# Git Worktrees Resources

Every entry below was fetched and verified on 2026-07-18. Nothing here is included on reputation alone.

## Knowledge

- [**git-worktree(1) — Official Git Reference**](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-worktree)
  The authoritative source for all eight subcommands (`add`, `list`, `lock`, `move`, `prune`, `remove`, `repair`, `unlock`). Use for: exact flag behaviour, and as the final word when a blog post contradicts something. The DESCRIPTION section alone is the best short explanation of the main/linked worktree split. Mirror: [kernel.org](https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-worktree.html).

- [**git worktree — Julia Evans (Wizard Zines)**](https://wizardzines.com/comics/git-worktree/)
  One comic, thirty seconds, correct. Use for: refreshing the mental model cold, or explaining worktrees to someone else.

- [**Working on two git branches at once with git worktree — Andrew Lock**](https://andrewlock.net/working-on-two-git-branches-at-once-with-git-worktree/)
  Careful walkthrough of three real context-switching scenarios, with the one-branch-one-worktree constraint made explicit. Use for: the reasoning behind the commands rather than the commands.

- [**Experiment on your code freely with Git worktree — Seth Kenlon (Opensource.com)**](https://opensource.com/article/21/4/git-worktree)
  Notably covers the *end* of the lifecycle — integrating work back, then `remove` and `prune`. Use for: the land-it-and-clean-up half, which most articles skip. Also the source of the warning to use `git worktree move` rather than `mv`.

- [**What are git worktrees, and why should I use them? — Cassidy Williams (GitHub Blog)**](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/what-are-git-worktrees-and-why-should-i-use-them/)
  The mainstream piece that frames worktrees explicitly around AI agents working in parallel. Use for: justifying this workflow to a team, and for confirmation that landing work is an ordinary PR merge.

### Directly on-mission: parallel agents

- [**Run parallel sessions with worktrees — Claude Code docs**](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/worktrees)
  **The most mission-relevant page in this list.** Claude Code has first-class worktree support: `--worktree` / `-w <name>` creates an isolated worktree (default `.claude/worktrees/<name>/`, branch `worktree-<name>`) and starts a session in it. Also documents `.worktreeinclude` for copying gitignored files like `.env` into new worktrees, the `worktree.baseRef` setting, and `--worktree "#1234"` to branch straight from a GitHub PR. Use for: making the parallel-agent workflow concrete. Read after Lesson 2.

- [**Claude Code best practices — "Run multiple Claude sessions"**](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/best-practices)
  Lays out the four ways to parallelise (worktrees, desktop app, web, agent teams) and the Writer/Reviewer pattern across sessions. Use for: deciding whether a task actually wants a worktree or a subagent.

- [**Subagents — `isolation: worktree`**](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents)
  A subagent can be given its own temporary worktree, auto-removed if it changes nothing. Use for: fan-out work where you don't want to manage the checkouts yourself.

## Wisdom (Communities)

- [**Official Git Discord**](https://discord.gg/GRFVkzgxRd)
  Linked from git-scm.com's own community page; real contributors present, faster than the mailing list. Use for: "is my workflow sane?" questions. **Best first stop.**

- [**Git mailing list**](https://lore.kernel.org/git/) — subscribe via `git+subscribe@vger.kernel.org`
  Highest signal anywhere; the maintainers are here. Plain-text only, HTML mail is rejected. Use for: genuine design questions about worktree semantics — not usage help.

- **Libera IRC `#git`** ([connect guide](https://libera.chat/guides/connect))
  Long-running, expert, well-moderated. Expect to be pointed at the man page. Use for: quick usage questions when you've already read the docs.

- [**Git Rev News**](https://git.github.io/rev_news/rev_news/)
  Newsletter digesting mailing-list activity. Use for: passively tracking where worktree tooling is heading, no participation required.

*Community preference not yet stated — worth asking whether they want to participate at all.*

## Gaps

- **Pro Git (the Git Book) does not cover worktrees at all.** All ten chapters and three appendices were checked; there is no worktree section. Do not send anyone there for this topic — the man page is the only canonical prose. This is a real hole in the ecosystem's beginner material and partly explains why the topic feels underexplained.
- **No high-trust written source on the *review* discipline of parallel agents** — how many branches a person can meaningfully review at once, how to sequence merges to avoid conflict pileups. This is the natural next gap once the mechanics are solid, and is probably a question for a community rather than a document.
- **Reddit could not be fetched** (r/git, r/ClaudeAI, r/ClaudeCode), so none of them are vouched for here. Notably, Git's own community page lists neither Reddit nor Stack Overflow as official channels.

## Claims deliberately excluded

Flagged so they don't creep in later as fact:

- **"Run 3–5 Claude sessions in parallel."** Widely repeated in blog posts and search summaries; **not** present on Anthropic's actual best-practices page. Do not attribute it to Anthropic.
- **A specific Claude Code version that shipped worktree support.** Came from a search snippet, never verified against a changelog.