Git Worktrees¶

Lerd automatically detects git worktrees and gives each checkout its own subdomain — no configuration needed.

cd ~/Lerd/myapp

# Add a worktree for a feature branch
git worktree add ../myapp-feature feature/auth

# Lerd immediately creates:
#   http://feature-auth.myapp.test  →  ~/Lerd/myapp-feature/public

Branch names are sanitised to be subdomain-safe: /, _, and . are replaced with -, and non-alphanumeric characters are stripped.

How it works¶

When the Lerd watcher daemon is running it watches each registered site's .git/ directory. As soon as git worktree add writes its metadata under .git/worktrees/, Lerd:

1. Reads the branch name and checkout path from the worktree metadata.
2. Generates an nginx vhost for <branch>.<site>.test pointing at the worktree's public/ directory.
3. Reloads nginx so the subdomain starts serving immediately.

When git worktree remove is run the vhost is removed and nginx is reloaded.

Existing worktrees are also picked up on watcher startup, so nothing is lost after a reboot.

Dependency setup¶

When a worktree vhost is first created, Lerd sets up three things in the checkout directory automatically:

If any of these already exist in the worktree they are left untouched.

HTTPS¶

If the parent site is secured with lerd secure, worktree subdomains inherit HTTPS automatically. Lerd reuses the parent site's wildcard mkcert certificate (*.myapp.test), so no additional certificate is needed.

lerd secure myapp
# myapp.test         → https
# feature-auth.myapp.test → https  (automatic)

APP_URL in each worktree's .env is also updated to https:// when you secure or unsecure the parent.

lerd sites output¶

Worktrees are shown indented under their parent site:

NAME            DOMAIN                   PHP    NODE   TLS   PATH
myapp           myapp.test               8.4    22     ✓     ~/Lerd/myapp
↳ feature-auth  feature-auth.myapp.test  8.4    —      —     ~/Lerd/myapp-feature

Web UI¶

In the Sites tab, any site that has active worktrees shows a branch icon in the sidebar. Clicking the site opens its detail panel which lists the worktrees as a tree. The main checkout's current branch is shown at the top of the tree with a link to the main site's domain, followed by each worktree branch below it.