git-smart-checkout

Website: https://git-smart-checkout.vradchuk.info

Requirements

Git 2.38 or newer is recommended for tracked-file conflict pre-flight detection in auto stash and pop/apply modes. On older Git versions, the extension logs that the preview is unavailable and continues without it; untracked-file conflicts are not previewed.
GitHub features support HTTPS and SSH GitHub remotes, including repository names that contain dots.

Info

git-smart-checkout is a VS Code extension that adds stash-aware Git commands to the command palette. It helps you switch branches, pull, rebase, clone PR changes, and create tags without manually juggling local changes.

Comments and contributions are very welcome!

Motivation

In fast-paced development environments, switching between Git branches is frequent but often disruptive. Developers may have uncommitted changes that block a checkout, leading to tedious manual stashing and the risk of losing or misplacing changes. This friction interrupts focus, breaks workflow, and slows down productivity.

git-smart-checkout eliminates that pain by automatically stashing and restoring changes around common Git operations. You can stay in flow, move confidently between tasks, and avoid the familiar "local changes would be overwritten" detour.

Features

All commands are grouped under the GSC: prefix in the Command Palette.

Feature	Command	Details
Checkout to a branch, tag, or remote ref with configurable stash behavior	`GSC: Checkout to ... (With Stash)`	Checkout with stash
Checkout the previous branch with the same stash behavior	`GSC: Checkout Previous Branch (With Stash)`	Checkout previous branch with stash
Copy the current branch name to the clipboard	`GSC: Copy Current Branch Name to Clipboard`	Copy current branch name
Checkout a GitHub pull request branch by PR number or URL	`GSC: Checkout by PR Number... (With Stash)`	Checkout by PR number with stash
Review a GitHub pull request in a linked worktree and remove tracked review worktrees	`GSC: PR Review in Worktree...`, `GSC: Remove PR Review in Worktree...`	PR review in worktree
Pull the current branch while preserving local changes	`GSC: Pull (With Stash)`	Pull with stash
Pull with rebase while preserving local changes	`GSC: Pull (Rebase With Stash)`	Pull rebase with stash
Rebase the current branch onto another ref while preserving local changes	`GSC: Rebase (With Stash)`	Rebase with stash
Inspect, recover, or remove stashes created by Git Smart Checkout	`GSC: Manage Auto-Stashes...`	Manage auto-stashes
Copy staged or WIP changes between existing worktrees	`GSC: Copy Staged Changes to Worktree...`, `GSC: Copy WIP Changes to Worktree...`, `GSC: Copy WIP from Worktree...`, `GSC: Move WIP from Worktree...`	Copy changes to worktree
Open a terminal in a selected worktree's directory	`GSC: Open Worktree Dev Terminal...`	Open worktree dev terminal
Remove several Git worktrees at once with a single confirmation	`GSC: Remove Multiple Worktrees...`	Remove multiple worktrees
Browse all worktrees for the open repositories in a dedicated "Worktrees" view (activity bar), with dirty/ahead-behind/PR-review status and inline Open/Terminal/Copy WIP/Remove actions	(tree view — right-click an item for Add to Workspace, Copy Path, Reveal in Finder/Explorer)	—
Create a new PR from selected commits in another GitHub PR	`GSC: Clone Pull Request...`	GitHub PR clone
Generate and optionally push a tag from a reusable template	`GSC: Create Tag from Template...`	Create tag from template
Create and check out a branch from a template (Jira, file, regex, scripts)	`GSC: Create Branch from Template...`	Create branch from template
Set up Jira credentials (domain, username, and securely stored API token) in one guided flow	`GSC: Init Jira...`	Create branch from template
Store the Jira API token securely in VS Code Secret Storage	`GSC: Set Jira Token...`	Create branch from template
Change the default stash mode used by checkout-style commands	`GSC: Switch Mode...`	Switch mode
Open a quick-actions menu of common commands (checkout, pull/rebase, all worktree commands, clone PR, open settings) from the status bar item	`GSC: Quick Actions...`	Status bar quick actions
Open this extension's settings	`GSC: Open Settings`	Status bar quick actions

Extension Settings

Click a setting ID to open that setting in VS Code.

