Why use it?

Git worktrees are great for working on multiple branches at once, but VS Code can get noisy fast. Worktree Workspace Manager keeps that workflow clean:

• See every worktree in one tree view, grouped by repository.
• Focus a branch in one click by hiding other worktrees and closing unrelated editors.
• Group terminals by worktree so shells stay attached to the branch they belong to.
• Open scoped terminals directly from a worktree.
• Create, remove, fetch, and prune worktrees from VS Code.
• Color-code worktrees automatically, with quick manual overrides.
• Detect bare repos from workspace folders instead of hand-editing workspace settings.

Built for the common bare-repo layout:

my-project/
  .bare/      # git metadata
  .git        # points git to .bare
  main/       # worktree
  feature-x/  # worktree
  bugfix-y/   # worktree

Quick start

Requirements: VS Code 1.90+ and git on your PATH.

1. Open a .code-workspace workspace.
2. Click 🌳 Worktree Manager in the status bar.
3. Choose Clone Git Repository… or Add Existing Git Repository….
4. Run the generated terminal commands when prompted.
5. Use Add Worktree…, then select a worktree to focus it.

Prefer manual setup? Add your bare-repo root as a VS Code workspace folder.

Supported workspace folder paths:

• a project folder containing .bare
• a direct bare repo folder such as my-project.git

How to configure an existing git repo as a bare repo

Replace /path/to/my-project with your repository path.

# 1. Copy and paste this code to terminal

cd '/path/to/my-project'
branch="$(git branch --show-current)"
[ -n "$branch" ] || branch="HEAD"
staging=".wtwm-main"
[ ! -e "$staging" ] || { echo "$staging already exists" >&2; exit 1; }
mkdir "$staging"
find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 ! -name '.git' ! -name "$staging" -exec mv {} "$staging"/ \;
mv .git .bare
echo 'gitdir: .bare' > .git
git --git-dir=.bare config core.bare true
git --git-dir=.bare config remote.origin.fetch '+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*'
git --git-dir=.bare worktree add --no-checkout main "$branch"
find "$staging" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -exec mv {} main/ \;
rmdir "$staging"
git -C main reset --mixed HEAD

# 2. Create a VS Code workspace file

cat <<'EOF' > '/path/to/my-project.code-workspace'
{
  "folders": [
    {
      "name": "my-project",
      "path": "/path/to/my-project"
    }
  ]
}
EOF

# 3. Open VS Code through the workspace

code '/path/to/my-project.code-workspace'

Main commands

Terminal keyboard shortcuts

Terminal selection follows the visible order and wraps at either end. These are VS Code default keybindings rather than hard-coded listeners. Change or remove them with Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts or in keybindings.json.

Embedded terminals are not restored after the extension or VS Code stops. On shutdown, running foreground commands are interrupted and their shells receive a hangup signal. Detached commands such as nohup jobs may continue running.

Settings

Profiling performance

1. Enable markers in VS Code settings:

   "worktreeManager.profileMarkers": true,
   "worktreeManager.webviewRenderTelemetry": "sampled"
   

   You can also launch VS Code with WTWM_PROFILE=1 to enable extension-host markers.

2. Run Developer: Show Logs... and open Extension Host or the Terminals by Worktree output channel. Look for profile measure entries such as wtwm:terminal.renderSessions and wtwm:model.listAllWorktrees.

3. For UI/render details, run Developer: Open Webview Developer Tools, select the Terminals by Worktree webview, use the Performance tab, and record while refreshing/selecting worktrees. Marks are named wtwm.webview:*.

4. Keep profiling off for normal use; markers are gated to avoid adding overhead during regular terminal output.

Notes

• A .code-workspace file is recommended so focus mode can update workspace excludes.
• Git remains the source of truth; the extension does not maintain a separate worktree database.
• This extension is designed for bare-repo + worktree workflows, not normal single-folder repos.

License

MIT