using-git-worktrees

A Git workflow for creating separate workspaces for different branches of the same project. A worktree lets several branches be open at once without switching the main workspace.

In plain words
What is it for?
It helps prepare a safe workspace before implementing a plan or working on a feature in parallel with other branches.
Why use it?
It keeps feature work isolated from the current files and reduces the risk of mixing unrelated changes.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/hecer/yoke/using-git-worktrees
Any agent
npx skills add HECer/yoke --skill using-git-worktrees
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/HECer/yoke

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 35 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,344 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin 88% copy Near-identical to another mod in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00035 $0.01344
Opus 5 $0.00017 $0.00672
Sonnet 5 $0.00007 $0.00269
Haiku 4.5 $0.00003 $0.00134

Measured 2d ago against content hash de9dcde34840, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

using-git-worktrees scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

Origin

This is a copy

88% identical to using-git-worktrees — 3 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

canon/skills/using-git-worktrees/SKILL.md · 219 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 219 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Using Git Worktrees

Overview

Git worktrees create isolated workspaces sharing the same repository, allowing work on multiple branches simultaneously without switching.

Core principle: Systematic directory selection + safety verification = reliable isolation.

Announce at start: "I'm using the using-git-worktrees skill to set up an isolated workspace."

Directory Selection Process

Follow this priority order:

1. Check Existing Directories

# Check in priority order
ls -d .worktrees 2>/dev/null     # Preferred (hidden)
ls -d worktrees 2>/dev/null      # Alternative

If found: Use that directory. If both exist, .worktrees wins.

2. Check CLAUDE.md

grep -i "worktree.*director" CLAUDE.md 2>/dev/null

If preference specified: Use it without asking.

3. Ask User

If no directory exists and no CLAUDE.md preference:

No worktree directory found. Where should I create worktrees?

1. .worktrees/ (project-local, hidden)
2. ~/.config/superpowers/worktrees/<project-name>/ (global location)

Which would you prefer?

Safety Verification

For Project-Local Directories (.worktrees or worktrees)

MUST verify directory is ignored before creating worktree:

# Check if directory is ignored (respects local, global, and system gitignore)
git check-ignore -q .worktrees 2>/dev/null || git check-ignore -q worktrees 2>/dev/null

If NOT ignored:

Per Jesse's rule "Fix broken things immediately":

  1. Add appropriate line to .gitignore
  2. Commit the change
  3. Proceed with worktree creation

Why critical: Prevents accidentally committing worktree contents to repository.

For Global Directory (~/.config/superpowers/worktrees)

No .gitignore verification needed - outside project entirely.

Creation Steps

1. Detect Project Name

project=$(basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)")

2. Create Worktree

# Determine full path
case $LOCATION in
  .worktrees|worktrees)
    path="$LOCATION/$BRANCH_NAME"
    ;;
  ~/.config/superpowers/worktrees/*)
    path="~/.config/superpowers/worktrees/$project/$BRANCH_NAME"
    ;;
esac

# Create worktree with new branch
git worktree add "$path" -b "$BRANCH_NAME"
cd "$path"

Read the full file on GitHub · 219 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 219 lines · 35 tokens per session scan A de9dcde34840

Subscribe to this mod's changes

using-git-worktrees is a skill published in the GitHub repository HECer/yoke (2 stars, last pushed 11d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 35 tokens to every session and 1,344 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 88% identical to using-git-worktrees, differing in 3 lines, and is treated as a copy.