workmux 0.1.16

An opinionated workflow tool that orchestrates git worktrees and tmux
workmux-0.1.16 is not a library.

Giga opinionated zero-friction workflow tool for managing git worktrees and tmux windows as isolated development environments.

Perfect for running multiple AI agents in parallel without conflict.

Philosophy

  • One worktree, one tmux window: Each git worktree gets its own dedicated, pre-configured tmux window
  • Frictionless: Multi-step workflows reduced to simple commands
  • Configuration as code: Define your tmux layout and setup steps in .workmux.yaml

Features

  • Create git worktrees with matching tmux windows in a single command (add)
  • Automatically set up your preferred pane layout (editor, shell, watchers, etc.)
  • Run post-creation hooks (install dependencies, setup database, etc.)
  • Copy or symlink configuration files (.env, node_modules) into new worktrees
  • Start agents with a prompt directly via --prompt or --prompt-file
  • Merge branches and clean up everything (worktree, tmux window, branches) in one command (merge)
  • List all worktrees with their tmux and merge status
  • Bootstrap projects with an initial configuration file (init)
  • Dynamic shell completions for branch names

Installation

cargo install workmux

Quick start

  1. Initialize configuration (optional):
workmux init

This creates a .workmux.yaml file to customize your workflow (pane layouts, setup commands, file operations, etc.). workmux works out of the box with sensible defaults, so this step is optional.

  1. Create a new worktree and tmux window:
workmux add new-feature

This will:

  • Create a git worktree at <project_root>/../<project_name>__worktrees/new-feature
  • Create a tmux window named new-feature
  • Automatically switch your tmux client to the new window
  1. When done, merge and clean up:
# Run in the worktree window
workmux merge

Merges your branch into main and cleans up everything (tmux window, worktree, and local branch).

Configuration

workmux uses a two-level configuration system:

  • Global (~/.config/workmux/config.yaml): Personal defaults for all projects
  • Project (.workmux.yaml): Project-specific overrides

Project settings override global settings. For post_create and file operation lists (files.copy, files.symlink), you can use "<global>" to include global values alongside project-specific ones. Other settings like panes are replaced entirely when defined in the project config.

Global configuration example

~/.config/workmux/config.yaml:

window_prefix: wm-
panes:
  - command: nvim .
    focus: true
  # Just a default shell (command omitted)
  - split: horizontal
post_create:
  - mise install
files:
  symlink:
    - node_modules

Project configuration example

.workmux.yaml:

post_create:
  - '<global>'
  - mise use

files:
  symlink:
    - '<global>' # Include global symlinks (node_modules)
    - .pnpm-store # Add project-specific symlink

panes:
  - command: pnpm install
    focus: true
  - command: claude
    split: horizontal
  - command: pnpm run dev
    split: vertical

Configuration options

  • main_branch: Branch to merge into (optional, auto-detected from remote or checks for main/master)
  • worktree_dir: Custom directory for worktrees (absolute or relative to repo root)
  • window_prefix: Prefix for tmux window names (default: wm-)
  • panes: Array of pane configurations
    • command: Optional command to run when the pane is created. Use this for long-running setup like dependency installs so output is visible in tmux. If omitted, the pane starts with your default shell. Use <agent> to use the configured agent.
    • focus: Whether this pane should receive focus (default: false)
    • split: How to split from previous pane (horizontal or vertical)
  • post_create: Commands to run after worktree creation but before the tmux window opens. These block window creation, so keep them short (e.g., copying config files).
  • files: File operations to perform on worktree creation
    • copy: List of glob patterns for files/directories to copy
    • symlink: List of glob patterns for files/directories to symlink
  • agent: The default agent command to use for <agent> in pane commands (e.g., claude, gemini). This can be overridden by the --agent flag. Default: claude.

Default behavior

  • Worktrees are created in <project>__worktrees as a sibling directory to your project by default
  • If no panes configuration is defined, workmux provides opinionated defaults:
    • For projects with a CLAUDE.md file: Opens the configured agent (see agent option) in the first pane, defaulting to claude if none is set.
    • For all other projects: Opens your default shell.
    • Both configurations include a second pane split horizontally
  • post_create commands are optional and only run if you configure them

Directory structure

Here's how workmux organizes your worktrees by default:

~/projects/
├── my-project/               <-- Main project directory
│   ├── src/
│   ├── package.json
│   └── .workmux.yaml
│
└── my-project__worktrees/    <-- Worktrees created by workmux
    ├── feature-A/            <-- Isolated workspace for 'feature-A' branch
    │   ├── src/
    │   └── package.json
    │
    └── bugfix-B/             <-- Isolated workspace for 'bugfix-B' branch
        ├── src/
        └── package.json

Each worktree is a separate working directory for a different branch, all sharing the same git repository. This allows you to work on multiple branches simultaneously without conflicts.

