Rift: Better Alternative to Git Worktrees

rift: better alternative to git worktrees - copy on write (saves space) - instant (< 0.1s on 10gb folder) - fast cli - use as FFI lib with bun or node mac and linux+btrfs for now more support soon npm install -g rift-snapshot # or bun add -g rift-snapshot Release archives are available from GitHub Releases. | Platform | Backend | Behavior | |---|---|---| | Linux x64 | Writable btrfs snapshots | rift init converts an ordinary directory into a btrfs subvolume. | | macOS arm64 / x64 | APFS clonefile | rift init registers the source directory. | | Windows x64 | None | The package is published; workspace creation is not implemented. | cd ~/code/app rift init rift init selects an existing Rift root above the current directory, or the nearest Git root when no Rift root exists. Use --here to initialize exactly the selected directory. On Linux, first initialization of an ordinary btrfs directory performs a reflink import into a new btrfs subvolume and swaps it into the same path. If the selected root is registered already, no conversion occurs. If its .rift marker is missing, rift init restores it and completes any required conversion. rift create rift create --name parser-fix rift create --into /fast/rifts rift create searches upward for .rift , copies that managed workspace, records the immediate parent, and prints the new workspace path to stdout. On Linux, it creates a writable btrfs snapshot. On macOS, it uses APFS clonefile . When the workspace is a Git repository, the new workspace has detached HEAD and retains index and working-tree state. rift list rift ancestors list prints direct active child workspaces. ancestors prints parent workspaces, nearest first. rift remove # trash the current created rift subtree rift remove -f ~/code/app # unregister a source root rift remove --children ~/code/app # trash descendants, preserve the selected workspace rift gc # physically delete trash and prune missing entries Removing a created rift moves its active subtree into adjacent .trash storage. rift gc deletes that storage later. Removing a source root requires -f in the CLI. The source directory remains on disk. Its .rift marker is removed. Existing registered descendants are moved into trash. Missing descendants are removed from the registry. eval "$(rift shell-init zsh)" # or bash The shell wrapper changes directory after init conversion, create , or removal of the current created rift. Each managed workspace has a .rift marker containing its identifier. An SQLite registry stores paths, parent identifiers, and trash entries. Default created-workspace storage is adjacent to the registered source root: ~/code/app/ source workspace ~/code/.rifts/app/parser-fix/ created workspace ~/code/.rifts/app/.trash/ removed workspace storage The package selects a Bun or Node FFI binding through conditional exports. import { create, list, remove, gc } from "rift-snapshot"; const workspace = create({ from: process.cwd(), name: "schema-work" }); console.log(list({ of: process.cwd() })); remove({ at: workspace }); gc(); The Node binding requires the experimental FFI API in Node.js 26.1 or later: node --experimental-ffi app.mjs With Node's permission model, also pass --allow-ffi . init(options?: { at?: string; database?: string }): null create(options?: { from?: string; name?: string; into?: string; database?: string }): string remove(options?: { at?: string; all?: false; database?: string }): void remove(options: { at?: string; all: true; database?: string }): string[] list(options?: { of?: string; database?: string }): string[] ancestors(options?: { of?: string; database?: string }): string[] gc(options?: { database?: string }): string[] The JavaScript init function initializes exactly at ; Git-root selection and --here are CLI behavior. Operation failures throw RiftError with a code and, when relevant, path . cargo test --workspace --locked ./scripts/install.sh scripts/install.sh installs an optimized CLI binary to ${CARGO_HOME:-$HOME/.cargo}/bin/rift . MIT