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Introduction

git-paw (Parallel AI Worktrees) orchestrates multiple AI coding CLI sessions across git worktrees from a single terminal using tmux.

Working with AI coding assistants like Claude, Codex, or Gemini is powerful — but what if you could run them in parallel across multiple branches at once? That’s exactly what git-paw does.

The Problem

You have a feature branch, a bugfix branch, and a refactoring branch. You want an AI assistant working on each one simultaneously. Normally you’d need to:

  1. Open multiple terminals
  2. Create git worktrees manually
  3. Navigate to each worktree
  4. Launch your AI CLI in each one
  5. Juggle between them

The Solution

With git-paw, you run a single command:

git paw

git-paw will:

  • Detect which AI CLIs you have installed (Claude, Codex, Gemini, Aider, etc.)
  • Prompt you to pick branches and a CLI (or different CLIs per branch)
  • Create git worktrees for each selected branch
  • Launch a tmux session with one pane per branch, each running your chosen AI CLI
  • Persist the session state so you can stop, resume, or recover after crashes

Key Features

  • One command to go from zero to parallel AI sessions
  • Smart start — reattaches to active sessions, recovers crashed ones, or launches fresh
  • Per-branch CLI selection — use Claude on one branch and Gemini on another
  • Session persistence — stop and resume without losing your place
  • Custom CLI support — register any AI CLI binary, not just the built-in ones
  • Presets — save branch + CLI combos in config for one-command launch
  • Non-interactive mode — pass --cli and --branches flags for scripting
  • Dry run — preview what git-paw will do before it does it

How It Works

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    tmux session                       │
│  ┌────────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  feat/auth → claude │  │  feat/api → claude     │  │
│  │                     │  │                        │  │
│  │  (git worktree)     │  │  (git worktree)        │  │
│  │                     │  │                        │  │
│  ├────────────────────┤  ├────────────────────────┤  │
│  │  fix/bug → gemini   │  │  refactor/db → aider   │  │
│  │                     │  │                        │  │
│  │  (git worktree)     │  │  (git worktree)        │  │
│  │                     │  │                        │  │
│  └────────────────────┘  └────────────────────────┘  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Each pane runs in its own git worktree, so there are no branch conflicts. Your AI assistants work independently and in parallel.

Requirements

  • Git (2.20+ recommended for worktree improvements)
  • tmux (any recent version)
  • At least one AI coding CLI installed (see Supported AI CLIs)
  • macOS or Linux (Windows via WSL only)

Next Steps