Windows Git Worktree

Windows git worktree + shared-branch gotchas

Phantom "modified" whole tree (core.autocrlf)

Symptom. A fresh worktree on Windows shows nearly every tracked file as M in git status, with warning: LF will be replaced by CRLF the next time Git touches it. Nothing was actually edited.

Diagnose it's EOL-only, not real changes:

• git diff --ignore-cr-at-eol --stat <file> → empty.
• git diff --numstat <file> → no changed-line rows.
• The files on disk and in the repo are byte-identical (often both LF already).

Cause (mechanism). core.autocrlf=true with no .gitattributes: git wants to re-record every text file under its line-ending policy, so git status flags them even though the bytes match the repo. Fresh Windows worktrees surface this for the whole tree at once. It's cosmetic — the diffs are empty — and won't enter a commit unless you stage those files.

Fix permanently (for the whole team) — commit a .gitattributes:

* text=auto eol=lf
*.png binary
*.jpg binary
*.woff2 binary

Then git add .gitattributes && git add --renormalize .. For an EOL-identical repo, renormalize stages no file content, so the commit contains only .gitattributes and the phantom M entries clear. Caveat: git add --renormalize . also stages files that have genuine uncommitted changes — if you want an isolated .gitattributes commit, git reset first, then git add .gitattributes alone.

Do not just flip core.autocrlf — config lives in the common .git and affects the main checkout and any other sessions.

node_modules is missing in a worktree

git worktree add does not copy node_modules. Junction it to the main checkout instead of reinstalling (PowerShell):

New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path "<worktree>\node_modules" -Target "<main>\node_modules"

Do not use mklink through Git Bash — the Windows path args get mangled (Invalid switch - "C:\..."). Use the PowerShell junction, or run mklink /J from a real cmd.

Two sessions sharing one worktree + branch

Parallel agents can end up editing the same worktree directory and branch. Coexist:

• Commit only your files. Stage explicit paths, never git add -A.
• git status may show another session's real changes (especially once the EOL fix above un-hides them). Leave them; don't clobber files you didn't create.
• Refactor with git mv old new so renames keep history; then edit the moved file and git add it (the rename + content edit record as a rename).
• Before committing, run git diff --cached --name-status and confirm only your files are staged. A shared file (package.json) may carry both sessions' edits — committing it pulls theirs in too; fine if it references already-committed code, but know it.

Whitespace-exact edits (agent tip)

When an exact-match edit needs a tab-indented file's literal indentation, get the bytes first — sed -n 'X,Yp' file | cat -A renders tabs as ^I. Reconstruct the match string with the right tab counts; otherwise the edit fails to match (or matches the wrong copy).