Git Worktree Helpers (alias commands for terminal)

README.md

git-worktree-helpers.zsh

Zsh helpers for navigating git worktrees faster.

Commands

Command	Description
gwtr	List all worktrees sorted by last modified (newest first)
cdwt	Open an interactive fzf picker to cd into a worktree
cdwt <path>	cd directly into a worktree path (with tab-completion)
gwtb	Jump back to the previous worktree

Dependencies

brew install git fzf

Dependency	Min version	Required for
git	2.5+	worktree support
fzf	any	cdwt interactive picker
zsh	any	completion system

Install

1. Source directly from your .zshrc:

# Download
curl -o ~/.git-worktree-helpers.zsh \
  https://gist.githubusercontent.com/<you>/<gist-id>/raw/git-worktree-helpers.zsh

# Add to ~/.zshrc
source ~/.git-worktree-helpers.zsh

2. Or paste the contents directly into your ~/.zshrc.

Then reload:

source ~/.zshrc

Note: Make sure compinit is called in your .zshrc before sourcing this file, otherwise tab-completion for cdwt won't work.

autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

Usage

# See all worktrees sorted by recent activity
gwtr

# Pick a worktree interactively (↑↓ to navigate, Enter to jump, Esc to cancel)
# Preview panel shows last 10 commits of the highlighted worktree
cdwt

# Jump directly with tab-complete
cdwt /path/to/my-feature-worktree

# Toggle back to where you were
gwtb

git-worktree-helpers.zsh

# ─── Git Worktree Helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────
# Commands:
#   gwtr          — list worktrees sorted by last modified
#   cdwt          — fzf picker to cd into a worktree
#   cdwt <path>   — cd directly with tab-completion
#   gwtb          — jump back to previous worktree

# ── 1. List worktrees sorted by date modified (most recent first) ──

gwtr() {
  git worktree list --porcelain \
    | awk '/^worktree /{path=$2} /^HEAD /{head=$2} /^branch /{branch=$2; print path, head, branch}' \
    | while read -r wtdir head branch; do
        # Use wtdir, not path: zsh ties `path` to PATH; read into path breaks stat(1).
        modified=$(stat -f "%m" "$wtdir" 2>/dev/null || stat -c "%Y" "$wtdir" 2>/dev/null)
        date_fmt=$(stat -f "%Sm" -t "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M" "$wtdir" 2>/dev/null \
                   || date -d "@$modified" "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M" 2>/dev/null)
        branch_display="${branch:-detached@${head:0:7}}"
        # Strip refs/heads/ prefix for cleaner display
        branch_display="${branch_display#refs/heads/}"
        printf "%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n" "$modified" "$date_fmt" "$branch_display" "$wtdir"
      done \
    | sort -rn \
    | awk -F'\t' '
        BEGIN { printf "%-14s  %-30s  %s\n", "MODIFIED", "BRANCH", "PATH"
                printf "%-14s  %-30s  %s\n", "──────────────", "──────────────────────────────", "────────────────────────────────" }
        { printf "%-14s  %-30s  %s\n", $2, $3, $4 }'
}

# ── 2. cd into a worktree — fzf picker or direct path w/ tab-complete ──

_git_worktree_paths() {
  local worktrees
  worktrees=($(git worktree list --porcelain 2>/dev/null \
    | awk '/^worktree /{print $2}'))
  _describe 'worktree' worktrees
}

cdwt() {
  local selected

  if [[ -n "$1" ]]; then
    # Direct path passed — tab-complete behaviour
    cd "$1"
    return
  fi

  # Interactive fzf picker
  selected=$(git worktree list --porcelain 2>/dev/null \
    | awk '/^worktree /{path=$2} /^branch /{branch=$2; print branch"\t"path}' \
    | column -t -s $'\t' \
    | fzf --height=40% --reverse --border \
          --preview 'git -C $(echo {} | awk "{print \$NF}") log --oneline -10' \
          --prompt="worktree> ")

  [[ -z "$selected" ]] && return

  local target
  target=$(echo "$selected" | awk '{print $NF}')
  cd "$target"
}

compdef _git_worktree_paths cdwt

# ── 3. Jump back to the previous worktree (toggle between last two) ──

_GWT_PREV_PATH=""
_GWT_CWD_PATH=""

_gwt_track() {
  local current
  current="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)"
  [[ -z "$current" ]] && return
  if [[ "$current" != "$_GWT_CWD_PATH" ]]; then
    _GWT_PREV_PATH="$_GWT_CWD_PATH"
    _GWT_CWD_PATH="$current"
  fi
}

autoload -Uz add-zsh-hook
add-zsh-hook chpwd _gwt_track

gwtb() {
  if [[ -z "$_GWT_PREV_PATH" ]]; then
    echo "No previous worktree recorded."
    return 1
  fi
  cd "$_GWT_PREV_PATH"
}