Skip worktrees: clone repos per work stream and ship layered mega PRs

idanbeck · x · 2026-09-13

Responding to Eric Friedman's lost-worktree incident with Codex, idanbeck explains why he's "super negative" on worktrees: agents working in them always end in lost data or forensic reconstruction mess. His alternative pattern — a plain repo clone for each work stream organized in a monorepo hierarchy, merged via mega PRs with layered commits. First-hand experience in the worktree-vs-clones debate for parallel agent workflows.

Related event: Codex Overnight Session Wrecks Worktree; Devs Suggest Repo Clones Instead(3 posts)→

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