Cerbur/clutch-dsh#clutch-dsh-worktree

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@cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree

@cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree adds a Git Worktree view to the DSH Web UI. It groups Sessions as Workspace → Worktree → Session while keeping DSH as the source of truth for Workspace identity, Session metadata, native lists, messages, and conversation history.

The plugin stores Worktree relationships, acquisition facts, shared Worktree instructions, and Workspace-root Main instructions in its own sidecar. Managed Worktrees expose a read-only baseline-relative Git & Changes dashboard, while Main exposes its Workspace-root HEAD history; the plugin does not copy transcripts or rewrite DSH Sessions.

Preview: Worktree Dashboard is an early, plugin-only MVP preview. Worktree navigation, lifecycle actions, Session actions, Worktree/Main instructions, and the managed Worktree or Main Git & Changes view are connected. Derived Worktrees, Settings, and other unfinished actions remain marked Coming soon.

Installation

After installing into a running DSH instance, restart DSH Desktop, or restart the DSH Web server and refresh the page, to load the plugin Host. If the Client loads while the Host is still unavailable, a native toast reminds you once per Client load. Network failures and Workspace errors do not trigger the reminder.

Install from npm

With an installed DSH CLI:

dsh plugin --profile web add @cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree
dsh web

When using a DeepSeek Harness source checkout without a standalone dsh command, use the equivalent pnpm dsh form.

Install from a local checkout

Build this package, build the DSH source checkout, and add the package by absolute path:

cd /absolute/path/to/clutch-dsh
pnpm install
pnpm --filter @cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree build

cd /absolute/path/to/deepseek-harness
pnpm install
pnpm run build
pnpm dsh plugin --profile web add /absolute/path/to/clutch-dsh/packages/clutch-dsh-worktree
pnpm dsh web

The DSH Web profile must be able to start before this plugin is added. Re-run the absolute-path install command after changing package.json or cordis.patch.yml.

Install from GitHub source (optional)

The package also supports the source dependency form used by the DSH plugin market:

dsh plugin --profile web add "github:Cerbur/clutch-dsh#path:/packages/clutch-dsh-worktree"

This form builds the package during installation. For pnpm build-script authorization and local development details, see docs/DEVELOPMENT.md.

Features

Feature	Preview	What it does
Worktree navigation		Adds a Worktree mode to the native DSH Sidebar. On macOS desktop, the panel shares DSH's native glass material without a second background layer or duplicate navigation showing through. Other platforms retain the theme fill; reduced transparency uses a stronger fill. Workspace expansion and new Session rows use native-style fades and movement. Browse each Workspace through Local/Main and Git Worktree rows, then open the Sessions bound to each row.
Create and import Worktrees		Create a Worktree from a local branch, or register an existing branch-attached Worktree in place. Import does not move, copy, or edit the existing directory.
Worktree Dashboard		The preview Dashboard shows Worktree identity, path, Sessions, Worktree/Main instructions, connected actions, the host-provided Open In action, and the read-only Git & Changes view for managed Worktrees or Main. Derived Worktrees, Settings, and other unfinished cards remain Coming soon.

Usage

Open Worktree mode

1. Start DSH Web and select Worktree from the DSH Sidebar footer.
2. Search or expand a Workspace in the Worktree tree.
3. Select Local/Main or a Worktree to browse its Sessions. The view is additive; DSH's native Workspace and Session navigation remains available. Each group initially shows five rows; use Expand more and Collapse for additional rows.
4. Use Collapse All in the header to collapse other unrelated Workspaces and Worktrees; the Workspace and Worktree containing the current Session remain expanded.

Collapsing the native Sidebar also hides the Worktree panel on Web and desktop. macOS desktop keeps no collapsed rail; use the native titlebar control to reopen it. Row animation respects reduced motion and settles immediately during search, drag, and initial loading. On Web, Worktree navigation starts below the native DSH brand row, leaving its Sidebar toggle visible and clickable even when the New Session action displays keyboard shortcuts.

Create a Worktree

1. Open the options menu for Local/Main or an active Worktree and choose Create Worktree.
2. Choose the local base branch. You can also provide a new branch name.
3. Confirm the dialog. The plugin creates the Git Worktree, records its acquisition facts, and continues through the normal Session and binding flow when you open a Session from that Worktree.

Git must have a usable repository, local branch, and initial commit. If setup is incomplete, DSH shows the relevant readiness message and copyable setup guidance.

