Worktrees (pnpm worktree)
Multi-instance dev environments for this monorepo. One command from a clean
checkout provisions a collision-free app stack on its own branch: unique ports
for web/api/gateway, its own node_modules + pnpm store, and a tunnel for cloud
sandbox callbacks. By default the worktree uses the primary checkout's standard
local Supabase DB (kortix-local on 54321/54322) so setup is fast and auth/data
state is shared. Pass --db only when the work needs a separate Supabase
project, schema, auth users, storage, or destructive data changes. The CLI lives
at scripts/worktree/cli.ts, run via the root package.json script
pnpm worktree.
THE RULE — one canonical branch, one worktree
A worktree maps 1:1 to a canonical branch — the branch for whatever is being worked on. Work in a worktree, but do not create one by reflex.
First, look for the worktree that already exists. Run pnpm worktree list.
If the work continues, extends, fixes, or cleans up something already in flight,
it belongs in that worktree, on that branch. Join it. Spinning a second worktree
for the same objective is the mistake this rule exists to prevent.
Create a new worktree only when the work is genuinely a new thing. Use
shared-DB mode for ordinary UI/API work; opt into --db when database isolation
is materially required.
Pack more into the branch, not less. Follow-up fixes, rename cleanups, and
stale-reference sweeps belong on the same branch as the change that caused them,
and land together. Sub-branches off the canonical branch are fine — they merge
back into it, and never open a PR against main.
Carve-outs (a worktree is not required):
- Read-only investigation / answering questions.
- A trivial single-file typo/comment fix on the branch you're already on.
- Operating on the primary
pnpm devstack itself.
Shared-DB worktrees are cheap and nuke removes only the app worktree
resources; isolated-DB worktrees also clean up their Supabase containers and
volumes.
Session start: the repo-root
AGENTS.md("First, at session start: which canonical branch are you in?") governs. Join the existing canonical branch when one exists; ask the user which branch when it is not obvious.
Agent quick start (non-interactive, non-blocking)
pnpm worktree create --name <feat> --yes --no-start
--name <feat>names the worktree (letters/numbers/dashes; lowercased).--yesauto-installs any missing toolchain deps and skips prompts.- Uses the shared primary Supabase DB by default. Add
--dbonly for work that needs a separate database/data plane. --no-startis mandatory for agents — without it,createends by booting the dev servers in the foreground and blocks until Ctrl+C, which will hang your turn.--no-startprovisions everything and returns.
The new checkout lands at a sibling of the repo: ../suna-<feat>
(e.g. repo …/kortix/suna → worktree …/kortix/suna-<feat>). It is on a new
branch <feat> auto-created from your current HEAD. Do all subsequent
edits, git, and runs against that path:
WT=../suna-<feat> # resolve to an absolute path in practice
# edit files under $WT, then:
git -C "$WT" add -A && git -C "$WT" commit -m "..."
When the branch is merged/pushed and you're done: pnpm worktree nuke <feat>.
In shared-DB mode this leaves the primary Supabase DB running and untouched.
Prerequisite for --db: the base branch must carry database migrations
Current migrations live in packages/db/migrations and are applied with
node-pg-migrate (pnpm --filter @kortix/db migrate; see
packages/db/MIGRATIONS.md). The worktree runner still has an open bug from the
cutover where it calls the old db:migrate script and emits Drizzle-era error
text; if worktree schema setup fails there, track/fix
https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna/issues/3630 rather than treating the old command
as authoritative.
All commands (non-interactive)
Run bare pnpm worktree (TTY) for an interactive menu; everything below is the
scriptable form. <n> = worktree name. Aliases shown with |.
create (alias new) — provision a worktree
pnpm worktree create --name <n> [flags]
pnpm worktree create <n> [flags] # positional name also works
| Flag | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
--name <n> / positional <n> |
— (required) | Worktree name → branch name + slot identity. |
--branch <b> |
<n> |
Branch to use. A local branch is checked out; a branch that exists only as origin/<b> (run git fetch first) is checked out tracking it; otherwise it is created from --from. |
--from <ref> |
HEAD |
Base ref for a newly created branch. Must carry current packages/db/migrations (see above). |
--db / --with-db / --isolated-db |
off | Opt into the old full isolated Supabase project (kortix-wt-<n>) with its own containers/volumes/migrations. |
--no-db / --shared-db |
on | Explicitly use the default shared primary Supabase DB. |
--no-start |
off | Provision only, don't boot servers. Use this for agent/CI runs. |
--yes |
off | Auto-install missing deps; non-interactive. |
--no-tunnel |
off | Skip the Cloudflare tunnel (offline; cloud sandboxes won't be reachable). |
What it does, in order: toolchain preflight → allocate the lowest free slot
(probing app ports, skipping any in use) → git worktree add (new branch from
--from, or checkout existing --branch) → pnpm install into the worktree's
own store → build runtime artifacts → (unless --no-start) boot the stack
against the shared primary Supabase DB. With --db, it also renders an isolated
Supabase project, starts it, applies database migrations, verifies the kortix
schema exists, and starts that Supabase stack. Re-running create for an
existing name resumes it idempotently; a worktree's DB mode is fixed until you
nuke and recreate it.
