worktree-up

worktree-up copies local setup files from a repository's main checkout into the current Git worktree, then runs repository-defined setup commands.

Usage

1. Add config

Put this in your main repository checkout (not the worktree):

If using package.json, add this to the root package.json:

{
  /** ...rest of your package.json */
  "worktree-up": {
    "copy": ["**/.env.local", "**/.env", "**/settings.local.json"],
    "run": ["pnpm install", "pnpm db:generate"],
  },
}

Or create a repo root worktree-up.json (works for non-JS repos):

{
  "copy": ["**/.env.local", "**/.env", "**/settings.local.json"],
  "run": ["mise install", "just bootstrap"]
}

Committing the config is not necessary if it already exists in your main checkout on disk. worktree-up reads config from the source/main checkout first.

[!IMPORTANT] Both worktree-up.json and config in package.json cannot exist, only use single

2. Create a git worktree

From your main checkout:

git worktree add ../my-repo-feature -b feat/somefeature
cd ../my-repo-feature

3. Run worktree-up

npx -y worktree-up

worktree-up sees your source/main tree automaitcally and will copy files from it.

Expected output:

[worktree-up] Inspecting checkout from ~/my-repo-feature
[worktree-up] Current checkout: ~/my-repo-feature
[worktree-up] Source checkout: ~/my-repo
[worktree-up] Loaded configuration from ~/my-repo/package.json
[worktree-up] Copied .env.local
[worktree-up] Copied .claude/settings.local.json
[worktree-up] Copy summary: 2 copied, 0 skipped.
[worktree-up] Running setup command: pnpm install
[worktree-up] Run summary: 2 command(s) completed.
[worktree-up] Finished.

That's it!

Behavior

• detects the current Git checkout root
• finds the repository's source checkout from Git worktree metadata
• loads config from the source/main checkout first, then falls back to the current worktree
• supports worktree-up.json or package.json
• copies matched files and symlinks without overwriting anything already present
• runs configured setup commands sequentially in the current worktree

Copy rules

• copy entries are glob patterns resolved from the source checkout root
• regular files and symlinks are copied
• directories are not copied as standalone entries
• existing paths in the target worktree are skipped and never overwritten
• patterns that match nothing are logged as warnings
• patterns cannot use absolute paths or .. traversal outside the repo root