Common Workflows

Real scenarios where Grove earns its keep.

Fixing a production bug without losing feature work

You're deep in feat/login-redesign. Your dev server is running. You have files open. A production bug comes in.

Without Grove: stash, checkout, fix, stash pop, untangle conflicts, restart server.

With Grove:

# In a new terminal — your feature branch is untouched
grove start hotfix/payment-crash --new

grove open hotfix/payment-crash   # opens in a new editor window

Fix the bug. Commit. Push. Done.

grove delete hotfix/payment-crash --delete-branch --yes

Your feature branch was never touched. Your dev server never stopped.

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Working on two PRs simultaneously

You need to finish feat/auth and also start feat/dashboard. Both need to be ready by end of day.

grove start feat/auth
grove start feat/dashboard --new

Two directories. Two editor windows. Two dev servers on different ports (if using grove setup). You work on whichever you need, switch by changing your active terminal and editor window.

grove status
# feat/auth      :8081  ● running
# feat/dashboard :8082  ● running
# main                  ○ idle

No stashing, no context loss, no port conflicts.

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Reviewing someone else's PR

A teammate's PR needs review. You want to actually run it, not just read the diff.

# Requires: gh CLI installed and authenticated
grove start 847

Grove resolves the PR number to a branch, creates a worktree, and starts the environment:

Resolving PR #847…
  → branch: feat/auth-refresh
Creating worktree at ~/repos/my-app-worktrees/feat-auth-refresh…
  WEB_PORT=8082
Starting environment…
  web: http://localhost:8082
✓ Ready: feat/auth-refresh

Open it in your editor, run the app, test the feature. Your own work is untouched.

grove open feat/auth-refresh    # open in editor
# visit http://localhost:8082   # test the running app

When done:

grove delete feat/auth-refresh

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Reviewing multiple PRs at once

During a sprint review, you need to check three PRs.

grove start 847   # feat/auth-refresh → :8081
grove start 891   # fix/validation    → :8082
grove start 923   # feat/dashboard    → :8083

Each runs independently. Navigate between them with grove open <branch> or use the TUI.

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Using an AI agent safely

You want to run Claude Code, Cursor, or Copilot Workspace on a big refactor — but don't want the agent touching your active feature branch.

grove start ai/refactor-auth --new
grove open ai/refactor-auth   # open this worktree in your AI-enabled editor

Point your AI agent at this worktree. Whatever it does — rewrites, file deletions, test runs — it's contained to this one directory. Your main and feat/* branches are untouched.

When you're happy with the result:

cd ~/repos/my-app-worktrees/ai-refactor-auth
git diff main   # review what the agent did
git push origin ai/refactor-auth
# open a PR, review normally

If the agent made a mess:

grove delete ai/refactor-auth --delete-branch --yes
# try again from a clean slate

See AI Workflows for the full setup with agent manifests and status visibility.

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Running parallel AI agents

You want multiple AI agents working simultaneously — one on auth, one on the dashboard — with full isolation.

grove start ai/auth-work --new
grove start ai/dashboard-work --new

Open each in a separate AI-enabled editor window. The agents can't interfere with each other:

• Separate working directories
• Separate ports and Docker stacks (if using grove setup)
• Separate database schemas (if configured)

Monitor both from Grove's TUI:

grove

Press s to sync agent manifests. The right panel shows what each agent is doing:

┌─ worktrees ──────────────┐┌─ agent / docker ─────────────────────────┐
│ ▶ ai/auth-work           ││ ● running · refactoring AuthService.ts   │
│   ai/dashboard-work      ││   started 8m ago                         │
│   main                   ││                                           │
└──────────────────────────┘│ :8081  :4567   PR #847                   │
                            └──────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Experimenting without risk

You want to try a library, a refactor approach, or an architectural change — but you're not sure if it'll work.

grove start experiment/try-drizzle --new

Experiment freely. If it works, open a PR. If it doesn't:

grove delete experiment/try-drizzle --delete-branch --yes

Your main branch was never touched.

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Keeping up with a fast-moving main branch

Your feature branch is getting stale. Rebase without leaving your feature context:

# From inside your feature worktree
cd ~/repos/my-app-worktrees/feat-my-feature
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main

The rebase happens inside the worktree. Your main worktree keeps running on main. No switching, no interruption.