🧩 VS Code Git Worktrees

A wrapper for Git Worktree operations that provides an interactive API so developers can manage worktrees more easily — without switching between the terminal and VS Code.

🎯 Purpose of the Extension

After creating a ZSH plugin for Git operations, I noticed how often I switched between the terminal and my main editor (VS Code). To streamline my workflow, I built this extension to keep everything inside VS Code.

⚙️ Requirements

• Git ≥ 2.34.1

🧪 Multiple Workspaces Support

This extension supports multiple workspaces. Here's how it works:

• If you have more than one project open, you'll be prompted to choose the workspace to run the operation in.
• If only one project is open, it is automatically selected.

✅ Select a workspace from the list → the operation will run in that workspace.

🛠️ Supported Operations

➕ git worktree add [remote-branch] [new-branch]

Create a new worktree.

Behavior:

• If you skip the new branch name (ESC), it defaults to using the same name as the remote branch.
• Since worktree and branch names are often identical, the extension validates user input accordingly. 👉 See Issue #22

📄 git worktree list

Display all worktrees and switch between them easily via an interactive UI.

❌ git worktree remove [worktree-name]

Remove an existing worktree.

Behavior:

• If untracked or modified files exist, a ⚠️ popup will appear in the bottom right.
• You can force delete by clicking the Force delete button in that popup.

Restrictions:

• You cannot delete the worktree you're currently working in.

🚀 Getting Started

1. 📦 Install the Git Worktrees extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
2. 💡 Open the command palette: Ctrl + Shift + P
3. 🔍 Search for any available operations

   All commands are prefixed with: Git Worktree:

✨ Features & Operations

➕ Worktree Add (Create)

Create a new Git worktree with an intuitive interface.

🔁 Worktree List (Switch)

View and switch between all active worktrees with ease.

❌ Worktree Remove

Safely remove a worktree. If files are untracked or modified, you’ll get a prompt to confirm.

⚠️ Error Handling

If something goes wrong, a helpful popup will appear at the bottom-right corner of your screen. Please don’t hesitate to open an issue if you encounter a bug.

⚙️ Extension Settings

Customize behavior using the following properties in your VS Code settings:

🏷️ Property	🧩 Type	🛠️ Default	📃 Description
vsCodeGitWorktrees.remove.stalledBranches	boolean	false	Remove local (stalled) branches that no longer exist on the remote
vsCodeGitWorktrees.move.openNewVscodeWindow	boolean	true	Open a new VS Code window when switching or creating a worktree
vsCodeGitWorktrees.move.preserveSubfolder	boolean	true	When switching or creating a worktree, open the same relative subfolder you were in (e.g. a monorepo package). Falls back to the worktree root if missing
vsCodeGitWorktrees.worktrees.dir.path	string	null	Directory where new worktrees are created as {dir}/{branch}, e.g. ${userHome}/worktrees. If unset, worktrees are created as siblings of the main repo
vsCodeGitWorktrees.add.autoPush	boolean	true	Automatically push the new worktree branch after creation
vsCodeGitWorktrees.add.autoPull	boolean	true	Automatically pull updates after creating a new worktree branch
vsCodeGitWorktrees.worktreeCopyIncludePatterns	array	[]	Files and folders to copy from the source repo to the new worktree, e.g. [".venv", "docs/tmp"]
vsCodeGitWorktrees.worktreeCopyExcludePatterns	array	[]	Files and folders to exclude from the worktree copy, e.g. ["tmp", "target"]
vsCodeGitWorktrees.worktree.coloring	boolean	false	Enable color labels when creating or switching worktrees
vsCodeGitWorktrees.worktreeSearchPath	string	null	Optional subdirectory (relative or absolute) where Git repositories can be found if the root workspace is not a Git repository, e.g. ${userHome}/worktrees

Contributing

We welcome all contributions, issues and feature requests, whether small or large. If you want to contribute, feel free to check out our issues page and our guidelines.

Contributors

License

MIT © Alexis Zamanidis