Worktree

Git worktrees make branches directories at the root of the repository. Instead of switching branches, just switch directories.

Make a directory

mkdir <repository-name>

Clone a repository without checking out a branch

Clone the repository from inside the repository directory:

cd <repository-name>

After that clone the repository without worktrees: (The --bare flag specifies to only clone the essential git files)

git clone --bare <git-remote-url>

<git-remote-url> can be an HTTPS or SSH URL.

Add a worktree

Only add worktrees from the bare repository, so navigate to the bare repository:

cd <repository-name>/.git/

Now add a worktree to the root of the repository:

git worktree add ../<branch-name>

Now the directory structure should look something like this (as an example this repository has been used):

digital-garden
├── digital-garden/.git/
└── main/

To switch to branch main, simply cd main.

Add a worktree with a new branch

Make sure to be in the bare repository when managing worktrees:

git worktree add -b <branch-name> ../<worktree-name>

<branch-name> is the name of the new branch.
<worktree-name> is the name of directory (worktree).

Add a worktree based on a remote branch

git worktree add <worktree-name> <remote-branch-name>

When the worktree commit log does not line up with the remote commit log for that specific branch, it is probably because <remote-branch-name> was not the correct remote branch name when executing the git worktree add command.

Remove a worktree

Remove worktrees from the bare repository:

cd <repository-name>/.git/

Remove a worktree by executing the following command:

git worktree remove <worktree-name>