If you've ever been nervous about letting an AI modify your codebase, you're not alone. One wrong edit and you could be spending hours untangling the mess. But there's a Git feature that solves this problem elegantly: worktrees.

What Are Git Worktrees?

A Git worktree is a linked copy of your repository that shares the same Git history but has its own working directory. Think of it as a parallel universe for your code—you can make changes without affecting your main branch.

# Create a new worktree
git worktree add ../my-feature feature-branch

# List all worktrees
git worktree list

# Remove a worktree
git worktree remove ../my-feature

Why Worktrees Are Perfect for AI Development

When you're working with an AI assistant like Claude, you want to give it freedom to explore solutions. But you also want safety—a way to easily roll back if things go wrong.

Worktrees give you both:

  1. Complete Isolation — The AI can modify files, run tests, and experiment freely without touching your main branch
  2. Easy Cleanup — If the AI's solution doesn't work, just delete the worktree
  3. Parallel Sessions — Run multiple AI sessions at once, each in its own worktree
  4. Full Git History — Every change is tracked, so you can see exactly what the AI did

How Sonars Uses Worktrees

In Sonars, every workspace is a worktree. When you create a new workspace:

  1. You select a repository and base branch
  2. Sonars creates a new worktree and branch
  3. Claude works inside this isolated environment
  4. Changes are committed automatically as Claude works
  5. When you're done, you can merge or delete the worktree

This means your main branch is always safe. You can let Claude refactor an entire module, knowing that you can review every change before merging—or simply discard everything with one click.

Best Practices

Here are some tips for getting the most out of worktree-based development:

  • Name branches descriptively — "ai/refactor-auth-module" tells you exactly what happened
  • Review before merging — Use Sonars' built-in diff viewer to see every change
  • Don't be afraid to delete — Worktrees are cheap; if something doesn't work, start fresh
  • Use auto-checkpoints — Sonars commits as Claude works, creating save points you can roll back to

Conclusion

Git worktrees are a powerful feature that most developers don't use. Combined with AI-assisted development, they become essential—giving you the freedom to experiment and the safety to stay in control.

Ready to try it? Download Sonars and experience worktree-first AI development.