Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

worktree path already exists: {}

Error message

worktree path already exists: {}

What it means

Raised in launch_worktree_spec when the computed path for the new worktree (repo parent + slug) already exists on disk. Git worktree provisioning requires a fresh directory; an existing path is refused rather than overwritten to avoid destroying whatever occupies it.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/tui/ui/session_state.rs:580

        .args(["rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"])
        .output()
        .context("inspect Git repository for new worktree")?;
    if !output.status.success() {
        anyhow::bail!("new worktree requires a Git repository");
    }
    let repo_root = PathBuf::from(String::from_utf8(output.stdout)?.trim());
    let repo_name = repo_root
        .file_name()
        .and_then(|name| name.to_str())
        .filter(|name| !name.is_empty())
        .unwrap_or("workspace");
    let slug = launch_worktree_slug(requested);
    let parent = repo_root.parent().unwrap_or(repo_root.as_path());
    let path = parent
        .join(".codewhale-worktrees")
        .join(format!("{repo_name}-{slug}"));
    if path.exists() {
        anyhow::bail!("worktree path already exists: {}", path.display());
    }
    Ok(codewhale_lane::WorktreeProvision {
        repo_root,
        branch: format!("codex/{slug}"),
        path,
        base_ref: Some("HEAD".to_string()),
    })
}

pub(crate) async fn provision_launch_worktree(
    workspace: PathBuf,
    requested: String,
) -> Result<PathBuf> {
    let spec = launch_worktree_spec(&workspace, &requested)?;
    let provisioned =
        tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || codewhale_lane::provision_worktree(&spec))
            .await
            .context("new worktree task failed")??;

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Choose a different worktree name/slug that does not collide
2. Remove or relocate the existing directory if it is stale
3. Reuse the existing worktree if it was created for this purpose previously

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/tui/src/tui/ui/session_state.rs:580 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f4b34f6092a93204. Report an issue: GitHub.