Worktrees Orchestration Protocol

The worktrees skill provides an opinionated, safe orchestration protocol for managing Git worktrees as isolated coding lanes. Its value is giving the Orchestrator a consistent OMO workflow for parallel agents, risky experiments, integration review, and cleanup.

Core Contract

This is an orchestrator-only workflow. Other specialists such as @fixer or @designer can be assigned tasks inside a worktree lane, but the Orchestrator owns lane planning, branch/path selection, file ownership, delegation, diff validation, integration, and cleanup.

All worktrees reside under the default path:

.slim/worktrees/<slug>/

Do not create worktrees as sibling directories of the main repository.

State Tracking (.slim/worktrees.json)

Use the optional local metadata manifest .slim/worktrees.json to maintain structural tracking:

{
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-14T00:00:00.000Z",
  "lanes": [
    {
      "slug": "feature-auth-v2",
      "branch": "omos/feature-auth-v2",
      "path": ".slim/worktrees/feature-auth-v2",
      "base": "main",
      "purpose": "refactor authentication flow to use OAuth2",
      "owner": "orchestrator",
      "status": "active",
      "areas": ["src/auth", "src/config"],
      "createdAt": "2026-06-14T12:00:00.000Z"
    }
  ]
}

If .slim/worktrees.json does not exist, create it when initializing a lane, and keep it updated as lanes are transitioned, integrated, or pruned. Treat it as local workflow metadata by default; ask before making it part of a committed project convention.

Safety Guidelines

Before executing any Git mutation command, the Orchestrator must observe the following guards:

1. Pre-Flight Checklist

• Confirm the current directory is inside a Git repository.
• Check the current branch, base branch, and dirty/uncommitted state.
• Inspect the output of git worktree list to avoid path or branch conflicts.
• Ensure the branch name (e.g. omos/<slug> or custom project convention) does not already exist locally or on remote.
• Ensure .slim/worktrees/ is ignored by Git before creating nested worktrees.

2. Mandatory User Confirmation

You must seek explicit user confirmation before executing:

• git worktree add or git worktree remove
• Branch creation, deletion, or renaming
• Merges, rebases, or cherry-picks
• git prune or git worktree prune
• Destructive commands (e.g., git reset --hard, git clean, git push --force, or removing a dirty worktree directory).

Never execute destructive commands, delete branches, remove dirty worktrees, or clean uncommitted changes without explicit user confirmation for that exact operation.

3. Ignore File Setup

Before creating or cleaning lanes, inspect existing .gitignore and .ignore. Update the managed block in place when present; otherwise append it. Add only the missing exact lines below, never duplicate entries or modify unrelated rules. These blocks keep lane artifacts git-local while the .ignore allowlist keeps them readable to OpenCode.

.gitignore:

# BEGIN oh-my-opencode-slim worktrees
.slim/worktrees/
.slim/worktrees.json
# END oh-my-opencode-slim worktrees

.ignore:

# BEGIN oh-my-opencode-slim worktrees
!.slim/
!.slim/worktrees.json
!.slim/worktrees/
!.slim/worktrees/**
# END oh-my-opencode-slim worktrees

Workflow Guide

Phase 1: Planning & Setup

1. Identify the task scope and determine a short <slug> for the worktree.
2. Formulate a branch name. Default to omos/<slug> unless project/user conventions dictate otherwise.
3. Validate repository safety. Ask the user for confirmation to initialize the lane.
4. Before creating the lane, ensure the managed ignore blocks are present using the Ignore File Setup rules above.
5. Run:

   git worktree add -b <branch-name> .slim/worktrees/<slug> <base-commit/branch>
   

6. Register the metadata in .slim/worktrees.json.

Phase 2: Execution & Delegation

1. Run all sub-agents with their working directory set strictly to the worktree path, such as .slim/worktrees/<slug>.
2. Do not modify the main checkout for lane work. Keep build, test, and edit operations isolated inside the lane.
3. Track file or folder ownership per lane to avoid merge conflicts between parallel agents.
4. Commit progress within the worktree only when the user asked for commits or approved local checkpoint commits.

Phase 3: Integration & Validation

Before merging or integrating the worktree branch:

1. Apply a proportionate final-state verification plan to the changed behavior and its important boundaries. Run checks required by repository or release instructions.
2. Generate and display a clear diff comparing the worktree branch to the integration base branch.
3. Ask the user for confirmation to integrate.
4. Perform the approved integration, such as merge or cherry-pick, from the main checkout or the user-approved integration checkout.

Phase 4: Cleanup & Pruning

1. Before cleaning the lane, ensure the managed ignore blocks follow the Ignore File Setup rules above.
2. Ensure all changes are safely merged or archived.
3. Confirm the worktree has no uncommitted changes.
4. Request user approval to remove the worktree.
5. Safely remove the worktree using:

   git worktree remove .slim/worktrees/<slug>
   

6. Update .slim/worktrees.json to mark the lane as archived or remove it.

When to Use vs. Not Use

Use When:

• Performing risky or destructive refactoring that could break the active working environment.
• Working on parallel tasks/bugfixes that require switching contexts without committing half-finished work.
• Running independent background agents on separate branches.
• Conducting exploratory spikes or prototyping that may be discarded.
• Isolating third-party packages or complex upgrades.
• Explicitly asked to use worktrees for a specific task.

Do NOT Use When:

• Making simple single-file changes, documentation updates, or minor bug fixes.
• Working in a git repository that is not fully initialized or has complex multi-submodule states not supported easily by worktrees.