Safe Worktree Slug Validation

SKILL: Safe Worktree Slug Validation

Domain: git-worktree Trigger: Apply this when accepting user-provided prefixes for enter worktree and you need to guarantee no path traversal or invalid chars slip into the worktree directory. Source Pattern: Distilled from reviewed permission, shell-safety, and worktree-management implementations.

Core Method

Split a slug on /, reject segments that are empty, . or .., or contain characters outside a za z0 9, and enforce a maximum combined length before joining the cleaned segments into a deterministic branch name and path. Perform this validation synchronously before invoking any git commands so the CLI never creates directories outside claude worktrees.

Key Rules

• Validate each /-separated segment independently so user evil and similar mashups fail early.
• Enforce a total length cap (e.g., 64 chars) before git worktree add to prevent excessively long refs or paths.
• Reject slugs with leading/trailing slashes or repeated .. segments even when a normalization would neutralize them.
• Run this check before any git fetch, mkdir, or hook execution to avoid partial side effects.

Example Application

Any agent producing a worktree name for a release hotfix can reuse this skill: call the validator on the proposed slug, surface a concise error message if it fails, and refuse to call git worktree add until the slug is safe.

Anti-Patterns (What NOT to do)

• Do not rely on git worktree add to detect traversal; it may silently create directories in unexpected locations.
• Do not treat slugs as a single string (e.g., foo bar) without splitting, because multi-segment checks are necessary.
• Avoid waiting until after mkdir or config changes—the validation must run before any side effects.