Import an existing Worktree

1. Select a Workspace, open its + action, and switch to Import.
2. Choose a candidate from the branch-and-path list.
3. Select Import Worktree. The plugin registers the existing directory without moving, copying, or changing its files, then uses the same Session flow as a created Worktree.

The first version lists only ready, branch-attached, non-root Git Worktrees that are not already managed by the plugin. Detached, bare, prunable, missing, and invalid entries are omitted. Imported Worktrees can still use Git & Changes after you choose a local baseline branch.

Create and open Sessions

• Use + on Local/Main for a normal DSH Session whose runtime directory is the Workspace root.
• Use + on a Worktree for a Session whose runtime directory is that Worktree.
• When possible, the plugin reuses an unarchived blank Session with the exact target directory.
• Use native DSH fork actions from a Session list, Worktree Session menu, or conversation. A child of a Worktree-bound Session is bound to the same Worktree and opens in that view.

If DSH creates a Session but binding fails, the Session is kept. The Worktree view exposes retry or open recovery actions; the plugin does not delete or rewrite the DSH Session.

Open the Worktree Dashboard

Open Dashboard from a Local/Main or Worktree row menu, its hover action, or the Dashboard icon beside the native Session-header actions. The header icon opens it in one click even when the Sidebar is collapsed, without expanding the Sidebar. If the target is still loading, the request stays open and shows loading or a retryable error in the center area. The Dashboard is a peer page to the native Session content: it occupies the center area beside the Sidebar while leaving an already-open right sidebar visible for a session-bound target. When the target Worktree has Sessions, opening its Dashboard waits for an initial pending Session list to become ready, then keeps the current Session if it belongs to that Worktree; otherwise it switches to the retained head Session so both views stay aligned. A ready empty Session list opens a page-level Dashboard without changing the current Session, collapses any currently open native right sidebar because there is no target Session, and does not create a Session automatically. The Dashboard header keeps the native right-sidebar button available whenever a current Session can host it and the sidebar is collapsed; once opened, the button is hidden following native behavior.

The top bar shows {workspace}/{worktreeName} and groups Open in ..., Back to session (or New Session) and the right-sidebar control. It stays visible while the page scrolls. On macOS desktop, its blank space drags the window, and a collapsed left Sidebar exposes DSH's native reopen button beside the traffic lights. Windows retains its native caption bar.

Use Back to session, Escape, a Sidebar Session, or Worktree mode exit to close it. For a Worktree with no Sessions, the top-right action becomes New Session and starts one in that Worktree. The connected MVP surface can show Overview and Sessions, create a Session or Worktree, archive a Worktree, edit instructions, copy a path, open the recorded directory in VS Code, and inspect Git & Changes. Derived Worktrees, Settings, and other marked quick actions remain placeholders. VS Code must be installed on the browser's machine and able to access the recorded path; the link does not verify launch success.

Open the recorded directory in an app

The Dashboard Open in ... split button is plugin UI backed by DSH's official Host routes:

• GET /open-in-app/apps detects the available applications;
• GET /open-in-app/icon/<appId> supplies each application icon; and
• POST /open-in-app/open launches { "app": string, "path": absoluteDirectoryPath }.

The button sends relative requests to the current DSH host and uses the Dashboard record's absolutePath; it does not probe the operating system or persist an application choice. The selected application is remembered only in the current page's memory. After a refresh, the first available application is used. If no application is available or the Host request fails, the button keeps the existing VS Code protocol-link fallback.

