autowt: a better git worktree experience¶

Consider what it takes to set up a fresh worktree in a typical workflow:

1. Make a decision about where to put the worktree
2. git worktree add <worktree_path> -b <branch>
3. Open a new terminal tab
4. cd <worktree path>
5. uv sync or npm install or whatever your dependency setup is
6. cp <repo_dir>/.env . to copy secrets

Congrats, you're done! Type type type, open a PR, and merge it. Now you need to clean up:

1. git worktree rm .
2. Close the tab

Of course, you might close the tab and forget to clean up the worktree, and your set of worktrees will grow.

On the other hand, with autowt, it looks like this:

autowt <branch>
# there is no step 2

And deleting branches that have been merged or are associated with closed PRs looks like this:

autowt cleanup

A lot nicer, right?

Type less

The built-in worktree commands are verbose. autowt makes them shorter, and adds automation hooks.

Terminal program automation

If you like to keep multiple tabs open, autowt can create tabs for new worktrees, and switch to the correct tab for a worktree if you already have it open.

Getting started¶

You'll need Python 3.10+ and a version of git released less than ten years ago (2.5+).

First, install autowt:

pip install autowt

Then, make a new worktree for a new or existing branch in your current repo:

autowt my-new-feature

Watch as autowt creates a new worktree and opens it in a new terminal tab or window.