wt — Git Worktree Setup

Generate a .wtsetup config and provide a wt shell function so new worktrees get env files copied, values patched to avoid conflicts, shared resources symlinked, dependencies installed, and baseline tests verified.

.wtsetup Format

copy=(                    # Files copied to each new worktree
  ".env.local"
  "config/master.key"
)
link=(                    # Symlinked (shared across worktrees, e.g. Docker volumes)
  "pgdata"
)
patch_keys=(              # Env keys that get branch suffix appended to avoid conflicts
  "DATABASE_URL"          # e.g. myapp_dev → myapp_dev_my-feature
  "DB_NAME"
)
install="bundle install"  # Dependency install command
post_setup="bundle exec rspec"  # Baseline verification after setup
# dev="bin/dev"           # Informational hint

Workflow

1. Generate .wtsetup

Run the analysis script against the project root:

bash <skill-path>/scripts/analyze-project.sh <project-root>

Detects:

• .env*, master.key, credentials.yml.enc, .secret* → copy=()
• Docker Compose volume mounts → link=()
• DATABASE_URL, DB_NAME, DB_DATABASE, REDIS_URL, PORT, APP_PORT in env files → patch_keys=()
• Lockfiles → install="" (supports: bundler, pnpm, npm, yarn, bun, pip, poetry, go, cargo, mix, composer)
• Test commands → post_setup="" (supports: rspec, rails test, pytest, go test, cargo test, mix test, phpunit, pnpm/npm/yarn/bun test)
• Dev commands (Procfile.dev, bin/dev, Procfile) → commented dev="" hint
• Warns if .wtsetup is not in the global gitignore

After running, show the generated .wtsetup and ask the user to review. Common adjustments:

• Add custom files to copy=() (e.g. config/database.yml, .tool-versions)
• Add shared dirs to link=() (e.g. Docker volumes, large asset dirs)
• Add/remove keys from patch_keys=() depending on what needs isolation per worktree
• Comment out post_setup if tests are slow or not needed every time

If .wtsetup is not in the user's global gitignore, offer to add it:

echo '.wtsetup' >> ~/.config/git/ignore
git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.config/git/ignore

This is preferred over per-repo .gitignore since .wtsetup is a local concern like .env.local.

2. Install the wt shell function

Detect the user's shell from $SHELL and install the matching function:

Only install if wt is not already defined in the target file.

The function:

• Takes a branch name and optional target directory: wt <branch> [target-dir]
• Auto-detects the main worktree
• Creates <repo>-<branch> next to the main worktree (or inside target-dir if provided)
• Copies files from copy=(), creating intermediate directories
• Appends a sanitized branch slug to values of patch_keys=() in copied env files
• Symlinks paths from link=()
• Runs the install command
• Runs post_setup to verify clean baseline (warns but doesn't abort on failure)
• Errors clearly if no .wtsetup exists

3. Verify

Suggest the user test with:

source ~/.zshrc  # or: source ~/.bashrc / restart fish
wt test-branch

Then clean up: git worktree remove <path>.