You can customize the worktree directory location using the worktree_dir configuration option (see Configuration options).

Shell alias (recommended)

For faster typing, alias workmux to wm:

alias wm='workmux'

Commands

  • add - Create a new worktree and tmux window
  • merge - Merge a branch and clean up everything
  • remove - Remove a worktree without merging
  • list - List all worktrees with status
  • init - Generate configuration file
  • open - Open a tmux window for an existing worktree
  • claude prune - Clean up stale Claude Code entries
  • completions - Generate shell completions

workmux add <branch-name>

Creates a new git worktree with a matching tmux window and switches you to it immediately. If the branch doesn't exist, it will be created automatically.

  • <branch-name>: Name of the branch to create or switch to, or a remote branch reference (e.g., origin/feature-branch). When you provide a remote reference, workmux automatically fetches it and creates a local branch with the name derived from the remote branch (e.g., origin/feature/foo creates local branch feature/foo).

Useful options

  • --base <branch|commit|tag>: Specify a base branch, commit, or tag to branch from when creating a new branch. By default, new branches are created from your main branch's remote tracking branch (e.g., origin/main).
  • -c, --from-current: Use your currently checked out branch as the base. This is a shorthand for passing that branch explicitly via --base and is helpful when stacking feature branches.
  • -p, --prompt <text>: Provide an inline prompt that will be automatically passed to AI agent panes.
  • -P, --prompt-file <path>: Provide a path to a file whose contents will be used as the prompt.
  • -e, --prompt-editor: Open your $EDITOR (or $VISUAL) to write the prompt interactively.
  • -a, --agent <name>: Override the default agent for this worktree (e.g., gemini).

Note: The prompt options are mutually exclusive - you can only use one at a time.

Skip options:

These options allow you to skip expensive setup steps when they're not needed (e.g., for documentation-only changes):

  • -H, --no-hooks: Skip running post_create commands
  • -F, --no-file-ops: Skip file copy/symlink operations (e.g., skip linking node_modules)
  • -C, --no-pane-cmds: Skip executing pane commands (panes open with plain shells instead)

What happens

  1. Creates a git worktree at <project_root>/../<project_name>__worktrees/<branch-name>
  2. Runs any configured file operations (copy/symlink)
  3. Executes post_create commands if defined (runs before the tmux window opens, so keep them fast)
  4. Creates a new tmux window named after the branch
  5. Sets up your configured tmux pane layout
  6. Automatically switches your tmux client to the new window

Examples

# Create a new branch and worktree
workmux add user-auth

# Use an existing branch
workmux add existing-work

# Create a new branch from a specific base
workmux add hotfix --base production

# Use the current branch as the base (stacked branch)
workmux add feature-2 --from-current

# Create a worktree from a remote branch (creates local branch "user-auth-pr")
workmux add origin/user-auth-pr

# Remote branches with slashes work too (creates local branch "feature/foo")
workmux add origin/feature/foo

# Create a worktree with an inline prompt for AI agents
workmux add feature/ai --prompt "Implement user authentication with OAuth"

# Override the default agent for a specific worktree
workmux add feature/testing -a gemini

# Create a worktree with a prompt from a file
workmux add feature/refactor --prompt-file task-description.md

# Open your editor to write a prompt interactively
workmux add feature/new-api --prompt-editor

# Skip expensive setup for documentation-only changes
workmux add docs-update --no-hooks --no-file-ops --no-pane-cmds

# Skip just the file operations (e.g., you don't need node_modules)
workmux add quick-fix --no-file-ops

AI agent integration

When you provide a prompt via --prompt, --prompt-file, or --prompt-editor, workmux automatically injects the prompt into panes running the configured agent command (e.g., claude, gemini, or whatever you've set via the agent config or --agent flag) without requiring any .workmux.yaml changes:

  • Panes with a command matching the configured agent are automatically started with the given prompt.
  • You can keep your .workmux.yaml pane configuration simple (e.g., panes: [{ command: "<agent>" }]) and let workmux handle prompt injection at runtime.

