A tiny zsh helper that makes git worktrees feel like switching tabs.

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Why

Worktrees let you check out multiple branches at once — perfect for hopping between a feature, a hotfix review, and an agent's branch without stashing or cloning. The native CLI is just a bit clunky for everyday use:

git worktree add ../somewhere-else feature-x
cd ../somewhere-else
# ...later...
cd /path/to/main
git worktree remove ../somewhere-else
git branch -d feature-x

gw collapses that to:

gw -b feature-x   # create + cd in
gw -d feature-x   # remove + delete branch

All worktrees live under <repo>/.worktrees/<branch>, gitignored locally. You spend less time managing paths and more time writing code.

Install

Clone once into ~/.claude/skills/gw/ and you get both the zsh helper and the Claude Code skill in one go:

git clone https://github.com/ohwhen/gw.git ~/.claude/skills/gw
echo 'source ~/.claude/skills/gw/gw.zsh' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

If you don't use Claude Code, clone anywhere and source gw.zsh from there — only the path changes.

Updating

cd ~/.claude/skills/gw && git pull

Then source ~/.zshrc (or open a new shell) to load the new version.

Usage

Command	What it does
gw	List all worktrees
gw <branch>	Check out an existing branch in a worktree, cd into it
gw -b <branch>	Create a new branch + worktree, cd into it
gw -d <branch>	Remove worktree and delete branch (refuses if dirty or unmerged)
gw -D <branch>	Force-remove worktree and force-delete branch
gw -r	cd to the main worktree from anywhere in the repo
gw -h, --help	Show help

Slashes in branch names get sanitized into the directory: owen/foo → .worktrees/owen-foo.

How it works

• On first use in a repo, gw adds .worktrees/ to .git/info/exclude (local-only — no committed change to the repo) and creates the directory.
• gw <branch> is idempotent. If the worktree already exists, it just cds in.
• -d mirrors git branch -d semantics: refuses to delete unmerged branches or dirty worktrees. -D is the force variant.
• All operations run against the main repo via git -C, so it works correctly from inside any linked worktree too.

Tab completion

Tab completion is included and is context-aware:

• gw <Tab> — branches that already have worktrees first, then all other local branches
• gw -d <Tab> / gw -D <Tab> — only branches that have a worktree (so you don't accidentally delete a random branch)
• gw -b <Tab> — all local branches as a reference (so you can avoid name collisions and follow your existing prefix conventions)

Requires compinit to be active (it is by default in oh-my-zsh, prezto, and most modern setups).

Example session

A typical day: you're working on a feature, a teammate's PR review comes in, then you go back and finish.

1. Start a new feature.

$ cd ~/code/myproject

$ gw -b owen/login-redesign
added .worktrees/ to /Users/me/code/myproject/.git/info/exclude
Preparing worktree (new branch 'owen/login-redesign')
HEAD is now at a1b2c3d main: bump version

$ pwd
/Users/me/code/myproject/.worktrees/owen-login-redesign

You're already in the new worktree. First time in this repo, gw set up .worktrees/ in your local exclude.

2. Teammate pings you for a PR review. You don't want to lose your in-progress edits — just spin up another worktree.

$ gw -b sara/payments-fix origin/sara/payments-fix
Preparing worktree (new branch 'sara/payments-fix')
HEAD is now at d4e5f6a Add retry on Stripe 5xx

$ # ...read the diff, leave comments, run the tests...

$ gw                            # see everything you've got going
/Users/me/code/myproject                                       a1b2c3d [main]
/Users/me/code/myproject/.worktrees/owen-login-redesign        b9c0d1e [owen/login-redesign]
/Users/me/code/myproject/.worktrees/sara-payments-fix          d4e5f6a [sara/payments-fix]

3. Hop back to your feature. Tab completion knows which branches have worktrees and ranks them first.

$ gw owen/<Tab>
owen/login-redesign  -- worktree
owen/old-experiment  -- branch

$ gw owen/login-redesign
$ pwd
/Users/me/code/myproject/.worktrees/owen-login-redesign

4. Push, open the PR, get it merged. Time to clean up. You're still inside the worktree — gw -d handles that.

$ git push -u origin owen/login-redesign
$ # ...PR merged on GitHub...

$ git fetch --prune
$ pwd
/Users/me/code/myproject/.worktrees/owen-login-redesign

$ gw -d owen/login-redesign
Deleted branch owen/login-redesign (was b9c0d1e).

$ pwd                           # gw cd'd you back to root before deleting
/Users/me/code/myproject

5. Drop the review worktree the same way.

$ gw -d sara/payments-fix
Deleted branch sara/payments-fix (was d4e5f6a).

$ gw
/Users/me/code/myproject  a1b2c3d [main]

Back to a clean slate. No cds memorized, no orphaned branches.

Requirements

• zsh
• git 2.5 or newer

Claude Code skill

This repo doubles as a Claude Code skill — see SKILL.md. When you clone into ~/.claude/skills/gw/ (the Install step above), Claude Code automatically picks up the skill. It teaches an agent the .worktrees/ isolation pattern — when to use a worktree instead of stashing, the path conventions, and the raw git worktree commands to use in non-interactive contexts.

License

MIT