From: Phillip Wood Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2026 14:47:13 GMT Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] worktree list: add --branch to select worktrees by branch Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <20261024165311.57387-1-me@jaspermayone.com> Hi Jasper On 24/10/2026 17:53, Jasper Mayone wrote: > There is no direct way to ask which worktree has a given branch > checked out. "git worktree list --porcelain" prints the branch of > every worktree, so a script has to parse the whole list and match the > "branch" lines itself. > > Teach "git worktree list" a "--branch=" option that lists > only the worktrees that have checked out. It can be given > more than once. Playing devil's advocate for a minute that means the script still has to match branch names if it wants to know each branch is checked out. It does make it easier for scripts that are only interested in a single branch though. > A worktree that is rebasing or bisecting a branch > counts as having it checked out, as it does for "git branch -d" and > "git worktree add". is a branch name, or a full name under > refs/heads/. That's useful because "git worktree list" does not show branch names when they're being rebased or bisected. The commit message should spell that out. > This keeps the choice of branches in "git branch", which already has > --merged, --contains, --points-at and patterns. This sentence seems to assume the reader has some context from the previous iteration > For example, to list > the worktrees whose branch is merged into origin/main: > > git worktree list \ > $(git branch --format='--branch=%(refname)' --merged origin/main) > > The --format is needed because the default output of "git branch" > marks the current branch with "*" and the branches checked out in > other worktrees with "+". It uses the full name because > %(refname:short) gives "heads/topic" when a tag is also called > "topic". > > Each worktree's branch is found once and looked up in a set of the > requested branches, so feeding it every branch of a large repository > stays cheap. The implementation seems to duplicate much of branch.c:prepare_checked_out_branches(). It would be nicer to add a preparatory patch (or maybe two patches) that adds a "struct worktree" member to "struct checked_out_branch" and converts "checked_out_branches" to a hashmap indexed by the branch name. Then we can implement "git worktree list --branch" in terms of a new function const struct worktree *branch_find_checkout(const char *branch); in branch.c that looks up the branch in "checked_out_branches" and returns the worktree if it is checked out, or it is being rebased or bisected. Another thing to think about is that normally the main worktree is listed first, but if we are listing a subset of worktrees there is no way to tell from the output if one of them is the main worktree. I think that matters because we don't want to delete the main worktree - "git worktree remove path/to/main-worktree" will die but it would be nice if the script could avoid calling that in the first place. So I think we want another patch that adds something like "is-main-worktree true" when the main worktree is printed. Is there a reason we reject syntactically invalid branch names, but accept the names of branches that do not exist? > A detached worktree has no branch, so it is never listed. I'm not sure that sentence is really needed. Thanks Phillip > Suggested-by: Junio C Hamano > Signed-off-by: Jasper Mayone > --- > Changes since the RFC [1]: > > * Junio pointed out that --merged and --no-merged narrow the problem > to one workflow, and suggested selecting worktrees by branch > instead, with "git branch" doing the choosing. Eric had the same > reaction. This version does that and drops --merged, --no-merged > and the reachability code. > > * Junio's example piped "git branch" through sed. Its default output > prefixes the current branch with "*" and branches checked out in > other worktrees with "+", which are the branches this is for, so > the words come out as "--branch=+" and "topic". The documented form > uses --format='--branch=%(refname)'. The full name also avoids > "heads/topic" from %(refname:short) when a tag has the same name. > > * is an exact name, not a pattern, because "git branch" > already has --list , --merged, --contains and friends. > An invalid name dies, as for "git branch -d". A valid name that no > worktree has checked out lists nothing. > > * Eric, a "git worktree foreach" would be nice, and it could select > worktrees with this same --branch. I left it out of this patch. > > [1] https://lore.kernel.org/git/20261021173350.67854-1-me@jaspermayone.com/ > > Documentation/git-worktree.adoc | 21 ++++- > builtin/worktree.c | 79 ++++++++++++++++++- > t/t2402-worktree-list.sh | 131 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > 3 files changed, 228 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) > > diff --git a/Documentation/git-worktree.adoc b/Documentation/git-worktree.adoc > index e6e77252ab..4db11eab88 100644 > --- a/Documentation/git-worktree.adoc > +++ b/Documentation/git-worktree.adoc > @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ SYNOPSIS > [synopsis] > git worktree add [-f] [--detach] [--checkout] [--lock [--reason ]] > [--orphan] [(-b | -B) ] [] > -git worktree list [-v | --porcelain [-z]] > +git worktree list [-v | --porcelain [-z]] [--branch=...] > git worktree lock [--reason ] > git worktree move > git worktree prune [-n] [-v] [--expire ] > @@ -114,6 +114,9 @@ whether the worktree is bare, the revision currently checked out, the > branch currently checked out (or "detached HEAD" if none), "locked" if > the worktree is locked, "prunable" if the worktree can be pruned by the > `prune` command. > ++ > +With `--branch`, only the worktrees that have one of the given branches > +checked out are listed. > > `lock`:: > > @@ -268,6 +271,22 @@ mismatch, even if the links are correct. > to parse the output when a worktree path contains a newline > character. > > +`--branch=`:: > + With `list`, only list worktrees that have __ checked > + out, including a worktree that is rebasing or bisecting > + __. __ is a branch name, such as `topic` or > + `@{-1}`, or a full name under `refs/heads/`. The option can be > + given more than once to list the worktrees of several branches. > + A detached worktree is never listed. > ++ > +Use linkgit:git-branch[1] to choose the branches. For example, to list > +the worktrees whose branch is merged into `origin/main`: > ++ > +------------ > +$ git worktree list \ > + $(git branch --format='--branch=%(refname)' --merged origin/main) > +------------ > + > `-q`:: > `--quiet`:: > With `add`, suppress feedback messages. > diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c > index 77ecd0f71f..1d7db5f7fc 100644 > --- a/builtin/worktree.c > +++ b/builtin/worktree.c > @@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ > #include "object-name.h" > #include "parse-options.h" > #include "path.h" > +#include "strmap.h" > #include "strvec.h" > #include "branch.h" > #include "read-cache-ll.h" > @@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ > #include "submodule.h" > #include "utf8.h" > #include "worktree.h" > +#include "wt-status.h" > #include "quote.h" > > #define BUILTIN_WORKTREE_ADD_USAGE \ > @@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ > " [--orphan] [(-b | -B) ] []") > > #define BUILTIN_WORKTREE_LIST_USAGE \ > - N_("git worktree list [-v | --porcelain [-z]]") > + N_("git worktree list [-v | --porcelain [-z]] [--branch=...]") > #define BUILTIN_WORKTREE_LOCK_USAGE \ > N_("git worktree lock [--reason ] ") > #define BUILTIN_WORKTREE_MOVE_USAGE \ > @@ -1125,11 +1127,78 @@ static void pathsort(struct worktree **wt) > QSORT(wt, n, pathcmp); > } > > +/* > + * Return the full name of the branch that "wt" has checked out, or > + * NULL. A worktree that is rebasing or bisecting a branch has it > + * checked out, too, as for is_shared_symref(). > + */ > +static char *checked_out_branch(const struct worktree *wt) > +{ > + struct wt_status_state state = { 0 }; > + char *ref = NULL; > + > + if (wt->is_bare) > + return NULL; > + if (!wt->is_detached) > + return xstrdup_or_null(wt->head_ref); > + > + if (wt_status_check_rebase(wt, &state) && > + (state.rebase_in_progress || state.rebase_interactive_in_progress) && > + state.branch) > + ref = xstrfmt("refs/heads/%s", state.branch); > + else if (wt_status_check_bisect(wt, &state) && state.bisecting_from) > + ref = xstrfmt("refs/heads/%s", state.bisecting_from); > + wt_status_state_free_buffers(&state); > + return ref; > +} > + > +/* > + * Keep only the worktrees that have one of the "--branch" branches > + * checked out. A branch is given by its name, or by its full name > + * under refs/heads/. > + */ > +static void filter_by_branch(struct repository *repo, struct worktree **wt, > + const struct string_list *branches) > +{ > + struct strset refnames = STRSET_INIT; > + struct string_list_item *item; > + struct strbuf ref = STRBUF_INIT; > + size_t kept = 0; > + > + for_each_string_list_item(item, branches) { > + strbuf_reset(&ref); > + if (starts_with(item->string, "refs/heads/")) { > + strbuf_addstr(&ref, item->string); > + if (check_refname_format(ref.buf, 0)) > + die(_("'%s' is not a valid branch name"), > + item->string); > + } else if (check_branch_ref(repo, &ref, item->string)) { > + die(_("'%s' is not a valid branch name"), item->string); > + } > + strset_add(&refnames, ref.buf); > + } > + > + for (size_t i = 0; wt[i]; i++) { > + char *branch = checked_out_branch(wt[i]); > + > + if (branch && strset_contains(&refnames, branch)) > + wt[kept++] = wt[i]; > + else > + free_worktree(wt[i]); > + free(branch); > + } > + wt[kept] = NULL; > + > + strbuf_release(&ref); > + strset_clear(&refnames); > +} > + > static int list(int ac, const char **av, const char *prefix, > - struct repository *repo UNUSED) > + struct repository *repo) > { > int porcelain = 0; > int line_terminator = '\n'; > + struct string_list branches = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP; > > struct option options[] = { > OPT_BOOL(0, "porcelain", &porcelain, N_("machine-readable output")), > @@ -1138,6 +1207,8 @@ static int list(int ac, const char **av, const char *prefix, > N_("add 'prunable' annotation to missing worktrees older than