This means you can launch AI agents with task-specific prompts without modifying your project configuration for each task.

workmux merge [branch-name]

Merges a branch into the main branch and automatically cleans up all associated resources (worktree, tmux window, and local branch).

  • [branch-name]: Optional name of the branch to merge. If omitted, automatically detects the current branch from the worktree you're in.

Useful options

  • --ignore-uncommitted: Commit any staged changes before merging without opening an editor
  • --delete-remote, -r: Also delete the remote branch after a successful merge

Merge strategies

By default, workmux merge performs a standard merge commit. You can customize the merge behavior with these mutually exclusive flags:

  • --rebase: Rebase the feature branch onto main before merging (creates a linear history via fast-forward merge). If conflicts occur, you'll need to resolve them manually in the worktree and run git rebase --continue.
  • --squash: Squash all commits from the feature branch into a single commit on main. You'll be prompted to provide a commit message in your editor.

What happens

  1. Determines which branch to merge (specified branch or current branch if omitted)
  2. Checks for uncommitted changes (errors if found, unless --ignore-uncommitted is used)
  3. Commits staged changes if present (unless --ignore-uncommitted is used)
  4. Merges your branch into main using the selected strategy (default: merge commit)
  5. Deletes the tmux window (including the one you're currently in if you ran this from a worktree)
  6. Removes the worktree
  7. Deletes the local branch

Typical workflow

When you're done working in a worktree, simply run workmux merge from within that worktree's tmux window. The command will automatically detect which branch you're on, merge it into main, and close the current window as part of cleanup.

Examples

# Merge branch from main branch (default: merge commit)
workmux merge user-auth

# Merge the current worktree you're in
# (run this from within the worktree's tmux window)
workmux merge

# Rebase onto main before merging for a linear history
workmux merge user-auth --rebase

# Squash all commits into a single commit
workmux merge user-auth --squash

# Merge and also delete the remote branch
workmux merge user-auth --delete-remote

workmux remove <branch-name> (alias: rm)

Removes a worktree, tmux window, and branch without merging (unless you keep the branch). Useful for abandoning work or cleaning up experimental branches.

  • <branch-name>: Name of the branch to remove.

Useful options

  • --force, -f: Skip confirmation prompt and ignore uncommitted changes
  • --delete-remote, -r: Also delete the remote branch
  • --keep-branch, -k: Remove only the worktree and tmux window while keeping the local branch (incompatible with --delete-remote)

Examples

# Remove with confirmation if unmerged
workmux remove experiment

# Use the alias
workmux rm old-work

# Remove worktree/window but keep the branch
workmux remove --keep-branch experiment

# Force remove without prompts
workmux rm -f experiment

# Force remove and delete remote branch
workmux rm -f -r old-work

workmux list (alias: ls)

Lists all git worktrees with their tmux window status and merge status.

Examples

# List all worktrees
workmux list

Example output

BRANCH      TMUX    UNMERGED    PATH
------      ----    --------    ----
main        -       -           ~/project
user-auth   ✓       -           ~/project__worktrees/user-auth
bug-fix     ✓       ●           ~/project__worktrees/bug-fix

Key

  • ✓ in TMUX column = tmux window exists for this worktree
  • ● in UNMERGED column = branch has commits not merged into main
  • - = not applicable

workmux init

Generates .workmux.yaml with example configuration and "<global>" placeholder usage.

Examples

workmux init

workmux open <branch-name>

Opens a new tmux window for a pre-existing git worktree, setting up the configured pane layout and environment. This is useful any time you closed the tmux window for a worktree you are still working on.

  • <branch-name>: Name of the branch that has an existing worktree.

Useful options

  • --run-hooks: Re-runs the post_create commands (these block window creation).
  • --force-files: Re-applies file copy/symlink operations. Useful for restoring a deleted .env file.

What happens

  1. Verifies that a worktree for <branch-name> exists and a tmux window does not.
  2. Creates a new tmux window named after the branch.
  3. (If specified) Runs file operations and post_create hooks.
  4. Sets up your configured tmux pane layout.
  5. Automatically switches your tmux client to the new window.

