wt

wt keeps one git worktree per branch, each checked out beside your main checkout:

~/code/proj            main
~/code/proj-login      login
~/code/proj-fix-typo   fix-typo

Switching branches becomes changing directory, so a half-finished change, a running build or a review never has to be stashed to make room for something else.

Install

On x86_64 Linux, download the static binary from the latest GitHub release and put it on your PATH. It needs git at runtime.

curl -fsSLO https://github.com/alksl/wt/releases/latest/download/wt-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz
tar xzf wt-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz
install -m755 wt-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/wt ~/.local/bin/

The release notes show how to check it against SHA256SUMS and its signature. Elsewhere, build it with Cargo:

cargo install --git https://github.com/alksl/wt

Then load the shell integration from your ~/.zshrc:

eval "$(wt init zsh)"

A program can't change its parent shell's directory, so wt switch prints the worktree's path and the wt function this defines cds into it. It also wires up fzf's **<TAB> completion for wt switch, wt new, wt exec and wt remove. Only zsh is supported.

Usage

wt switch login         # cd into login's worktree (alias: wt sw)
wt switch -c spike      # a branch that doesn't exist yet: create it from HEAD, then cd
wt new login            # create the worktree without switching to it
wt exec login -- make   # run a command in login's worktree, staying where you are
wt list                 # the same output as git worktree list
wt remove login         # remove login's worktree (alias: wt rm); the branch stays
wt prune                # remove every worktree whose branch is merged

wt switch main, or whatever your default branch is called, always takes you back to the main checkout.

Reviewing someone else's branch

Fetch, then switch to the branch by name:

git fetch
wt sw fix-typo

If fix-typo has no worktree yet, wt creates one: from your local branch if you have it, otherwise from a new local branch tracking origin/fix-typo. wt sw **<TAB> lists your worktrees followed by the branches you could open one for, marked local or origin. wt never fetches on its own, so completion stays instant and works offline.

What prune removes

prune removes a linked worktree when its branch is merged into the default branch and has commits of its own. The default branch is origin/HEAD's target, or whatever the main checkout has on it, and its own worktree is never removed. A branch that was created and never committed to counts as merged, so it is kept, with a warning. Removal goes through git worktree remove without --force: a worktree with uncommitted or untracked changes is left alone, and prune exits non-zero.

Development

cargo test runs integration tests that drive the built binary against throwaway git repositories, and cargo clippy --all-targets and cargo fmt --check must both be clean. CLAUDE.md describes the design and the contracts the shell integration relies on. Releases are cut with make release; RELEASING.md explains it.