Use Git & Changes

Open the Git & Changes tab from a managed Worktree or Main Dashboard. Main reads the current Workspace-root commit history directly and prepends an Uncommitted changes entry when the root has tracked, staged, unstaged, or untracked changes. It shows at most the first 200 committed commits, selects the first visible target, and uses the same changed-file and diff panes for either a live working-tree target or a committed history entry. For a managed Worktree with a persisted baseBranch that differs from the current branch, or with a captured acquisition commit that supplies the implicit baseline, the Overview performs one compact, on-demand Git status read through the existing /api Connection. It shows ahead/behind commit counts plus separate committed (baseline-to-HEAD) and uncommitted (live working-tree) line totals; this is an ephemeral projection, not a watcher or a Worktree-record field. Main has no Worktree baseline comparison, so Overview remains Not connected for ahead/behind facts while its Git tab still exposes Main history. Unavailable or baseline-unselected managed views honestly remain Not connected. Opening Overview does not load the branch list; the first Git tab activation loads local branches and, once a baseline is resolved, managed Worktree commit history. To replace that baseline, click the pencil icon beside the Base fact to open the branch picker: its search field sits permanently above a bounded branch list that shows roughly seven rows and scrolls internally, so the dialog keeps one size while you filter. Choose any local branch except the current Worktree branch and save. The save replaces the persisted baseBranch in the plugin sidecar; the saved value becomes the default for the Git selector. Once the Git tab is open, changing its selector remains a transient view choice and reloads history, changed files, and diffs without another Worktree-record write. If no usable saved baseline exists (absent or equal to the current Worktree branch), the Git tab and the Overview read against the Worktree's immutable captured acquisition commit and show that resolved commit as the Base fact; only a Worktree with neither a usable saved baseline nor a captured commit stays baseline-unselected and prompts you to choose one. When the selected branch has diverged, Git resolves the two heads' common ancestor. The Git & Changes view reports Worktree commits after that ancestor as +N ahead and base-branch commits after it as -N behind; history and file reads remain available. If the two heads have no common ancestor, the committed summary falls back to the full tree diff between the base branch tip and Worktree HEAD, while history uses the Worktree commits not reachable from that base tip. With a valid managed Worktree baseline loaded, the Git & Changes tab initially selects Baseline summary rather than the first commit; changing the baseline branch also returns to that summary. Choose a commit or Uncommitted changes when you need a narrower target. Main skips this comparison-only summary but presents the same committed history and multi-commit selection behavior, plus a live working-tree target when the Workspace root has changes. Selecting Uncommitted changes compares the current Workspace root with HEAD; it does not create a baseline or write any Git state.

The selected local branch is resolved again for each read. The browser can choose only a plain local branch name, not a raw commit SHA or arbitrary Git ref: a full ref path, tag, or remote-tracking ref is rejected outright, while a selected branch that no longer exists shows the honest unavailable state instead of a generic Git failure. baseCommit is immutable acquisition metadata, is never user-selectable directly, and is the implicit baseline whenever no saved branch baseline is usable; creation recovery never overwrites it. When a managed Worktree or Main Workspace root has staged, unstaged, or untracked files, the list prepends an Uncommitted changes entry; selecting it compares that live working tree with HEAD and uses the same changed-file and diff views.

The Baseline summary is a separate target that shows the net committed tree diff from the resolved common ancestor to the request's captured HEAD (or the two branch tips when no common ancestor exists); it excludes working-tree changes by default. Turn on Include working tree to replace that target with one net diff from the same comparison boundary to the current working tree, including committed, staged, unstaged, untracked, deleted, and renamed changes. This is a fresh on-demand projection rather than a concatenation of two diffs. Clicking a commit shows that commit's own diff. For managed Worktrees and Main, turn on Multi-select commits in the commits header to pick several committed rows and view the exact union of their first-parent deltas; Main has no baseline-summary or working-tree-inclusion controls, and the switch is off by default; turning it off collapses the selection back to the focused commit. The changed-file list records the contributing commits, and each selected commit is rendered as its own diff segment; this is not an implicit range and does not include unselected commits. The changed-files column header shows the aggregate green +N and red -N totals for the current target, including the Baseline summary, selected commits, or Uncommitted changes; binary-only totals show Unknown. The working-tree entry remains mutually exclusive with committed multi-selection. The Open in Sidebar action in the summary diff toolbar reveals the current file in the native right sidebar using the current Session, only when that Session belongs to the Dashboard Worktree. An empty Worktree or an unrelated current Session cannot open a file through this action.

Managed Worktree and Main history are each capped at 200 commits and mark longer histories as truncated. A changed-file list larger than the Git adapter's output bound reports an explicit truncated state instead of a generic error. Commit details use first-parent comparisons; root commits compare against the empty tree; rename and copy rows retain both paths; binary or oversized diffs show an explicit display-safe state. Changed-file rows show text line counts as green +N additions and red -N deletions; binary files omit those counts. File names use green for additions, red for deletions, and blue for other changes, and each row's title and accessible label spells the status out. Folder icons indicate whether each folder is expanded or collapsed. The Uncommitted changes entry is an on-demand snapshot, is not persisted, and is not a Git watcher; refresh it to see later edits.

