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 with a custom Grove tab bar: one 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 — resumes this repository's existing Zellij session, or creates one when it does not exist. Each worktree becomes a tab. Use grove up --fresh when you intentionally want to rebuild the session.

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. Custom tab bar — Grove vendors zjstatus and replaces the stock Zellij tab/status bars with one colorful top bar. It shows mode, worktree tabs, the active AI editor, and the worktree backend. If you prefer the native Zellij bars, launch with GROVE_ZELLIJ_BAR=stock grove.

5. Overview tab — the first tab is one quiet, live status table with worktrees that need attention listed first. Set GROVE_STATUS_BIN to an executable development build for typed git, PR/check, and repo-scoped agent status; otherwise Grove uses the shell worktree summary.

6. Session reuse — running grove again attaches without restarting agents or shells. grove up --fresh is the explicit replacement path.

The workflow: create worktrees with grove new/grove add, run grove, and navigate between branches with Alt+Left/Right. Clean up finished branches with grove rm or grove prune.

Architecture details: docs/architecture.md

Install

Recommended: One-liner

bash / zsh:

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

The interactive installer asks which single AI CLI to install and use by default. Choose Codex, OpenCode, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, or none.

fish shell or other piped/non-interactive installs:

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

Replace codex with opencode, claude, gemini, or none. Piped installs require --agent so Grove never silently chooses or installs an AI CLI. The installer clones Grove, installs core Homebrew dependencies, installs only the selected agent when missing, saves it as the default, and wires up shell aliases. Re-running performs the existing clean reinstall.

To install to a custom directory:

bash / zsh:

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

fish shell:

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

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. Install one AI CLI, or skip this step
brew install --cask codex

# 4. Save the default agent
mkdir -p ~/.config/grove
printf 'default_ai=codex\n' > ~/.config/grove/config

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

# 6. 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. Install one AI CLI, or skip this step
brew install anomalyco/tap/opencode

# 4. Save the default agent
mkdir -p ~/.config/grove
printf 'default_ai=opencode\n' > ~/.config/grove/config

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

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

Agent install commands used by Grove:

Selection	Install command
Codex	brew install --cask codex
OpenCode	brew install anomalyco/tap/opencode
Claude Code	brew install --cask claude-code
Gemini CLI	npm install -g @google/gemini-cli (the installer adds Node with Homebrew only when npm is missing)
None	No AI package is installed; save default_ai=none

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

To test the old stock Zellij bars:

GROVE_ZELLIJ_BAR=stock 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. Attach to the existing repository session when one is running
3. Otherwise launch Zellij with an Overview tab (first) + one custom-bar tab per worktree

On first launch, Zellij may ask for permission to load the vendored zjstatus plugin from vendor/zjstatus/zjstatus.wasm.

Detach from Zellij when you want agents and shells to keep running, then use grove to return.

Commands

Core commands live in docs/commands.md.

Most-used commands:

Command	Description
grove / grove up	Attach to or launch the repository workspace
grove up --fresh	Replace the repository workspace
grove go <branch>	Focus that branch tab, then attach
grove status [path]	Show the repository status once
grove claude .	Launch workspace with Claude
grove codex .	Launch workspace with Codex
grove new <branch>	Create a new branch + worktree
grove add <branch>	Add worktree for an existing branch
grove cd <branch>	Jump into a worktree directory
grove info [branch]	Show worktree status and upstream info
grove prune	Prune merged worktrees

Worktree Backends

When worktrunk (wt) is installed, grove new, grove add, and grove rm delegate to it. Otherwise they use plain git worktree. Set GROVE_WORKTREE_BACKEND=git or GROVE_WORKTREE_BACKEND=worktrunk to choose one.

Grove also works with worktrunk's bare layout:

myproject/
├── .git/        # bare repository
├── main/        # worktree for main
└── feat-x/      # worktree for feat/x

git clone --bare <url> myproject/.git
cd myproject && wt switch main

Grove places new worktrees beside main/ unless your worktrunk config says otherwise. See docs/commands.md.

Session Management

grove reuses its repository session so running agents and shells survive terminal detach/reattach. Use grove up --fresh to kill and rebuild that session.

Grove keeps Zellij session names within Zellij's 24-character limit. Long repository names use a shortened readable prefix plus a stable checksum.

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)
• worktrunk — worktree backend (optional, auto-detected)
• Claude Code, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, or Codex CLI (codex) — AI agent (optional)

The installer manages one default agent at a time. Additional CLIs can be installed later and launched explicitly, such as grove claude ..

Grove vendors zjstatus for the custom Zellij bar. No separate install is required.

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