worktree-manager

Global Worktree Manager

Manage parallel development across ALL projects using git worktrees with Claude Code agents. Each worktree is an isolated copy of the repo on a different branch, stored centrally at ~/tmp/worktrees/.

IMPORTANT: You (Claude) can perform ALL operations manually using standard tools (jq, git, bash). Scripts are helpers, not requirements. If a script fails, fall back to manual operations described in this document.

When This Skill Activates

Trigger phrases:

• "spin up worktrees for X, Y, Z"
• "create 3 worktrees for features A, B, C"
• "new worktree for feature/auth"
• "what's the status of my worktrees?"
• "show all worktrees" / "show worktrees for this project"
• "clean up merged worktrees"
• "clean up the auth worktree"
• "launch agent in worktree X"
• "sync worktrees" / "sync worktree registry"
• "create PR" (when in a worktree - updates registry with PR number)

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File Locations

File	Purpose
~/.claude/worktree-registry.json	Global registry - tracks all worktrees across all projects
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/config.json	Skill config - terminal, shell, port range settings
~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/	Helper scripts - optional, can do everything manually
~/tmp/worktrees/	Worktree storage - all worktrees live here
.claude/worktree.json (per-project)	Project config - optional custom settings

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Core Concepts

Centralized Worktree Storage

All worktrees live in ~/tmp/worktrees/<project-name>/<branch-slug>/

~/tmp/worktrees/
├── obsidian-ai-agent/
│   ├── feature-auth/           # branch: feature/auth
│   ├── feature-payments/       # branch: feature/payments
│   └── fix-login-bug/          # branch: fix/login-bug
└── another-project/
    └── feature-dark-mode/

Branch Slug Convention

Branch names are slugified for filesystem safety by replacing / with -:

• feature/auth → feature-auth
• fix/login-bug → fix-login-bug
• feat/user-profile → feat-user-profile

Slugify manually: echo "feature/auth" | tr '/' '-' → feature-auth

Port Allocation Rules

• Global pool: 8100-8199 (100 ports total)
• Per worktree: 2 ports allocated (for API + frontend patterns)
• Globally unique: Ports are tracked globally to avoid conflicts across projects
• Check before use: Always verify port isn't in use by system: lsof -i :<port>

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Global Registry

Location

~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Schema

{
  "worktrees": [
    {
      "id": "unique-uuid",
      "project": "obsidian-ai-agent",
      "repoPath": "/Users/rasmus/Projects/obsidian-ai-agent",
      "branch": "feature/auth",
      "branchSlug": "feature-auth",
      "worktreePath": "/Users/rasmus/tmp/worktrees/obsidian-ai-agent/feature-auth",
      "ports": [8100, 8101],
      "createdAt": "2025-12-04T10:00:00Z",
      "validatedAt": "2025-12-04T10:02:00Z",
      "agentLaunchedAt": "2025-12-04T10:03:00Z",
      "task": "Implement OAuth login",
      "prNumber": null,
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "portPool": {
    "start": 8100,
    "end": 8199,
    "allocated": [8100, 8101]
  }
}

Field Descriptions

Worktree entry fields:

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique identifier (UUID)
project	string	Project name (from git remote or directory)
repoPath	string	Absolute path to original repository
branch	string	Full branch name (e.g., feature/auth)
branchSlug	string	Filesystem-safe name (e.g., feature-auth)
worktreePath	string	Absolute path to worktree
ports	number[]	Allocated port numbers (usually 2)
createdAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp
validatedAt	string|null	When validation passed
agentLaunchedAt	string|null	When agent was launched
task	string|null	Task description for the agent
prNumber	number|null	Associated PR number if exists
status	string	active, orphaned, or merged

Port pool fields:

Field	Type	Description
start	number	First port in pool (default: 8100)
end	number	Last port in pool (default: 8199)
allocated	number[]	Currently allocated ports

Manual Registry Operations

Read entire registry:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.'