Git & Changes uses a viewport-bounded, fixed-size surface. Wide layouts show two columns: commits and changed files stack in the narrower left column around a draggable divider, while the diff keeps the full height on the right. Narrow layouts keep two rows: commits and changed files side by side on the first row, with the summary diff underneath. Both dividers stay draggable in either layout — the vertical one trades width between the columns, or between commits and changed files inside the first row, and the horizontal one trades height between the commits and changed-file panes, or between the first row and the diff. Drag a divider, or focus it and press the arrow keys, to move it, and double-click it to restore the default split. Long commit and changed-file lists scroll inside their panes instead of expanding the Dashboard. The changed-file pane also scrolls horizontally when paths are wider than the pane, keeping file and folder names untruncated. Changed files are grouped by folders; folders start expanded and can be opened or collapsed independently. Diff content also scrolls inside its bounded pane, while the read-only selection and refresh behavior remains unchanged.

The view is read-only and does not provide commit or staging controls. For managed Worktrees, the plugin validates committed entries against the selected branch-to-HEAD projection and re-reads working-tree paths against a fresh status projection; Main validates committed entries against its bounded HEAD-history projection. These endpoints are not generic Git object or file readers. Refresh keeps ready content visible while replacement data loads, and late responses for an older commit or file selection are ignored.

Add Worktree or Main instructions

In the Dashboard, use Edit on the instructions card to save or clear shared guidance for the selected Worktree or Main Workspace, up to 32,000 UTF-16 code units. The next model request receives the text as a separate <system-reminder> context entry through DSH's pre-step hook, including unbound Sessions running at Main.

Instructions stay in the plugin's own data. They are not written to the project directory or an AGENTS.md file. Clearing, detaching, cleaning, or forgetting a Worktree stops future injection; archiving keeps an active binding and therefore keeps its Worktree instruction effective. Unchanged instruction text is not repeatedly added while its message remains visible.

Archive or remove a Worktree

• Archive Worktree is non-destructive. It keeps the directory, bindings, instructions, and runtime Worktree context. An archived Worktree can be unarchived while its Git registration is intact.
• Clean Up Disk is a separate action. It requires a second confirmation and runs the normal non-forced git worktree remove. The plugin does not check whether Sessions or subagents are still using the directory; stop those tasks before confirming. Successful cleanup detaches the bindings while keeping the recorded history until it is forgotten.
• Remove from Management deletes only the plugin's Worktree and binding records. It preserves the disk files and native DSH Sessions, and does not require a Session activity check.

Requirements

Component	Requirement
DSH Client	>=0.2.0-rc.1, including the Session and Workspace Controllers and Client Store
DSH Host	>=0.2.0-rc.1, including the Typert Gateway /api connection and subprocess capability
Git	>=2.20.0, installed and available on PATH
Node.js	>=20.0.0 for the plugin; DSH dsh-v0.2.0-rc.1 requires `^22.19.0
Host filesystem	Normal Windows and macOS local paths are supported for sidecar and Git Worktree data; network, special, or alias-heavy filesystems may not support durable sync or identity checks.