start — boot an existing worktree (FOREGROUND, BLOCKS)
pnpm worktree start <n> [--stripe] [--no-tunnel]
In shared-DB mode, ensures the primary local Supabase is reachable, checks that
the kortix schema exists, then runs api + web in the foreground and blocks
until Ctrl+C. In isolated-DB mode, starts that worktree's Supabase, applies
pending migrations, then boots the app stack. Clean shutdown stops the worktree
app servers, force-kills stragglers, and marks the worktree stopped. Requires
Docker running when Supabase needs to be reached or started.
- Agents: do not call this inline — it will hang the turn. If you need the
stack running to test, launch it as a background process and poll, or ask the
user to run
pnpm worktree start <n>in their own terminal. - A Cloudflare quick tunnel starts by default so cloud Daytona sandboxes can
call back to the local API (
KORTIX_URL→ the*.trycloudflare.comURL).--no-tunnelskips it; ifcloudflaredis missing it warns and continues. --stripeturns billing on for the worktree and runsstripe listenforwarding test-mode webhooks to this worktree's API (…:<api>/v1/billing/webhooks/stripe), injecting thewhsec_…signing secret so signatures verify. Needs thestripeCLI logged in (stripe login) and a testSTRIPE_SECRET_KEYin the worktree's local.env(billing won't boot without it). Lets you exercise checkout/subscription/webhook flows end-to-end in isolation.
stop — pause a worktree (keeps data)
pnpm worktree stop <n>
pnpm worktree stop --all # every worktree at once
Kills the web/api/gateway process trees — the dev servers plus the ~15 workers
each one forks, the Cloudflare tunnel, and stripe listen — then verifies they are
gone before recording the stop. Shared-DB mode leaves the primary Supabase running.
Isolated-DB mode also stops the worktree's Supabase. Data (DB volume for isolated
mode, branch, files) is preserved; start resumes it.
Stop what you are not using. A stack holds ~19 processes and a few GB that
Turbopack never gives back, so a handful of forgotten stacks will exhaust swap and
get something OOM-killed. stop --all is the end-of-day sweep and the way back
from stacks orphaned by an OOM kill (their supervisor is gone, so there is no
Ctrl+C left to press). pnpm worktree doctor shows what is actually running,
including worktrees whose recorded status has drifted from reality.
nuke (alias rm) — tear down and free the slot
pnpm worktree nuke <n> [n2 …] [--force] [--yes]
pnpm worktree nuke # TTY: pick from a list, then confirm each
Accepts one or many worktree names. Every target is confirmed individually
before anything is destroyed (default No — answer no to skip one,
Esc/Ctrl+C to stop the rest); --yes or a non-TTY stdin skips the prompts for
scripts and agents. Bare pnpm worktree nuke in a TTY shows the worktree list
to multi-select targets from (space to select, enter to confirm); the
interactive menu (pnpm worktree → nuke) uses the same picker.
Stops servers, removes the git worktree, deletes the branch, drops the slot,
and frees the app ports. In shared-DB mode it does not stop or delete the
primary Supabase DB. In isolated-DB mode it also stops Supabase and removes that
worktree project's Docker containers/volumes/network. By default the branch is
deleted with git branch -d (safe — refuses if unmerged); --force uses
git worktree remove --force and git branch -D (drops unmerged commits).
Only nuke after the work is merged or pushed.
nuke --all — bulk teardown with time rules
pnpm worktree nuke --all [--older-than <dur>] [--idle <dur>] [--include-dirty] [--dry-run] [--yes]
pnpm worktree nuke --all --older-than 2d --yes # everything created >2 days ago
pnpm worktree nuke --all --idle 12h --dry-run # preview: nothing touched in 12h
Scans every registry slot, prints one keep/nuke line per worktree with the
reason, then tears down the selected ones with the same per-worktree nukeOne
path as nuke <n> (stack stop, isolated-DB Docker cleanup, git worktree remove, git branch -d, slot freed). Selection rules, in order:
- a running stack (web or api port answering) is always kept;
- a slot whose directory is missing is always freed;
- uncommitted tracked changes keep the worktree unless
--include-dirty; --older-than <dur>compares the registrycreatedAt;--idle <dur>compares last activity = max(HEAD commit time, worktree index mtime); a slot with no readable activity falls back tocreatedAt.