Examples

# Open a window for an existing worktree
workmux open user-auth

# Open and re-run dependency installation
workmux open user-auth --run-hooks

# Open and restore configuration files
workmux open user-auth --force-files

workmux claude prune

Removes stale entries from Claude config (~/.claude.json) that point to deleted worktree directories. When you run Claude Code in worktrees, it stores per-worktree settings in that file. Over time, as worktrees are merged or deleted, it can accumulate entries for paths that no longer exist.

What happens

  1. Scans ~/.claude.json for entries pointing to non-existent directories
  2. Creates a backup at ~/.claude.json.bak before making changes
  3. Removes all stale entries
  4. Reports the number of entries cleaned up

Safety

  • Only removes entries for absolute paths that don't exist
  • Creates a backup before modifying the file
  • Preserves all valid entries and relative paths

Examples

# Clean up stale Claude Code entries
workmux claude prune

Example output

  - Removing: /Users/user/project__worktrees/old-feature

✓ Created backup at ~/.claude.json.bak
✓ Removed 3 stale entries from ~/.claude.json

workmux completions <shell>

Generates shell completion script for the specified shell. Completions provide tab-completion for commands and dynamic branch name suggestions.

  • <shell>: Shell type: bash, zsh, or fish.

Examples

# Generate completions for zsh
workmux completions zsh

See the Shell Completions section for installation instructions.

Workflow example

Here's a complete workflow:

# Start a new feature
workmux add user-auth

# Work on your feature...
# (tmux automatically sets up your configured panes and environment)

# When ready, merge and clean up
workmux merge user-auth

# Start another feature
workmux add api-endpoint

# List all active worktrees
workmux list

Why workmux?

workmux reduces manual setup to a pair of commands and makes it feasible to run AI-driven development workflows in parallel.

Without workmux

# 1. Manually create the worktree and environment
git worktree add ../worktrees/user-auth -b user-auth
cd ../worktrees/user-auth
cp ../../project/.env.example .env
ln -s ../../project/node_modules .
npm install
# ... and other setup steps

# 2. Manually create and configure the tmux window
tmux new-window -n user-auth
tmux split-window -h 'npm run dev'
tmux send-keys -t 0 'claude' C-m
# ... repeat for every pane in your desired layout

# 3. When done, manually merge and clean everything up
cd ../../project
git switch main && git pull
git merge --no-ff user-auth
tmux kill-window -t user-auth
git worktree remove ../worktrees/user-auth
git branch -d user-auth

With workmux

# Create the environment
workmux add user-auth

# ... work on the feature ...

# Merge and clean up
workmux merge

The parallel AI workflow (with workmux)

Delegate multiple complex tasks to AI agents and let them work at the same time. This workflow is cumbersome to manage manually.

# Task 1: Refactor the user model (for Agent 1)
workmux add refactor/user-model

# Task 2: Build a new API endpoint (for Agent 2, in parallel)
workmux add feature/new-api

# ... Command agents work simultaneously in their isolated environments ...

# Merge each task as it's completed
workmux merge refactor/user-model
workmux merge feature/new-api

Tips

Closing tmux windows

You can close workmux-managed tmux windows using tmux's standard kill-window command (e.g., <prefix> & or tmux kill-window -t <window-name>). This will properly terminate all processes running in the window's panes. The git worktree will remain on disk, and you can reopen a window for it anytime with:

workmux open <branch-name>

However, it's recommended to use workmux merge or workmux remove for cleanup instead, as these commands clean up both the tmux window and the git worktree together. Use workmux list to see which worktrees have detached tmux windows.

Shell completions

To enable tab completions for commands and branch names, add the following to your shell's configuration file.

For bash, add to your .bashrc:

eval "$(workmux completions bash)"

For zsh, add to your .zshrc:

eval "$(workmux completions zsh)"

For fish, add to your config.fish:

workmux completions fish | source

Requirements

  • Rust (for building)
  • Git 2.5+ (for worktree support)
  • tmux

Inspiration and related tools

workmux is inspired by wtp, an excellent git worktree management tool. While wtp streamlines worktree creation and setup, workmux takes this further by tightly coupling worktrees with tmux window management.

For managing multiple AI agents in parallel, tools like claude-squad and vibe-kanban offer dedicated interfaces, like a TUI or kanban board. workmux takes a different approach: tmux is the interface. If you already live in tmux, you don't need a new app or abstraction layer. With workmux, managing parallel agents is managing tmux windows.

See also