¶Worktrees & parallel agents

Conductor turns the single-agent workflow into something you can conduct: several Elyra agents running at once, each isolated on its own branch in a git worktree, with each branch's pull-request and CI status in view.

Three pieces work together — worktrees (isolation), the command center (presence), and GitHub PR status (where each branch stands.)

¶Git worktrees

A worktree is a second checkout of the same repository: its own directory and branch, sharing the repo's .git. That isolation is what lets multiple agents work different branches at once without colliding over files.

Open the panel from the 🌳 Worktrees toolbar button (or the command palette → Worktrees: parallel branches…). It's available for any git repository.

¶Creating a worktree

Type a branch name, optionally a base (defaults to HEAD), and choose how to open it:

• ＋ Terminal — create the worktree and open a terminal in it.
• 🤖 Agent — create the worktree and open an Elyra agent in it.

New worktrees are created in a sibling folder next to the repo:

<repo>.worktrees/<branch>/

Branch handling is automatic:

• An existing local branch is checked out into the new worktree.
• A branch that exists only on origin (e.g. a PR branch) is tracked from origin/<branch>, so the worktree has the real contents — not an empty new branch.
• Otherwise a new branch is created off the base.

¶Opening and removing

Each row offers 🖥 Terminal and 🤖 Agent to open that worktree, and 🗑 Remove for non-main worktrees. Removal keeps the branch — only the working copy goes. If the worktree has uncommitted changes, Conductor offers a forced remove.

¶Agent command center

With several agents running, you need to know — at a glance — which one needs you. Each agent reports a coarse state, surfaced two ways:

• A dot on its tab: blue pulse = working, amber pulse = waiting on you, grey = exited.
• A pill in the tab strip: counts how many agents are working vs waiting. Click it to jump straight to one. waiting is prioritised — a blocked agent is wasted time.

When an agent starts waiting while you're looking at another tab or app, you get a system notification (Agent needs you). See Elyra agent for how the state is derived.

¶GitHub PR status

With an authenticated gh CLI, the worktree panel shows each branch's open pull request:

• Number and a link that opens the PR on GitHub.
• CI check rollup — passing (✓), failing (✗ N), or pending (○ N).
• Review state — approved (🟢) or changes requested (🔴).

Open PRs that don't have a worktree yet are listed separately, so you can check one out as a worktree (terminal or agent) in a single click. The full loop:

See a PR → spin up a worktree tracking it → drop an agent into it → watch its presence and CI status from the same window.

PR status is best-effort: if gh is missing or unauthenticated, no badges show and the worktree panel still works.

¶Related

• Elyra agent — the agent panel and the command center state model.
• Git — status in the sidebar and the in-app commit dialog.
• Tauri commands — git_worktree_list / git_worktree_add / git_worktree_remove, detect_gh / gh_pr_list.