fix(git): stop implicitly linking .claude (#3562)

Co-authored-by: posthog[bot] <206114724+posthog[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: richardsolomou <2622273+richardsolomou@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: richardsolomou

packages/git/src/queries.test.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,17 @@
-import { mkdir, mkdtemp, rm, unlink, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import {
+  mkdir,
+  mkdtemp,
+  readFile,
+  rm,
+  unlink,
+  writeFile,
+} from "node:fs/promises";
 import { devNull, tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { createGitClient } from "./client";
 import {
+  addToLocalExclude,
   anyBranchRefExists,
   type ChangedFileInfo,
   computeDiffStatsFromFiles,
@@ -648,3 +656,29 @@ describe("listAllFiles", () => {
     expect(files).toContain("file.txt");
   });
 });
+
+describe("addToLocalExclude", () => {
+  let repoDir: string;
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    if (repoDir) {
+      await rm(repoDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("does not confuse a nested pattern with an exact pattern", async () => {
+    repoDir = await setupRepo();
+    const git = createGitClient(repoDir);
+    const excludePath = path.resolve(
+      repoDir,
+      await git.revparse(["--git-path", "info/exclude"]),
+    );
+    await writeFile(excludePath, "**/.claude/worktrees/\n");
+
+    await addToLocalExclude(repoDir, ".claude");
+
+    expect(await readFile(excludePath, "utf-8")).toBe(
+      "**/.claude/worktrees/\n.claude\n",
+    );
+  });
+});

packages/git/src/queries.ts

@@ -1379,12 +1379,14 @@ export async function addToLocalExclude(
     content = await fs.readFile(excludePath, "utf-8");
   } catch {}
 
-  const normalizedPattern = pattern.startsWith("/") ? pattern : `/${pattern}`;
-  const patternWithoutSlash = pattern.replace(/^\//, "");
-  if (
-    content.includes(normalizedPattern) ||
-    content.includes(patternWithoutSlash)
-  ) {
+  const normalizePattern = (value: string): string =>
+    value.startsWith("/") ? value.slice(1) : value;
+  const normalizedPattern = normalizePattern(pattern);
+  const existingPatterns = content
+    .split(/\r?\n/)
+    .filter((line) => line && !line.startsWith("#"))
+    .map(normalizePattern);
+  if (existingPatterns.includes(normalizedPattern)) {
     return;
   }
 

packages/git/src/sagas/worktree.ts

@@ -87,21 +87,8 @@ export class CreateWorktreeSaga extends GitSaga<
     });
 
     await this.step({
-      name: "symlink-claude-config",
+      name: "symlink-claude-local-instructions",
       execute: async () => {
-        const sourceClaudeDir = path.join(baseDir, ".claude");
-        const targetClaudeDir = path.join(worktreePath, ".claude");
-        const linkedDir = await safeSymlink(
-          sourceClaudeDir,
-          targetClaudeDir,
-          "dir",
-        );
-        if (linkedDir) {
-          await addToLocalExclude(worktreePath, ".claude", {
-            abortSignal: signal,
-          });
-        }
-
         const sourceClaudeLocalMd = path.join(baseDir, "CLAUDE.local.md");
         const targetClaudeLocalMd = path.join(worktreePath, "CLAUDE.local.md");
         const linkedFile = await safeSymlink(
@@ -116,9 +103,7 @@ export class CreateWorktreeSaga extends GitSaga<
         }
       },
       rollback: async () => {
-        const targetClaudeDir = path.join(worktreePath, ".claude");
         const targetClaudeLocalMd = path.join(worktreePath, "CLAUDE.local.md");
-        await fs.rm(targetClaudeDir, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
         await fs.rm(targetClaudeLocalMd, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
       },
     });
@@ -191,21 +176,8 @@ export class CreateWorktreeForBranchSaga extends GitSaga<
     });
 
     await this.step({
-      name: "symlink-claude-config",
+      name: "symlink-claude-local-instructions",
       execute: async () => {
-        const sourceClaudeDir = path.join(baseDir, ".claude");
-        const targetClaudeDir = path.join(worktreePath, ".claude");
-        const linkedDir = await safeSymlink(
-          sourceClaudeDir,
-          targetClaudeDir,
-          "dir",
-        );
-        if (linkedDir) {
-          await addToLocalExclude(worktreePath, ".claude", {
-            abortSignal: signal,
-          });
-        }
-
         const sourceClaudeLocalMd = path.join(baseDir, "CLAUDE.local.md");
         const targetClaudeLocalMd = path.join(worktreePath, "CLAUDE.local.md");
         const linkedFile = await safeSymlink(
@@ -220,9 +192,7 @@ export class CreateWorktreeForBranchSaga extends GitSaga<
         }
       },
       rollback: async () => {
-        const targetClaudeDir = path.join(worktreePath, ".claude");
         const targetClaudeLocalMd = path.join(worktreePath, "CLAUDE.local.md");
-        await fs.rm(targetClaudeDir, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
         await fs.rm(targetClaudeLocalMd, { force: true }).catch(() => {});
       },
     });