Settings.id (Name)	Type	Description
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.mode` (Checkout stash mode)	`string`	Default checkout stash mode. Available values: `manual`, `autoStashForBranch`, `autoStashAndPop`, `autoStashAndApply`.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.logging.enabled` (Logging enabled)	`boolean`	Enables the extension logging output.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.useFastBranchList` (Use fast branch list)	`boolean`	Seeds branch pickers from VS Code's cached Git model, preloads details for the first visible refs, and keeps a 48-hour details cache. Disable to build branch lists with a full `git for-each-ref` scan.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.recentBranchCount` (Recent branch count)	`number`	Number of recently checked-out branches shown in a "Recent" section at the top of the `Checkout to...` picker, ranked by frequency and recency. Set to `0` to disable the section. Default `5`.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.defaultRemote` (Default remote)	`string`	Preferred Git remote for fetch and push operations (e.g. `upstream` in a fork setup). Leave empty to resolve automatically: branch upstream → this setting → the repo's only remote → a picker if still ambiguous, remembered per repo for the session.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.defaultTargetBranch` (Default target branch)	`string`	Default target branch for PR cloning. Leave empty to use the first available branch.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.githubEnterpriseBaseUrl` (GitHub Enterprise base URL)	`string`	Base URL for a GitHub Enterprise Server instance, e.g. `https://ghe.example.com`. When the current repository's remote host matches this URL's host, PR Clone, Checkout by PR, and PR Review in Worktree call the Enterprise REST API (`<baseUrl>/api/v3`) and build web/compare links against `<baseUrl>` instead of github.com. Leave empty (default) to use github.com only.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.defaultWorktreeDirectory` (Default worktree directory)	`string`	Directory where PR clone temporary worktrees are created. Leave empty to create them one level up from the current repository.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.prClone.checkoutAfterClone` (Checkout after PR clone)	`string`	Whether to stay on the branch/worktree created by PR Clone once it finishes. Available values: `ask` (default; prompts after each clone), `always` (in-place: skip restoring the original branch, keeping your WIP stashed; temp-worktree: keep the worktree and move it into the configured worktree directory), `never` (restore the original branch / tear down the worktree, as before).
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.prBranchPrefix` (PR branch prefix)	`string`	Prefix added to PR clone branch names. If the prefix does not end with a slash, one is added automatically.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.showStatusBar` (Show status bar)	`boolean`	Shows the extension status bar item.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.useInPlaceCherryPick` (Use in-place cherry-pick)	`boolean`	Uses in-place cherry-pick instead of a temporary worktree for PR cloning. This works best when cherry-pick conflicts are not expected.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.pullAfterCheckout` (Pull after checkout)	`string`	Controls whether checking out a branch with an upstream also pulls it. Available values: `off` (never pull), `ffOnly` (default; fast-forward only via `git pull --ff-only`, never creates a merge commit — shows a warning instead of failing the checkout if a fast-forward isn't possible), `pull` (full pull, may create a merge commit).
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.preferredRefs` (Preferred refs)	`object`	Per-user map of preferred refs by repository. Keys are `<owner>/<repo>` or workspace folder names; values contain `locals`, `remotes`, and `tags` arrays with full ref names.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.tagTemplates` (Tag templates)	`array`	Named tag templates, each `{ "name": "...", "template": "..." }`. With more than one, Create Tag from Template ... shows a picker (search by name or generated value); a single template skips it. Same tokens as below. Example: `[{ "name": "Release", "template": "v{f:package.json:.version}{r:1:-}" }]`.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.branchTemplates` (Branch templates)	`array`	Named branch templates, each `{ "name": "...", "template": "..." }`. With more than one, Create Branch from Template ... shows a picker (search by name or generated value); a single template skips it. Same tokens as below. Example: `[{ "name": "Feature", "template": "vradchuk/{jira-key}-{jira-title:25:-}{r:1:-}" }]`.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.tagTemplate` (Tag template)	`string`	Deprecated — use `tagTemplates`. Single template used to generate Git tag names. Supports `{f:<file>:<json-path>}`, `{b:<regex>}`, `{r:<start-number>}`, `{s:<script>}`, and `{s:stderr:<script>}` tokens. Still works as a fallback; will be removed in a future release.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.branchTemplate` (Branch template)	`string`	Deprecated — use `branchTemplates`. Single template for Create Branch from Template .... Supports `{jira-key}`, `{jira-title[:limit[:separator]]}`, `{f:...}`, `{b:...}`, `{r:...}`, `{s:...}`. Example: `vradchuk/{jira-key}-{jira-title:25:-}-{r:1}`. Still works as a fallback; will be removed in a future release.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.jira.domain` (Jira domain)	`string`	Jira Cloud host (e.g. `your-company.atlassian.net`). Required when the branch template uses Jira tokens.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.jira.username` (Jira username)	`string`	Atlassian account username for Jira API authentication (usually your Atlassian account email).
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.jira.email` (Deprecated Jira email)	`string`	Deprecated compatibility fallback used only when `jira.username` is empty. Migrate to `git-smart-checkout.jira.username`.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.jira.token` (Jira API token)	`string`	Deprecated — stored in plaintext. Use the `GSC: Set Jira Token...` command, which keeps the token in VS Code Secret Storage. Any value set here is migrated into Secret Storage and cleared on the next activation.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.jira.projectKeys` (Jira project keys)	`array`	Optional list of project keys that limit the Jira issue picker, e.g. `["KEY", "HOME"]`. Empty (default) shows all issues assigned to you.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.pushTagWithoutConfirmation` (Push tag without confirmation)	`boolean`	Pushes the created Git tag to the remote without asking for confirmation.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.tagRemote` (Tag remote)	`string`	Git remote used when pushing created tags.
⚙️ `git-smart-checkout.telemetry.enabled` (Telemetry enabled)	`boolean`	Enables anonymous Git Smart Checkout analytics while respecting VS Code's global telemetry settings.

Telemetry

This extension collects anonymous usage events to help improve the extension.

Collected:

Extension activation
Command usage (checkout, pull, rebase, tag creation, PR clone)
Opening the status bar quick-actions menu
Stash mode used during checkout and rebase commands
Auto-stash manager action, changed file count, and whether the worktree already had changes
Whether the working directory had uncommitted changes (boolean)
Whether copy/move worktree commands copied staged/WIP changes, whether the target had local changes, included untracked files, and how many untracked files were copied
Whether PR review worktree removal stashed changes before removal
Number of worktrees removed in a bulk removal and whether their changes were stashed or reset
Commit count for PR clone operations (number only)
Whether a PR was created as a draft (boolean)
Whether a tag template was used (boolean)
Non-sensitive error type names (for example, TypeError or Error)
VS Code version
Extension version
Operating system (platform, for example, darwin, win32, or linux)

Not collected:

Source code
File contents
File paths
Repository names
Branch names
Tag names
Commit messages
PR numbers or titles
Remote URLs
Personal information

Telemetry respects VS Code's global telemetry setting and can be disabled with:

"telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off"

You can also disable extension telemetry independently with:

"git-smart-checkout.telemetry.enabled": false

Git smart checkout

Valentyn Radchuk