The original report was against Git v2.12.2. I have since tried v2.12.3, v2.13.0, and the next branch. All exhibit the same symptoms. Even if you ignore the original scenario for creating the problem, if I do a 'rm -rf' or 'mv' of a tree that contains within it worktrees, that should not break the use of Git with worktrees that live elsewhere nor commands that don't require a repository. > -----Original Message----- > From: taylor, david > Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 4:25 PM > To: git@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: git worktrees must exist even if locked > > The Git documentation in describing worktrees says that one reason > why you might want to lock a worktree is to prevent it from being pruned > if it is on a removable media that isn't currently mounted. > > So, my expectation was that if the worktree is inaccessible (and locked), Git > would pretend that there is no worktree by that name. > > In reality, if you have such a worktree, Git gets an error. > > On local systems, /home is local to a machine; home directories are > elsewhere. > Home directories are NFS mounted; /home is not. > > . create a repository in /my/home/dir/my-repo.git with > > git clone --bare <some arguments> > > . create an empty directory /home/somedir/worktree-tests > > . use 'git worktree add' to add /home/somedir/worktree-tests/<branch- > name> > as a worktree on branch <branch-name>. It gets populated with the correct > content. > > . lock it using'git worktree lock' > > So far, so good. Now, go to a different computer -- one on which > /home/somedir/worktree-tests does not exist (and therefore > /home/somedir/worktree-tests/<branch-name> does not exist). > > . cd /my/home/dir/my-repo.git > > Now, try issuing Git commands. Many will fail. > > git fetch ==> fails: > > fatal: Invalid path '/home/somedir/worktree-tests': No such file or directory > > git status ==> fails -- same error as above > git help worktree ==> fails -- same error as above