Worktree Per Agent

---
name: worktree-per-agent
description: Isolate an agent's work in its own git worktree branched off the default branch, so two agents never land conflicting changes on the shared checkout. Use at the start of any implementation task in a repo where others may also be working, and whenever a repo's instructions say "work in a worktree".
---

# One worktree per agent

The shared checkout belongs to the human. An agent that edits it directly races every other
agent and every uncommitted human change. So: branch a worktree off the default branch, work
there, land the result through the repo's normal path, remove the worktree.

## Create

```bash
REPO=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
NAME=<task-slug>
DEST=$(citizen worktree create "$NAME" "$REPO")
cd "$DEST"
```

The dedicated root keeps temporary task checkouts separate from permanent clones. It defaults to
`~/worktrees/<repo>/<task>`; `HARNESS_WORKTREE_ROOT` may replace `~/worktrees`. The helper fetches
`origin` and defaults to `origin/main`. Confirm the repository's default branch first and pass
`--base origin/<default>` when it differs, or the explicit base required by the task. Follow
repository-specific location instructions.
Never create a task worktree as a sibling under the directory holding permanent repositories.

## Work

- Install dependencies in the worktree if the repo needs them per checkout; do not assume the
  shared checkout's `node_modules` or virtualenv is reachable.
- Run the repo's quality gate in the worktree before pushing, per `verification.md`.
- Never `cd` back into the shared checkout to run something "quickly".

## Land

Where PRs are required, push the task branch and merge through a PR. Where the repository permits
direct pushes, land the verified change through that route. With merged-PR removal proof:

```bash
citizen worktree remove "$NAME" "$REPO" --merged
```

`--merged` deletes the local branch as well, and only once `gh` reports a merged pull request
whose head commit is the branch tip. A repository that squash-merges leaves the branch's own
commits out of the default branch, so `git branch -d` refuses work that did land; that proof is
the check instead. Direct-push repositories have no merged-PR proof: remove the clean worktree
without `--merged`, retain the branch, and inspect its reachability before any separate cleanup. Removal does not count regenerable caches
such as `__pycache__` that a gate run wrote, and still refuses any other modified, untracked or
ignored entry; `--also-clear <name>` adds a regenerable top-level directory the built-in list
misses.

## Things that bite

- **Tooling that resolves paths against the working directory** (planning frameworks, skill
  projections) will not find its files in a worktree. If a tool halts with a missing-script
  error, that is the guard working; run that tool from the shared checkout only.
- **Shared append-only documents** (a decisions log, a changelog) are not worktree material:
  two agents appending in two worktrees produce a conflict at merge. Append to those on the
  integration worktree through one owner, then land through the normal delivery path. This is
  not permission to edit or push the shared default branch directly.
- **Generated index files** are rebuilt once at merge, never on both sides.
- **Leftover worktrees** confuse `git status` and history rewrites. `git worktree list` before
  any operation that touches every branch. `citizen worktree audit "$REPO"` reports dirty and
  stale checkouts; a clean checkout can still contain unpublished commits, so audit branch history
  before removal.