate ports for ALL worktrees upfront (6 ports total)
2. Spawn 3 subagents, one per worktree
3. Each subagent:
   - Creates its worktree
   - Installs deps
   - Validates
   - Registers (with its pre-allocated ports)
   - Launches agent
4. Collect results from all subagents
5. Report unified summary with any failures noted

---

Safety Guidelines

1. Before cleanup, check PR status:

   • PR merged → safe to clean everything
   • PR open → warn user, confirm before proceeding
   • No PR → warn about unsubmitted work

2. Before deleting branches, confirm if:

   • PR not merged
   • No PR exists
   • Worktree has uncommitted changes

3. Port conflicts: If port in use by non-worktree process, pick different port

4. Orphaned worktrees: If original repo deleted, mark as orphaned in status

5. Max worktrees: With 100-port pool and 2 ports each, max ~50 concurrent worktrees

---

Script Reference

Scripts are in ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/

allocate-ports.sh

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/allocate-ports.sh <count>
# Returns: space-separated port numbers (e.g., "8100 8101")
# Automatically updates registry

register.sh

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/register.sh \
  <project> <branch> <branch-slug> <worktree-path> <repo-path> <ports> [task]
# Example:
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/register.sh \
  "my-project" "feature/auth" "feature-auth" \
  "$HOME/tmp/worktrees/my-project/feature-auth" \
  "/path/to/repo" "8100,8101" "Implement OAuth"

launch-agent.sh

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/launch-agent.sh <worktree-path> [task]
# Opens new terminal window (Ghostty by default) with Claude Code

status.sh

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/status.sh [--project <name>]
# Shows all worktrees, or filtered by project

cleanup.sh

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/cleanup.sh <project> <branch> [--delete-branch]
# Kills ports, removes worktree, updates registry
# --delete-branch also removes local and remote git branches

# Or cleanup ALL merged worktrees at once:
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/cleanup.sh --merged [--delete-branch]
# Finds all worktrees with merged PRs and cleans them up

sync.sh

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/sync.sh [--quiet] [--fix]
# Reconciles registry with actual worktrees and PR status
# --quiet: Only show issues, not OK entries
# --fix: Automatically remove missing entries and update PR numbers/status

# Example: Check status without changing anything
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/sync.sh

# Example: Auto-fix registry issues
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/sync.sh --fix

release-ports.sh

~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/release-ports.sh <port1> [port2] ...
# Releases ports back to pool

---

Skill Config

Location: ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/config.json

{
  "terminal": "ghostty",
  "shell": "fish",
  "claudeCommand": "claude",
  "portPool": {
    "start": 8100,
    "end": 8199
  },
  "portsPerWorktree": 2,
  "worktreeBase": "~/tmp/worktrees",
  "defaultCopyDirs": [".agents", ".env.example"]
}

Terminal options: ghostty, iterm2, tmux, wezterm, kitty, alacritty

---

Common Issues

"Worktree already exists"

git worktree list
git worktree remove <path> --force
git worktree prune

"Branch already exists"

# Use existing branch (omit -b flag)
git worktree add <path> <branch>

"Port already in use"

lsof -i :<port>
# Kill if stale, or pick different port

Registry out of sync

# Compare registry to actual worktrees
cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[].worktreePath'
find ~/tmp/worktrees -maxdepth 2 -type d

# Remove orphaned entries or add missing ones

Validation failed

1. Check stderr/logs for error message
2. Common issues: missing env vars, database not running, wrong port
3. Report to user with details
4. Continue with other worktrees
5. User can fix and re-validate manually

---

Example Session

User: "Spin up 2 worktrees for feature/dark-mode and fix/login-bug"

You:

1. Detect project: obsidian-ai-agent (from git remote)
2. Detect package manager: uv (found uv.lock)
3. Allocate 4 ports: ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/allocate-ports.sh 4 → 8100 8101 8102 8103
4. Create worktrees:

   mkdir -p ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent
   git worktree add ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/feature-dark-mode -b feature/dark-mode
   git worktree add ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/fix-login-bug -b fix/login-bug
   

5. Copy .agents/:

   cp -r .agents ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/feature-dark-mode/
   cp -r .agents ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/fix-login-bug/
   

6. Install deps in each worktree:

   (cd ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/feature-dark-mode && uv sync)
   (cd ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/fix-login-bug && uv sync)
   

7. Validate each (start server, health check, stop)
8. Register both worktrees in ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json
9. Launch agents:

   ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/launch-agent.sh \
     ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/feature-dark-mode "Implement dark mode toggle"
   ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/launch-agent.sh \
     ~/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/fix-login-bug "Fix login redirect bug"
   

10. Report:

    Created 2 worktrees with agents:
    
    | Branch | Ports | Path | Task |
    |--------|-------|------|------|
    | feature/dark-mode | 8100, 8101 | ~/tmp/worktrees/.../feature-dark-mode | Implement dark mode |
    | fix/login-bug | 8102, 8103 | ~/tmp/worktrees/.../fix-login-bug | Fix login redirect |
    
    Both agents running in Ghostty windows.