WorkFlow: A Modern Development Workflow Management Tool Based on Git Worktree

WorkFlow is a development workflow management tool based on Git Worktree, corely solving the context confusion problem when developers frequently switch branches. It supports parallel processing of multiple branches by creating independent workspaces for each task, avoiding progress loss or repository state chaos caused by frequent stash/switch operations. Meanwhile, it deeply integrates with tmux to provide real-time state awareness, keeps the codebase clean, and is developed in Go language with single binary deployment and no additional dependencies.

In daily development, developers often encounter scenarios such as urgent bug fixes or PR reviews while working on feature branches. Traditional solutions like git stash are prone to progress loss, direct branch switching easily causes conflicts, and multiple repository clones waste space. However, the native Git Worktree commands are cumbersome to use and lack effective management tools, making these problems difficult to solve efficiently.

WorkFlow follows the principles of local-first and CLI-first. Its core designs include:

1. One independent workspace per task: Each task corresponds to an independent worktree, with no mutual interference;
2. Real-time state awareness: Calculates Git status in real-time, displaying uncommitted changes, branch ahead/behind status, etc;
3. Complete command set: Covers project management (add/ls/rm), workspace operations (add/list/open/merge, etc.), and practical tools (copy/resurrect/sidebar, etc.).

Configuration System: Adopts a layered design. Global configuration is stored in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/workFlow/config.yaml (managing editor, clipboard, etc.), and project-level configuration is implemented via .workFlow.yaml (such as default base branch, worktree directory, initialization commands, etc.). tmux Integration: Does not take over sessions; creates real tmux windows for each workspace, supporting operations like jump, close, restore, etc. In non-tmux environments, it gracefully degrades to the system editor.

Installation: Deployable with a single curl script or go install command, with automatic shell completion added; Basic Workflow: Register project → Create workspace → Check status → Jump operation → Merge/Delete; Comparison:

Tool/Solution	Workspace Isolation	Real-time Status	tmux Integration	Configuration Flexibility
Native git worktree	✓	✗	✗	✗
git stash switching	✗	✗	✗	✗
Multiple repo clones	✓	✗	✗	✗
WorkFlow	✓	✓	✓	✓
The unique value of WorkFlow lies in combining Worktree isolation with modern CLI ease of use, and deeply integrating with tmux to form a complete experience.

WorkFlow does not reinvent version control; instead, it makes Git Worktree functionality truly usable. It is suitable for developers who frequently switch tasks, reducing the burden of context switching and keeping workspaces independent. Developed in Go, it ensures a single binary with no dependencies, applicable to personal or team collaboration scenarios, bringing substantial improvements to Git workflows.