packages/git/src/worktree.test.ts

@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ describe("WorktreeManager worktree link/include processing", () => {
     await seedGit.addConfig("commit.gpgsign", "false");
     await writeFile(
       path.join(seedDir, ".gitignore"),
-      ".env\n.envrc\nnode_modules/\n",
+      ".claude/\n.env\n.envrc\nCLAUDE.local.md\nnode_modules/\n",
     );
     await writeFile(path.join(seedDir, ".worktreelink"), "# secrets\n.envrc\n");
     await writeFile(path.join(seedDir, ".worktreeinclude"), ".env\n");
@@ -264,6 +264,12 @@ describe("WorktreeManager worktree link/include processing", () => {
 
     await writeFile(path.join(localDir, ".env"), "secret\n");
     await writeFile(path.join(localDir, ".envrc"), "export FOO=1\n");
+    await mkdir(path.join(localDir, ".claude"));
+    await writeFile(
+      path.join(localDir, ".claude", "settings.local.json"),
+      "{}\n",
+    );
+    await writeFile(path.join(localDir, "CLAUDE.local.md"), "local rules\n");
     await mkdir(path.join(localDir, "node_modules", "dep"), {
       recursive: true,
     });
@@ -306,6 +312,30 @@ describe("WorktreeManager worktree link/include processing", () => {
     expect(await dirExists(path.join(info.worktreePath, "node_modules"))).toBe(
       false,
     );
+    expect(await dirExists(path.join(info.worktreePath, ".claude"))).toBe(
+      false,
+    );
+
+    const localInstructions = await lstat(
+      path.join(info.worktreePath, "CLAUDE.local.md"),
+    );
+    expect(localInstructions.isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("links .claude when explicitly configured", async () => {
+    await writeFile(
+      path.join(localDir, ".worktreelink"),
+      "# secrets\n.envrc\n.claude\n",
+    );
+    const manager = new WorktreeManager({
+      mainRepoPath: localDir,
+      worktreeBasePath: worktreeBaseDir,
+    });
+
+    const info = await manager.createWorktree({ baseBranch: "main" });
+
+    const linked = await lstat(path.join(info.worktreePath, ".claude"));
+    expect(linked.isSymbolicLink()).toBe(true);
   });
 });
 

packages/git/src/worktree.ts

@@ -403,16 +403,16 @@ export class WorktreeManager {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Runs the post-create steps shared by every worktree: symlink the Claude
-   * config, then process the worktree link/include files and the post-checkout
-   * hook.
+   * Runs the post-create steps shared by every worktree: link local Claude
+   * instructions, then process the worktree link/include files and the
+   * post-checkout hook.
    */
   private async finalizeWorktree(
     worktreePath: string,
     onOutput?: (data: string) => void,
   ): Promise<void> {
     this.log.info("Finalizing worktree", { worktreePath });
-    await this.symlinkClaudeConfig(worktreePath);
+    await this.symlinkClaudeLocalInstructions(worktreePath);
     const linkWarnings = await processWorktreeLink(
       this.mainRepoPath,
       worktreePath,
@@ -815,19 +815,9 @@ export class WorktreeManager {
     }
   }
 
-  private async symlinkClaudeConfig(worktreePath: string): Promise<void> {
-    const sourceClaudeDir = path.join(this.mainRepoPath, ".claude");
-    const targetClaudeDir = path.join(worktreePath, ".claude");
-
-    const linkedDir = await safeSymlink(
-      sourceClaudeDir,
-      targetClaudeDir,
-      "dir",
-    );
-    if (linkedDir) {
-      await addToLocalExclude(worktreePath, ".claude");
-    }
-
+  private async symlinkClaudeLocalInstructions(
+    worktreePath: string,
+  ): Promise<void> {
     const sourceClaudeLocalMd = path.join(this.mainRepoPath, "CLAUDE.local.md");
     const targetClaudeLocalMd = path.join(worktreePath, "CLAUDE.local.md");