Back to Commands

Create Worktrees

Commands git-workflow 355 Scanned by NVIDIA SkillSpector

This command fetches all open pull requests using GitHub CLI, then creates a git worktree for each PR's branch in the ./tree/<BRANCH_NAME> directory.

Install Command
npx claude-code-templates@latest --command git-workflow/create-worktrees
View on GitHub
claude-code — create-worktrees

Scanned by NVIDIA SkillSpector

Automated static analysis (no LLM) · v2.12.0 · 2026-10-23

Partial analysis: some checks could not run on this component.

0 observations
scanner score 0/100

SkillSpector looks for patterns such as shell commands, credential access, network calls or unpinned dependencies. An observation is something worth reading in the files before you install, not a confirmed vulnerability. Components that run code locally, like hooks, MCP servers and security tooling, naturally show more of them.

No observations.

Learn more about NVIDIA SkillSpector.

Content

Git Worktree Commands

Create Worktrees for All Open PRs

This command fetches all open pull requests using GitHub CLI, then creates a git worktree for each PR's branch in the ./tree/<BRANCH_NAME> directory.

bash
# Ensure GitHub CLI is installed and authenticated
gh auth status || (echo "Please run 'gh auth login' first" && exit 1)

# Create the tree directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ./tree

# List all open PRs and create worktrees for each branch
gh pr list --json headRefName --jq '.[].headRefName' | while read branch; do
  # Handle branch names with slashes (like "feature/foo")
  branch_path="./tree/${branch}"
  
  # For branches with slashes, create the directory structure
  if [[ "$branch" == */* ]]; then
    dir_path=$(dirname "$branch_path")
    mkdir -p "$dir_path"
  fi

  # Check if worktree already exists
  if [ ! -d "$branch_path" ]; then
    echo "Creating worktree for $branch"
    git worktree add "$branch_path" "$branch"
  else
    echo "Worktree for $branch already exists"
  fi
done

# Display all created worktrees
echo "\nWorktree list:"
git worktree list

Example Output

Creating worktree for fix-bug-123
HEAD is now at a1b2c3d Fix bug 123
Creating worktree for feature/new-feature
HEAD is now at e4f5g6h Add new feature
Worktree for documentation-update already exists

Worktree list:
/path/to/repo                      abc1234 [main]
/path/to/repo/tree/fix-bug-123     a1b2c3d [fix-bug-123]
/path/to/repo/tree/feature/new-feature e4f5g6h [feature/new-feature]
/path/to/repo/tree/documentation-update d5e6f7g [documentation-update]

Cleanup Stale Worktrees (Optional)

You can add this to remove stale worktrees for branches that no longer exist:

bash
# Get current branches
current_branches=$(git branch -a | grep -v HEAD | grep -v main | sed 's/^[ *]*//' | sed 's|remotes/origin/||' | sort | uniq)

# Get existing worktrees (excluding main worktree)
worktree_paths=$(git worktree list | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $1}')

for path in $worktree_paths; do
  # Extract branch name from path
  branch_name=$(basename "$path")
  
  # Skip special cases
  if [[ "$branch_name" == "main" ]]; then
    continue
  fi
  
  # Check if branch still exists
  if ! echo "$current_branches" | grep -q "^$branch_name$"; then
    echo "Removing stale worktree for deleted branch: $branch_name"
    git worktree remove --force "$path"
  fi
done

Create New Branch and Worktree

This interactive command creates a new git branch and sets up a worktree for it:

bash
#!/bin/bash

# Ensure we're in a git repository
if ! git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree > /dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "Error: Not in a git repository"
  exit 1
fi

# Get the repository root
repo_root=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)

# Prompt for branch name
read -p "Enter new branch name: " branch_name

# Validate branch name (basic validation)
if [[ -z "$branch_name" ]]; then
  echo "Error: Branch name cannot be empty"
  exit 1
fi

if git show-ref --verify --quiet "refs/heads/$branch_name"; then
  echo "Warning: Branch '$branch_name' already exists"
  read -p "Do you want to use the existing branch? (y/n): " use_existing
  if [[ "$use_existing" != "y" ]]; then
    exit 1
  fi
fi

# Create branch directory
branch_path="$repo_root/tree/$branch_name"

# Handle branch names with slashes (like "feature/foo")
if [[ "$branch_name" == */* ]]; then
  dir_path=$(dirname "$branch_path")
  mkdir -p "$dir_path"
fi

# Make sure parent directory exists
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$branch_path")"

# Check if a worktree already exists
if [ -d "$branch_path" ]; then
  echo "Error: Worktree directory already exists: $branch_path"
  exit 1
fi

# Create branch and worktree
if git show-ref --verify --quiet "refs/heads/$branch_name"; then
  # Branch exists, create worktree
  echo "Creating worktree for existing branch '$branch_name'..."
  git worktree add "$branch_path" "$branch_name"
else
  # Create new branch and worktree
  echo "Creating new branch '$branch_name' and worktree..."
  git worktree add -b "$branch_name" "$branch_path"
fi

echo "Success! New worktree created at: $branch_path"
echo "To start working on this branch, run: cd $branch_path"

Example Usage

$ ./create-branch-worktree.sh
Enter new branch name: feature/user-authentication
Creating new branch 'feature/user-authentication' and worktree...
Preparing worktree (creating new branch 'feature/user-authentication')
HEAD is now at abc1234 Previous commit message
Success! New worktree created at: /path/to/repo/tree/feature/user-authentication
To start working on this branch, run: cd /path/to/repo/tree/feature/user-authentication

Creating a New Branch from a Different Base

If you want to start your branch from a different base (not the current HEAD), you can modify the script:

bash
read -p "Enter new branch name: " branch_name
read -p "Enter base branch/commit (default: HEAD): " base_commit
base_commit=${base_commit:-HEAD}

# Then use the specified base when creating the worktree
git worktree add -b "$branch_name" "$branch_path" "$base_commit"

This will allow you to specify any commit, tag, or branch name as the starting point for your new branch.

Stack Builder

0 components

Your stack is empty

Browse components and click the + button to add them to your stack for easy installation.