Durations are <n>m|h|d|w (30m, 12h, 3d, 2w). Both time rules must
pass when both are given. With no time rule every stopped, clean slot is
selected. A TTY asks for one confirmation for the whole batch; --yes or a
non-TTY stdin skips it. Local branches survive as with nuke <n> (-d only,
--force for -D), so committed work is never lost — only the checkout and
its node_modules go. bun reads stdin: when calling from a shell loop, pass
</dev/null.
pr — push the branch and open a pull request
pnpm worktree pr <n> [--title "…"] [--body "…"] [--base main] [--repo owner/name] [--draft] [--web]
Closes the loop (create → work → pr). Refuses if the branch has no commits
ahead of --base (default main); warns if the tree is dirty (uncommitted work
won't be in the PR). Pushes origin/<branch> (-u), then runs gh pr create.
Title/body come from the branch's commit messages via gh --fill unless
--title is given. --draft opens a draft; --web finishes in the browser.
If gh isn't installed it still pushes and prints a compare URL. On a fork, gh
may ask which base repo — answer the prompt (or pass --repo). Requires the
push remote (origin) to be authenticated for your account.
list (alias ls) — every worktree and its ports
pnpm worktree list # all of them, running first then alphabetical
pnpm worktree list md # substring filter
pnpm worktree list --json # machine-readable, for scripts and jq
One line per worktree: live status, name, and its web/api ports, with a dot leader between the name and the port so the eye cannot slip a row. Both ports are OSC 8 hyperlinks — ⌘-click them in a supporting terminal.
Status is a real listening-port scan (one lsof for the whole box, ~40ms),
not the registry field, so it cannot go stale the way a recorded status can. If
lsof is unavailable the command falls back to the registry and says so in the
footer. list never writes the registry — doctor owns drift repair.
Constants live in the footer instead of in every row: the shared Supabase
db/studio ports, the counts, and — when any worktree runs --db — a note that
DB modes are mixed.
A filter matching exactly one worktree expands into full clickable URLs:
○ md-table slot 19 · stopped · shared db
web http://localhost:14900
api http://localhost:14908/v1
studio http://localhost:54323
path /Users/you/root/kortix/suna-md-table
status — live health
pnpm worktree status [<n>] # all worktrees, or just <n>
Per-worktree: whether web/api ports are listening and whether its configured Supabase target is up.
doctor — verify toolchain + integrity
pnpm worktree doctor [--yes]
Checks required tools (bun, node >=22, pnpm, dotenvx, plus Supabase/Docker/psql
for DB modes) and the optional cloudflared, then flags any worktree whose dir
is missing, isn't a registered git worktree, or has orphaned isolated-DB
containers. --yes auto-installs missing deps.
What each worktree isolates
| Resource | Primary pnpm dev |
Worktree slot N |
|---|---|---|
| web | 3000 | 13000 + N·100 |
| api | 8008 | 13008 + N·100 |
| Supabase API / DB / Studio / Inbucket | local default | shared default: 54321 / 54322 / 54323 / 54324; with --db: 13321 / 13322 / 13323 / 13324 (+N·100) |
| Supabase project | kortix-local |
shared default: kortix-local; with --db: kortix-wt-<n> (own containers/volumes/network) |
| branch | your current branch | dedicated <n> (or --branch) |
| deps | repo node_modules |
own node_modules + pnpm store |
Slot 0 → web 13000 / api 13008 / gateway 13090; slot 1 → web 13100 / api 13108 /
gateway 13190; and so on. Isolated DB ports follow the same stride. Slots are
assigned lowest-free and skip any app port already in use, so worktrees never
collide with each other or with pnpm dev.
State & layout
- Checkout:
../suna-<n>(sibling of the repo root). - Control state:
~/.kortix/worktrees/—registry.json(the slot ledger) and a per-worktree dir holding the rendered Supabase config (sb/) and pnpm store. Lives entirely outside any checkout, so nothing dirties a tracked tree. SetKORTIX_HOMEto relocate it. - In-worktree marker: a gitignored
.kortix-worktree.json(slot/ports/project/DB mode).
Scope & safety
This is local-dev tooling only (scripts/worktree/*, invoked via pnpm worktree). It is not imported by any app, build, CI, or Docker image, and it
never touches cloud/production infrastructure — production reads its env from
AWS Secrets Manager, a separate path. The tunnel and KORTIX_URL injection
affect only the locally-spawned worktree API process.