List all worktrees:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[]'

List worktrees for specific project:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[] | select(.project == "my-project")'

Get allocated ports:

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.portPool.allocated'

Find worktree by branch (partial match):

cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq '.worktrees[] | select(.branch | contains("auth"))'

Add worktree entry manually:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.worktrees += [{
  "id": "'$(uuidgen)'",
  "project": "my-project",
  "repoPath": "/path/to/repo",
  "branch": "feature/auth",
  "branchSlug": "feature-auth",
  "worktreePath": "/Users/me/tmp/worktrees/my-project/feature-auth",
  "ports": [8100, 8101],
  "createdAt": "'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'",
  "validatedAt": null,
  "agentLaunchedAt": null,
  "task": "My task",
  "prNumber": null,
  "status": "active"
}]' ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Add ports to allocated pool:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.portPool.allocated += [8100, 8101] | .portPool.allocated |= unique | .portPool.allocated |= sort_by(.)' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Remove worktree entry:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq 'del(.worktrees[] | select(.project == "my-project" and .branch == "feature/auth"))' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Release ports from pool:

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.portPool.allocated = (.portPool.allocated | map(select(. != 8100 and . != 8101)))' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

Initialize empty registry (if missing):

mkdir -p ~/.claude
cat > ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json << 'EOF'
{
  "worktrees": [],
  "portPool": {
    "start": 8100,
    "end": 8199,
    "allocated": []
  }
}
EOF

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Manual Port Allocation

If scripts/allocate-ports.sh fails, allocate ports manually:

Step 1: Get currently allocated ports

ALLOCATED=$(cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq -r '.portPool.allocated[]' | sort -n)
echo "Currently allocated: $ALLOCATED"

Step 2: Find first available port (not in allocated list AND not in use by system)

for PORT in $(seq 8100 8199); do
  # Check if in registry
  if ! echo "$ALLOCATED" | grep -q "^${PORT}$"; then
    # Check if in use by system
    if ! lsof -i :"$PORT" &>/dev/null; then
      echo "Available: $PORT"
      break
    fi
  fi
done

Step 3: Add to allocated pool

TMP=$(mktemp)
jq '.portPool.allocated += [8100] | .portPool.allocated |= unique | .portPool.allocated |= sort_by(.)' \
  ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json > "$TMP" && mv "$TMP" ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json

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What You (Claude) Do vs What Scripts Do

Task	Script Available	Manual Fallback
Determine project name	No	Parse git remote get-url origin or basename $(pwd)
Detect package manager	No	Check for lockfiles (see Detection section)
Create git worktree	No	git worktree add <path> -b <branch>
Copy .agents/ directory	No	cp -r .agents <worktree-path>/
Install dependencies	No	Run detected install command
Validate (health check)	No	Start server, curl endpoint, stop server
Allocate ports	scripts/allocate-ports.sh 2	Manual (see above)
Register worktree	scripts/register.sh	Manual jq (see above)
Launch agent in terminal	scripts/launch-agent.sh	Manual (see below)
Show status	scripts/status.sh	cat ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json | jq ...
Cleanup worktree	scripts/cleanup.sh	Manual (see Cleanup section)

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Workflows

1. Create Multiple Worktrees with Agents

User says: "Spin up 3 worktrees for feature/auth, feature/payments, and fix/login-bug"

You do (can parallelize with subagents):

For EACH branch (can run in parallel):

1. SETUP
   a. Get project name:
      PROJECT=$(basename $(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null | sed 's/\.git$//') 2>/dev/null || basename $(pwd))
   b. Get repo root:
      REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
   c. Slugify branch:
      BRANCH_SLUG=$(echo "feature/auth" | tr '/' '-')
   d. Determine worktree path:
      WORKTREE_PATH=~/tmp/worktrees/$PROJECT/$BRANCH_SLUG

2. ALLOCATE PORTS
   Option A (script): ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/allocate-ports.sh 2
   Option B (manual): Find 2 unused ports from 8100-8199, add to registry

3. CREATE WORKTREE
   mkdir -p ~/tmp/worktrees/$PROJECT
   git worktree add $WORKTREE_PATH -b $BRANCH
   # If branch exists already, omit -b flag

4. COPY UNCOMMITTED RESOURCES
   cp -r .agents $WORKTREE_PATH/ 2>/dev/null || true
   cp .env.example $WORKTREE_PATH/.env 2>/dev/null || true

5. INSTALL DEPENDENCIES
   cd $WORKTREE_PATH
   # Detect and run: npm install / uv sync / etc.

6. VALIDATE (start server, health check, stop)
   a. Start server with allocated port
   b. Wait and health check: curl -sf http://localhost:$PORT/health
   c. Stop server
   d. If FAILS: report error but continue with other worktrees

7. REGISTER IN GLOBAL REGISTRY
   Option A (script): ~/.claude/skills/worktree-manager/scripts/register.sh ...
   Option B (manual): Update ~/.claude/worktree-registry.json with jq

8. LAUNCH AGENT
   Option A (s

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