worktree-tool

A fast, keyboard-first, GPU-rendered GUI for managing git worktrees. Built in Rust with GPUI. Native on macOS, Linux, Windows, and FreeBSD.

Download for macOS View source

worktree-tool showing a repository with three worktrees, one clean, one dirty, one ahead

What is it for?

Git worktrees let you check out multiple branches of the same repository at the same time, each in its own directory — no stashing, no re-cloning, no git checkout roulette while you're mid-change. They're one of git's best features and one of its most awkward: everything happens through git worktree add/list/ remove, there's no overview of what exists, and a dirty worktree refuses to be removed with a wall of stderr.

worktree-tool turns that into a single window: every worktree of your repository with its branch, uncommitted changes, and ahead/behind position; create, remove, and prune without memorizing flags; and one keypress to open any of them in your terminal.

How it works

The app is a thin, fast layer over git itself — it never rewrites your repository through a library:

Listing & status come from git worktree list --porcelain and git status --porcelain=v2, run concurrently across your worktrees on background threads (a 50-worktree refresh takes ~140 ms).
Everything runs off the UI thread — git calls are blocking std::process invocations on GPUI's background executor, so the window never stutters.
Mutations (add, remove, prune) are the same commands you'd type, with -- separators so nothing you type can be mistaken for a git flag.
Rendering is GPU-accelerated via GPUI (Zed's framework): Metal on macOS, Vulkan on Linux, Direct3D on Windows.

Features

Live status badges

Per worktree: staged / modified / untracked counts and ↑ahead / ↓behind vs upstream. Dirty worktrees are flagged in amber.

Safe removal

Removal warns about uncommitted changes and lets git refuse — force is an explicit, separate opt-in.

Search as you type

Case-insensitive filter over branch names and paths, driven straight from the keyboard.

Your terminal, your choice

Opens worktrees in your terminal — auto-detected, or pinned in settings. 26 terminals across 4 platforms.

Keyboard-first

n, /, r, arrows, enter, backspace — the whole workflow works without touching the mouse.

Native & tiny

~6 MB universal macOS binary, ~110 ms cold start, ~63 MB RSS. No Electron, no webview.

Tutorials

Install

macOS: download worktree-tool-<version>-macos-universal.dmg from the releases page, open it, and drag Worktree Tool onto the Applications shortcut inside. The build is ad-hoc signed, so on first launch right-click → Open to get past Gatekeeper.

Any platform, from source:

git clone https://github.com/gregnazario/worktree-ui
cd worktree-ui
cargo build --release        # first build takes a few minutes
# binary: target/release/worktree-tool

Your first five minutes

Open a repository. Run the binary from inside a git repository — it detects the repo from the working directory. Launched from Finder/Dock you'll get a path picker instead; type or paste the repository path and press Load.

Read the room. The main worktree is tagged main; linked worktrees are linked. Amber badges mean uncommitted work; ↑2 means 2 commits ahead of upstream.

Create a worktree. Press n. Give the branch a name — the destination path fills in automatically as <repo>-worktrees/<branch> next to your repo (edit it if you like), pick a base branch, and hit Create. Your existing checkout is untouched.

Jump into it. Select the row and press enter — a terminal opens with that worktree as its working directory. Copy Path and Show in Finder are one click away in the detail pane.

Clean up. Merged the branch? Select the worktree and press backspace. If it has uncommitted changes the dialog tells you and refuses unless you explicitly check Force. Deleted a worktree folder behind git's back? Prune clears the stale entry.

Pick your terminal

Press the Settings button in the toolbar. It lists every terminal installed on your machine — click one to pin it. Preferences are stored at an XDG path on every platform:

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/worktree-tool/settings.toml   # default: ~/.config/worktree-tool/settings.toml

# terminal: one of terminal, iterm, wezterm, ghostty, alacritty, kitty, warp, hyper
terminal = "iterm"

Resolution order: settings.toml → the $TERMCMD environment variable (Zed's convention) → first auto-detected terminal. Unset the preference to go back to automatic.

Found something broken? Report a bug in the same dialog opens a prefilled GitHub issue in your browser — it carries only the app version and platform, and you review it before it's submitted.

Example workflows

Workflow	How
Hotfix mid-feature	Press `n`, base `main`, branch `hotfix/crash`, create. You get a second checkout instantly; your feature worktree keeps its uncommitted state. Ship the fix, `backspace` the worktree, done.
Run tests on main while editing a branch	Keep `main` in one worktree and your branch in another; `enter` opens each in its own terminal so long test runs and editing never fight over one checkout.
Review someone's PR locally	Create a worktree for `their-branch` (existing-branch mode), build and run it there, remove afterwards — your checkout never moves.
Audit parallel experiments	Type `/` then a branch fragment to slice the list; the status badges show at a glance which experiments have uncommitted or unpushed work worth rescuing before you prune.

Keyboard shortcuts

Key	Action
`n` / `⌘n`	New worktree
`/` / `⌘f`	Focus search
`esc`	Clear search / close dialog
`r` / `⌘r`	Refresh statuses
`↑` `↓`	Move selection
`enter`	Open selection in terminal
`backspace` / `delete`	Remove selected worktree
`⌘q`	Quit

In text fields: enter confirms a dialog, esc cancels, ←→homeend move the caret. IME/marked-text input is not supported yet.

Terminal support

Platform	Terminals, in auto-detect preference order
macOS	Terminal, iTerm2, WezTerm, Ghostty, Alacritty, Kitty, Warp, Hyper
Linux / BSD	xdg-terminal-exec, GNOME Terminal, Konsole, Xfce Terminal, foot, Tilix, Kitty, Ghostty, Alacritty, WezTerm, xterm
Windows	Windows Terminal, PowerShell 7, Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt, Alacritty, WezTerm, Ghostty

CLI terminals launch with the worktree as their working directory; macOS bundles launch via open -a; Windows Terminal gets an explicit -d flag. "Show in Finder / Files / File Explorer" reveals the worktree selected in its parent folder.

Development

cargo build                 # first build compiles GPUI's shader stack
cargo test                  # 28 tests: parsers, git integration, headless GPUI UI tests
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo run --release --example bench    # performance harness
scripts/package-macos.sh 0.1.0         # universal .app bundle + zip

CI runs the full test suite on macOS, Linux, Windows, and a FreeBSD VM on every push; tagging a release v* builds and publishes the macOS package. The project is Apache-2.0.