/worktree-management

name: worktree-management
description: "Scaffolding worktree lifecycle, diagnostics, and recovery. TRIGGER when: debugging worktree isolation, recovering a stuck worktree, or managing task isolation. SKIP: ordinary branch/commit/merge operations (use git-operations)."

Worktree Management Skill

Purpose

Scaffolding.tool-specific worktree lifecycle management, diagnostics, and recovery procedures.

Live worktrees: !`git worktree list 2>/dev/null || true`

CRITICAL: Only gitops Touches Git

Other agents (developer, architect) do NOT commit. The worktree flow is: 1. Agent writes code/tests in worktree 2. **gitops** commits, merges to main, pushes, **cleans up (MANDATORY)**

If a worktree has no new commits after an agent finishes, the changes are uncommitted — gitops must commit them BEFORE merge.

Parallel Teammates: Isolation + Serialized Merge

When Agent Teams is enabled (`CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1`, see `docs/agent-teams.md`), multiple writer teammates may run concurrently. The worktree model makes this safe ONLY if both hold:

• **Per-teammate isolation:** every writer gets its OWN worktree

`.scaffolding/worktrees/{task_id[:12]}` AND its OWN unique `SCAFFOLDING_TASK_ID`. No two writers share a working tree or a `/tmp/scaffolding-mtime-${TASK_ID}.json` staleness store — sharing would trip `file-staleness-check.sh` between them and produce unattributable interleaved changes.

• **Serialized merge:** gitops remains the SOLE committer and merges worktree

branches to main ONE AT A TIME through the `merging`→`merged` states below. Parallel work is allowed; parallel committing/merging is not — only one merge is ever in flight.

Worktree Lifecycle

create_worktree() --> agent executes (no commit) --> gitops: commit
    --> gitops: merge_to_main() --> gitops: push --> gitops: cleanup

States (WorktreeStatus enum)

| Status | Meaning | |--------|---------| | `ready` | Created, waiting for task execution | | `merging` | Merge in progress | | `merged` | Successfully merged to main | | `conflict` | Merge conflict detected | | `cleanup` | Being removed | | `removed` | Fully cleaned up |

File Locations

| Resource | Path | |----------|------| | Worktrees directory | `.scaffolding/worktrees/` (local real dir, **never on NFS**) | | Task worktree | `.scaffolding/worktrees/{task_id[:12]}/` — branch `scaffolding/{task_id[:12]}` | | Worktree metadata | `.scaffolding/worktrees/{task_id[:12]}/worktree.json` | | Thread worktree | `.scaffolding/worktrees/threads/{id8}/` | | Named worktree | `.scaffolding/worktrees/<name>/` — plugin `WorktreeCreate` hook, branch `worktree-<name>` (`/` in the name becomes `+`) |

`.claude/worktrees/` is no longer used.

Conversations inside a worktree

Inside a worktree, `.scaffolding/conversations` is a symlink to the same share target as the main checkout (`readlink -f` of the main link). A spec written from a worktree therefore lands on the share and survives worktree removal. The `WorktreeCreate` hook creates this link; the `WorktreeRemove` hook deletes only the link, never the target. Do not copy conversation files into a worktree, and do not `rm -rf` through the link.

The `WorktreeRemove` hook only removes registered worktrees under the main checkout's `.scaffolding/worktrees/`. Dirs without `worktree.json` are not platform-made; the platform sweep must leave them alone.

Diagnostics

List All Worktrees

git worktree list
ls -la .scaffolding/worktrees/

Find Uncommitted Changes

for d in .scaffolding/worktrees/*/; do
  changes=$(cd "$d" && git status --porcelain 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
  if [ "$changes" -gt 0 ]; then
    echo "UNCOMMITTED: $d ($changes files)"
  fi
done

Recovery Procedures

Force Remove Corrupt Worktree

git worktree remove --force .scaffolding/worktrees/{task_id[:12]}
git branch -D scaffolding/{task_id[:12]}
rm -rf .scaffolding/worktrees/{task_id[:12]}
git worktree prune

Recover Uncommitted Work

cd .scaffolding/worktrees/{task_id[:12]}
git add -A && git stash
cd /project/root && git stash pop

Post-Finish Cleanup (MANDATORY after every merge or discard)

Cleanup is the final step of every merge, for ANY worktree gitops worked in (`.scaffolding/worktrees/...`, `~/.cache/worktrees/...`, anywhere). Do it for squash-merged PRs too.

# from the main checkout, never from inside the worktree
git -C <worktree> status --porcelain --untracked-files=no   # must be empty
git worktree remove <worktree>     # --force only for untracked build output (node_modules)
git branch -D <branch>
git worktree prune

• Uncommitted tracked changes -> REFUSE, keep worktree + branch, report the files.
• Report the cleanup in the final report.
• Never delete remote branches here.

Note: Only **merge** and **discard** clean up. PR-open and keep actions leave the worktree intact (clean up after the PR is merged).

Sweeping stale worktrees: `/worktree-gc`

`WorktreeRemove` only sees worktrees made by `worktree-create.sh`. Plain `git worktree add` ones (e.g. `~/.cache/worktrees/<name>`) and squash-merged branches are caught by `scripts/worktree-gc.sh`:

bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/worktree-gc.sh"                      # dry run
bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/worktree-gc.sh" --apply              # remove
bash "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/worktree-gc.sh" --all-repos ~/repos  # every repo under a dir

REMOVE only if no uncommitted tracked changes AND the work is in `origin/<default>` (no commits ahead, patch-equivalent, or squash-merged: remote ref gone + commit subjects in `origin/<default>`). Unsure -> KEEP.