copse

One folder per task, one git worktree per repo. Run it from any directory with repos 1-2 levels deep.

$ copse new 301
◇ Repos api, libs/auth-service-with-long-name
◇ Branch 301
◇ Start new branches from remote
╭─ Plan ───────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ api                               301  ← origin/main │
│ libs/auth-service-with-long-name  301  ← main        │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
◆ Create 2 worktrees? Yes
✔ api                               301  tasks/301/api
✔ libs/auth-service-with-long-name  301  tasks/301/auth-service-with-long-name

What it does

• Finds repos on its own. It scans 1-2 levels below the current directory for folders with a .git directory, skipping dot-folders, node_modules and existing worktrees.
• Sets branch and base per repo with -r repo[:branch[:base]]. Branch defaults to the task name.
• Starts new branches from origin/<base> (the default) or from your local <base> with --from local, and fetches first unless you pass --no-fetch.
• Reuses a local branch if it exists, and tracks a remote-only branch instead of cutting a new one.
• Shows every worktree's branch, dirty state and ahead/behind counts with copse ls.
• Removes worktrees with copse rm, and deletes a branch only if copse created it for that task.
• Speaks JSON and exit codes for scripts. Without -r and without a TTY it exits 2 instead of prompting, and git never asks for credentials.

Quick start

uv tool install copse          # or, from a clone: uv tool install -e .

cd ~/code                      # a folder that contains your repos
copse repos                    # see what it found
copse new 200 -r api -r web    # tasks/200/api and tasks/200/web
copse ls 200                   # branch, clean or dirty, ahead/behind
copse rm 200 --delete-branch   # clean up when the task is done

Run copse new 200 on a terminal with no -r to pick repos interactively.

Layout

~/code/
├── api/                # repos you already have
├── web/
├── libs/
│   └── auth-service/
└── tasks/
    └── 200/
        ├── api/        # worktree on branch 200
        └── web/

Worktrees go in ./tasks/<task>/. Change that with --root or the COPSE_ROOT environment variable. A nested repo is named by its last path part (auth-service), or libs-auth-service if another repo has the same folder name.

Commands

copse new options:

A SPEC is repo[:branch[:base]]. repo is the id from copse repos or just the folder name if that is unique.

copse new 200 -r api                       # branch 200, default base
copse new 200 -r api:feat/200:develop      # own branch and base
copse new 200 --from local -r web:x:origin/main   # local start, but this repo uses origin/main

How branches are picked

For each repo, the first rule that matches wins.

1. A local branch with that name exists. It is reused.
2. <remote>/<branch> exists. A local branch is created that tracks it.
3. Otherwise a new branch is cut from the base. A base written as origin/x always uses that remote ref, even with --from local. Otherwise --from remote uses origin/<base> when it exists and --from local uses <base>. A sha or tag also works.

With no base given, copse uses what <remote>/HEAD points at, or the repo's current branch if there is none. Rerunning new marks worktrees that already exist as exists.

For agents and scripts

Add --json to repos, new, ls or rm. new and rm print:

{
  "task": "200",
  "path": "/home/me/code/tasks/200",
  "results": [
    {"repo": "api", "path": ".../tasks/200/api", "branch": "200", "base": "main",
     "status": "created", "error": null}
  ]
}

status is created, exists, planned (dry run), removed or failed. Dry runs also include start, the ref the new branch would be cut from.

Output is colored only on a TTY. Pipes, --json and NO_COLOR get plain text, and errors go to stderr as error: ....

copse new 200 -r api -r web:feat/200:develop --json | jq '.results[] | {repo,status,error}'

Removing tasks safely

copse rm 200 --delete-branch removes the worktrees, then deletes each branch only if copse created it for that task. Branches copse created carry a branch.<name>.copseTask git config entry. Branches you attached are kept and reported as branch_kept in JSON. Deletion uses git branch -d, so a branch with unmerged commits survives unless you add --force, which also forces worktree removal and uses -D.

Agent skill

npx skills add errhythm/copse

Teaches coding agents to drive copse safely: always -r and --json, dry-run first, read exit codes, and remove branches only when copse created them.

Why copse

It was called twt for about a day, and I didn't like it. A copse is a small group of trees, which is what a task is here: a handful of worktrees standing together in one folder, one per repo.

Development

uv sync
uv run pytest

License

MIT, see LICENSE. NOTICE credits the projects some code was adapted from.