Lane

A brain-dead alternative to git worktrees.

Work on multiple branches at once. No stashing, no context switching.

lane a

Creates a copy of your repo at my-app-lane-a/ and cd's into it.

Install

# npm
npm install -g @ebowwa/lane

# bun
bun add -g @ebowwa/lane

# or from source
git clone https://github.com/benhylak/lane.git
bun install -g ./lane
lane init-shell
source ~/.zshrc

Or use bunx @ebowwa/lane to run without installing.

Usage

lane new <name>         # Create a new lane
lane switch <name>      # Switch to existing lane
lane checkout <branch>  # Smart: find lane by branch, or create one
lane                    # Interactive picker
lane -                  # Previous lane
lane main               # Back to main repo
lane rename <new-name>  # Rename current lane
lane remove <name>      # Delete a lane
lane sync [name]        # Copy .env files from main
lane list               # List all lanes
lane status             # Show current lane info
lane config             # Settings

How it works

~/my-app/               # Main repo
~/my-app-lane-a/        # Lane "a" (on feature/login)
~/my-app-lane-b/        # Lane "b" (on fix/bug-123)

Lane name ≠ branch. Lanes are just folders. git checkout any branch in any lane.

Why not git worktrees?

While you should probably use git worktrees, they don't copy your .env files, you can't checkout the same branch twice, and deleting them wrong leaves orphaned refs. Minor annoyances, but annoying enough for me not have built the habit of using them. Lane just copies the whole folder.

Settings

Run lane config to change:

• Copy Mode: full (default) or worktree (experimental)
• Symlink Dependencies: Symlink node_modules, .venv, etc instead of copying (default: enabled)
• Auto Install: Run bun install after creating a lane

Disk Usage

By default, Lane symlinks dependency directories (node_modules, .venv, etc.) to save massive disk space:

myapp/               500MB (with node_modules)
myapp-lane-a/        ~10MB (node_modules is symlinked)
myapp-lane-b/        ~10MB (node_modules is symlinked)

Disable symlink mode in lane config if you need independent dependencies.

Config Files vs Dependencies

Lane handles dependencies and config files differently:

| Type | Behavior | Examples | |------|----------|----------| | Dependencies | Symlinked (shared) | node_modules, .venv, vendor, target, .next | | Config Files | Copied (independent) | .env, .env.*, *.local, .secret* |

Why? Each lane may need different environment variables, but dependencies are the same. Modifying .env in one lane won't affect others. Use lane sync to copy updated config files from main.

Worktree mode

Worktree mode uses git worktrees under the hood, but copies untracked files (like .env) automatically. Faster than full copy, but has the usual worktree quirks (can't checkout same branch twice, etc).

License

MIT