Aliases

Aliases & Navigation

Aliases provide instant navigation to any worktree from anywhere in your filesystem.

The Navigation Problem

Approach	Problem
Bash aliases	Must edit file, source it, update all terminals
Shell functions	Same manual update process
Symlinks	Clutter, maintenance overhead

wa Aliases

# Set an alias for the current worktree
wa set wt --alias=myproj

# Get path by alias (for scripting)
wa get wa --alias=myproj

# List all aliases
wa ls wa --aliases

Fuzzy Matching

Aliases support fuzzy matching using Jaro distance. You don’t need to type the exact alias:

# All of these find "casemgr":
wa get wa --alias=casemgr
wa get wa --alias=casemg
wa get wa --alias=casem

Shell Helper Functions

The installer sets up shell functions in ~/.config/wa/. Source them in your shell profile:

source ~/.config/wa/workarea-functions.sh    # Core wa functions
source ~/.config/wa/git-helpers.sh           # Git shortcuts
source ~/.config/wa/project-functions.sh     # Project navigation examples

Core wa Functions

Function	Description
cdwa <alias>	Navigate to worktree by alias (activates it)
codewa <alias>	Navigate to worktree and launch VS Code
home	Navigate to current worktree’s root directory
main	Checkout the main branch
aliases	List all worktree aliases

Git Helper Functions

Function	Description
recent	Show 15 most recent branches
status	Git status
log	One-line git log
pull / push	Git pull / push
stash / stash_list / stash_pop	Stash shortcuts
gitsync <branch>	Stash, rebase, pull, push

Building Your Own Project Functions

The key pattern for project navigation functions:

# Navigate to a subdirectory within the active worktree
myapp() {
  cd $(wa get wt --worktree)/apps/myapp || return
}

# Use the worktree name as context (e.g., for ticket systems)
ticket() {
  open-ticket $1 $(basename $(wa get wt --worktree)) || return
}

See ~/.config/wa/project-functions.sh for more examples after installation.

Alias Commands Reference

Command	Description
wa set wt --alias=name	Set alias for current worktree
wa get wa --alias=name	Get worktree path by alias
wa get wa --alias=name --activate	Get path and set as active worktree
wa ls wa --aliases	List all aliases and their paths