Behavior and limitations

• DSH owns Workspace identity and root paths, Session identity and metadata, native lists, messages, prompts, transcripts, and history. The plugin never copies or rewrites those values.
• The plugin's external index stores Worktree paths, branches, sources, lifecycle state, bindings, ordering, instructions, acquisition facts, and related metadata. For managed Worktrees, the Dashboard Base fact is the persisted baseBranch; users can replace it with a local branch other than the current Worktree branch, and the saved value becomes the Git-tab selector default. The immutable acquisition baseCommit remains separate and is not rewritten by that edit. The index is kept in the DSH host plugin data directory, not in a project directory or DSH's raw data store. It does not store Session content or a copy of the Workspace root.
• Runtime cwd is derived for each execution. No binding, Main, or detached binding uses the Workspace root; an active Worktree binding uses that Worktree path. The cwd is never persisted into DSH Session metadata.
• One Session can have at most one active Worktree binding, while a Worktree can have many Sessions. Removing or cleaning a Worktree never deletes a DSH Session. A broken active binding reports a repair state instead of silently falling back to another Worktree.
• Git is read on relevant refreshes, when relevant menus open, and on Git Dashboard activation; the plugin does not watch Git continuously. An external branch change is shown as branch drift and requires explicit Adopt current branch before disk cleanup. Detached HEAD and recovery-needed states remain visible and retryable.
• Worktree health is shown by tinting the branch icon: ready uses the success (green) color, branch drift uses the warning color, and repair/recovery-needed uses the error color. The localized health label remains available to assistive technology even when hover replaces the icon with the disclosure control.
• Newly created or imported Worktrees are inserted at the head of their Workspace's Worktree list; existing Worktree order is preserved and Main remains fixed first.
• Persist Workspace, Main, and Worktree expansion choices in browser-local storage; the five-row Session overflow state remains transient and resets after refresh or parent collapse. Collapse All collapses unrelated nodes while keeping the current Session's Workspace and Worktree expanded.
• When the current Session is outside the visible tree, the matching row is highlighted and temporarily revealed; positioning keeps the navigation scroll unchanged when the row is already visible and moves only enough to expose it otherwise. This does not change persisted expansion choices.
• Git Dashboard reads run on the Host through the existing DSH /api transport. The browser does not execute Git, read sidecar files or .git, or expose working-tree mutation controls. File diffs disable external diff and text conversion and are bounded for safe display.
• The Dashboard Open In action uses only the official relative DSH Host open-in-app routes for application discovery, icons, and launching. It keeps the application choice in current-page memory; refreshes use the first available application, and an empty or failed Host response falls back to the encoded VS Code protocol link.
• The Git Dashboard is intentionally limited to committed history, a read-only Baseline summary (optionally including one fresh baseline-to-working-tree projection), one Uncommitted changes snapshot, changed files, and one unified diff at a time. These projections combine staged, unstaged, and untracked files when requested but are never written back to Git. The Dashboard does not provide commit, staging, reset, revert, cherry-pick, fetch, push, pull, pull requests, graph lanes, pagination, or syntax highlighting.
• Session rows use DSH's native status and relative-time presentation. Collapsed Workspace, Main, and Worktree groups derive one aggregate StateDot from their complete eligible membership (after native blank/archive filtering): waiting approval (and other pending-interaction warnings) takes priority over running, and running takes priority over completed. Idle Sessions do not contribute a group dot; Worktree health remains a separate leading indicator. Visual Session ordering initially follows the newest updatedAt values and remains browser-local; Main remains fixed first, Worktree drag updates only this local order projection, and Main drag updates native Workspace order only after DSH accepts it.
• Active Worktree Sessions may request the named worktree-full-access preset after an explicit confirmation. It combines DSH danger-full-access with ask, keeps approval prompts enabled, and does not change network or process policy. If unavailable, the plugin falls back to workspace-write + ask when possible or reports an unverified, retryable state. It cannot exceed the sandbox imposed by the host running DSH.
• Session-to-Worktree bindings and permission checks compare physical filesystem identity on the Host (stat/realpath) rather than relying on lexical path equality. This ensures robust compatibility across Windows and macOS path variations (including drive-letter casing, forward/backward slashes, UNC paths, and extended-length prefixes like \\?\\). On Windows, sidecar atomic persistence uses file-handle synchronization with best-effort directory sync, and Git CLI integration cleanly handles NUL null-device paths and CRLF line endings.
• Git must be installed and available on PATH. A missing Git executable shows install guidance and no command block; the plugin does not run setup or installation commands.
• If a Workspace root directory is missing, the Worktree view still renders the indexed Worktrees, Session bindings, and recorded instructions, and reports a localized missing-directory state instead of failing the whole view. Git-backed reads, Worktree creation and import, and cleanup actions remain rejected for that Workspace until its directory returns.
• If the plugin's external index is unavailable or corrupt, native DSH Workspace and Session views remain readable and the plugin enters a degraded read-only state. It never replaces native data with an empty index.

Language behavior

Worktree mode follows DSH's current interface language. The entry point, tree, menus, dialogs, statuses, Dashboard labels, and retry messages are localized in English and Chinese. Workspace names, Session titles, branch names, paths, and raw DSH or Git errors keep their original values.

Development

For architecture, local DSH integration, testing, and contribution details, see:

• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• docs/DEVELOPMENT.md
• docs/RELEASING.md
• AGENTS.md
• src/client/README.md

The focused package commands are:

pnpm --filter @cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree typecheck
pnpm --filter @cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree build
pnpm --filter @cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree test

The bilingual README structure is checked with:

node --test test/readme-parity.test.mjs

Uninstall

With the DSH CLI:

dsh plugin --profile web remove @cerbur/clutch-dsh-worktree

From a DeepSeek Harness checkout, use pnpm dsh plugin --profile web remove with the same package name.

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