Worktree Workflow

A toolkit for parallel development with git worktrees, designed for Claude Code.

Features

• claude-wt - Bash script to create worktrees and launch Claude Code
• Worktree Skill - Claude Code skill for managing worktrees and branch naming
• Workflow Commands - /pr, /done commands for development workflow

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/anthropics/worktree-workflow.git
cd worktree-workflow

# Run the install script
./install.sh

The install script will:

1. Symlink claude-wt to ~/.local/bin/
2. Copy skills to ~/.claude/skills/
3. Copy commands to ~/.claude/commands/

If files already exist, they will be backed up with a timestamp suffix.

Shell Configuration

Add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

# Ensure ~/.local/bin is in PATH
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# Alias (required for cd to work)
alias claude-wt='source ~/.local/bin/claude-wt'

Then reload: source ~/.zshrc

Usage

claude-wt Command

# Create worktree with temporary branch (dangerous mode, default)
claude-wt

# Create worktree with specific branch name
claude-wt feature-auth

# Create worktree with initial prompt
claude-wt feature-auth "Implement user authentication"

# Use safe mode (with permission prompts)
claude-wt --safe feature-auth

# Explicitly use dangerous mode
claude-wt --dangerous feature-auth

Options:

Within Claude Code

# Create a worktree for a new feature
/worktree feature/new-api main

# Create a pull request
/pr

# Complete work on current issue
/done

Worktree Directory Convention

All worktrees are created in ../worktrees/- relative to the main repository.

For example, if your repo is at /home/user/projects/my-app and you create a branch feature-auth:

• Worktree path: /home/user/projects/worktrees/my-app-feature-auth

This convention:

• Keeps worktrees separate from the main repo
• Includes repo name to avoid conflicts across projects
• Makes it easy to identify which worktree belongs to which project/branch

Configuration

Environment Variables

Example: Custom Worktrees Directory

# Use a project-local worktrees directory
export CLAUDE_WT_WORKTREES_DIR="./.worktrees"
claude-wt feature-auth

Project Structure

worktree-workflow/
├── bin/
│   └── claude-wt           # Main CLI script
├── skills/
│   └── worktree/
│       └── SKILL.md        # Claude Code skill
├── commands/
│   ├── pr.md               # Create pull request
│   └── done.md             # Complete issue workflow
└── install.sh              # Installation script

Dependencies

• Required: git, claude (Claude Code CLI)
• Optional: gh (GitHub CLI for /pr)

License

MIT