Grove

Grove is an AI-native terminal workspace for developers who work across multiple git branches simultaneously. Run one command from any repo and get a fully wired Zellij session — one color-coded tab per worktree, each pre-loaded with LazyGit, your AI agent of choice, and a shell.

No config files to edit. No sessions to manage. Just grove and you're in.

How It Works

Grove is a thin shell layer on top of tools you already use — git worktrees, Zellij, LazyGit, and your AI agent.

1. Worktrees — each branch lives in its own directory on disk, so you can have main, feature/auth, and fix-login all checked out at the same time with no stashing.

2. grove . — discovers all worktrees in the current repo and generates a Zellij layout on the fly. Each worktree becomes a tab. Use grove claude ., grove opencode ., or grove codex . to choose a different AI editor before the path.

3. Each tab gets three side-by-side panes:

   • Left (60%): LazyGit scoped to that worktree's directory
   • Middle (~12%): A Workbench shell — run tests, servers, whatever
   • Right (~28%): Your AI agent (claude, gemini, opencode, or codex) in that worktree

4. Overview tab — the first tab shows a live dashboard with worktree status, AI agent status, PR/CI status, and resource monitoring across all worktrees.

5. Session hygiene — grove auto-kills any previous session with the same name before launching, and sessions quit when you close the terminal. No stale Zellij sessions accumulating.

The workflow: create worktrees with wtab/wta, run grove, and navigate between branches with Alt+Left/Right. Clean up finished branches with wtrm or wtp.

Architecture details: docs/architecture.md

Install

Recommended: One-liner

bash / zsh:

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thisguymartin/grove/main/install/install.sh)

fish shell (process substitution works differently in fish — download and run directly):

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thisguymartin/grove/main/install/install.sh | bash

This will clone the repo, install brew dependencies, and wire up your shell aliases automatically. It detects your shell (zsh/bash/fish) and is safe to run multiple times — re-running always does a clean reinstall (force-deletes the existing install, kills Grove Zellij sessions, and re-clones).

To install to a custom directory:

bash / zsh:

GROVE_DIR=~/my/path bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thisguymartin/grove/main/install/install.sh)

fish shell:

GROVE_DIR=~/my/path curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thisguymartin/grove/main/install/install.sh | bash

Manual

bash / zsh:

# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/thisguymartin/grove.git ~/.local/share/grove

# 2. Install dependencies
brew bundle --file=~/.local/share/grove/brewfile

# 3. Add to ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bashrc)
echo 'source ~/.local/share/grove/git-worktree-aliases.sh' >> ~/.zshrc

# 4. Reload
source ~/.zshrc

fish shell:

# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/thisguymartin/grove.git ~/.local/share/grove

# 2. Install dependencies
brew bundle --file=~/.local/share/grove/brewfile

# 3. Add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish
echo 'source ~/.local/share/grove/git-worktree-aliases.fish' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

# 4. Reload
source ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Usage

cd into any git repo and run:

grove .

Full command reference: docs/commands.md

To test the rendered Zellij layout locally without launching Grove directly:

bash ./launch-worktrees.sh --write-layout /tmp/grove-layout.kdl .
zellij --layout /tmp/grove-layout.kdl

This will:

1. Discover all git worktrees in your current repo
2. Auto-kill any previous session with the same name
3. Launch Zellij with an Overview tab (first) + one color-coded tab per worktree

Sessions auto-quit when you close the terminal — no stale sessions.

Commands

Core commands live in docs/commands.md.

Most-used commands:

Command	Description
grove .	Launch workspace with opencode as the default AI editor
grove claude .	Launch workspace with Claude
grove codex .	Launch workspace with Codex
wtab <branch>	Create a new branch + worktree
wta <branch>	Add worktree for an existing branch
wtco <branch>	Jump into a worktree directory
wtinfo [branch]	Show worktree status and upstream info
wtp [base]	Prune merged worktrees

Git Worktree Toolkit (gwt)

A standalone script for worktree lifecycle management. See docs/commands.md for the full command list.

alias gwt='~/.local/share/grove/git-worktree.sh'

Worktree Lifecycle

# Create worktrees
wtab feature/auth          # new branch + worktree
wta existing-branch        # worktree for existing remote branch

# List what you have
wtls

# Launch workspace with all worktrees as tabs
grove .
grove claude .

# Navigate tabs
# Alt+Left/Right to switch between worktree tabs
# Alt+Arrow Keys to move between panes

# Inspect worktrees
wtco feature/auth          # cd into a worktree
wtcd feature/auth          # same as wtco
wtinfo feature/auth        # show path, HEAD, ahead/behind, status
wtdiff feature/auth        # diff vs base branch

# Rename / lock
wtrn old-name new-name    # rename a worktree's branch
wtlock /path/to/worktree   # lock a worktree
wtunlock /path/to/worktree # unlock a worktree

# Clean up when done
wtrm /path/to/worktree    # remove a specific worktree
wtp                        # auto-prune merged worktrees

# Or via gwt (prompts to delete branch too)
gwt rm feature/auth

Session Management

grove auto-kills its previous session before re-launching. Sessions also auto-quit when the terminal closes (on_force_close "quit").

zj-kill                    # Kill ALL Zellij sessions (nuclear option)
zellij kill-session <name> # Kill a specific session

Project Docs

• docs/commands.md: canonical command reference
• docs/architecture.md: runtime flow, layout, and implementation structure
• CHEATSHEET.md: quick reference and keybindings

Note: layouts/workspace.kdl.template is an internal template rendered by Grove. It is not meant to be passed directly to zellij --layout.

Requirements

• Zellij — terminal multiplexer
• LazyGit — git TUI (optional, falls back to shell)
• Claude Code, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, or Codex CLI (codex) — AI agent (optional)

Claude Code Integration

Grove includes a built-in Claude Code slash command for guided setup. After cloning the repo, run /setup in any Claude Code session to get interactive help with installation, configuration, and troubleshooting.

Project-level context is also provided via CLAUDE.md so Claude Code understands the architecture out of the box.

Keybindings

See CHEATSHEET.md for the full keyboard reference.

License

MIT