Skip to main content
Your repo root is always the primary lane — it exists from the moment you open the project, and it can’t be deleted. Every other lane is a git worktree you create for a single task, isolated under .ade/worktrees/. You never pick a “lane type”; what varies is how you bring the new lane into being.
The New lane button in the Lanes view

Start a new lane from the Lanes view.

​
Ways to create a lane

New worktree off a branch

Branch a fresh worktree from your default branch — or any other branch. The default, and the safest place for agent work.

Import an existing branch

Pull a branch you already have — local or remote — into a worktree ADE manages.

Attach an external worktree

Already made a git worktree outside ADE? Attach its path and ADE tracks it without ever moving or cleaning it.

​
New worktree off a branch

This is the default path. Open the New lane dialog, name the task, and choose what to branch from. The dialog opens in As new branch mode.
1

Open New lane

Click New lane in the Lanes view.
2

Name the task

Use a short, outcome-shaped name like fix-auth-redirect or add-health-endpoint. The name becomes the branch and the worktree folder slug. ADE picks an unused accent color for the lane; click the colored dot inside the name field to change it.
3

Choose the base

Choose Start from: the project default branch, the primary lane branch, or another branch. Under Bring, choose pushed commits, local commits, or uncommitted changes. Uncommitted changes are copied, including staged, unstaged, and untracked files; the source stays unchanged.
4

Create

Click Create lane. ADE runs git worktree add, checks the new branch out under .ade/worktrees/, and the lane appears in the list.
Press Enter in the name field to create the lane. ⌘ Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows and Linux) creates it from anywhere in the dialog.
Every branch or lane choice opens an inline popover above the form. The popover has a search field and a list. Each row shows the branch name, its last commit message, author, and age, plus a current tag on the checked-out branch and a PR pill (#NNN, with draft added for draft pull requests) when the branch has an open pull request. Search accepts free text plus pr:open, pr:none, mine (or author:me), stale:30d, and a PR number such as #812. Pressing Enter in the search field picks the top row.

​
Machine and extras

The two modes sit under the name field, and each has a tooltip that explains it. Two more rows appear as needed:
  • Machine appears only when more than one machine is connected. Least loaded lets ADE pick the least-loaded machine right now; otherwise choose a specific machine. Each one shows its free disk and repo path. Machines without the repository are disabled, and Connect another machine… is at the bottom of the list.
  • Extras holds Attach Linear issue and Use a template. Attaching an issue shows a card with its identifier, title, and branch name. While an issue is attached, As existing branch is unavailable. Use a template chooses the lane template that sets up env files, installs, and services, or No template; it also links to Manage templates… or Create a template….

​
Auto-create from a task or Linear issue

You don’t have to fill in the dialog by hand. Hand ADE a task — or attach a Linear issue — and it derives the branch name, names the lane, and attaches the issue as context so the agent starts with the right spec.
Attaching a Linear issue derives the branch name from the issue identifier and title (IDENT-title-slug), or uses Linear’s own branch name when it provides one. If that branch already exists locally or on the remote, the issue card warns and Create lane stays disabled until you detach the issue, so you don’t accidentally collide with existing work.

​
Import an existing branch

Have a branch already, local or remote, that you want ADE to manage as a worktree? Choose As existing branch in the New lane dialog, pick the branch, and click Import branch. ADE creates a managed worktree checked out to that branch, and the lane works on it directly; no new branch is made. The checked-out branch is listed first, then the rest by most recent commit. Picking a branch fills in the lane name if the name is empty or still auto-filled.
The same popover search that backs new worktrees powers import — search by name, filter to your own branches (mine or author:me), or jump straight to a PR number (#NNN). The PR pills come from GitHub and are fail-soft: if the PR lookup errors, the list still works, just without pills.

​
Copy uncommitted work

Choose a new branch, select the source branch, and choose Uncommitted under Bring. ADE copies changes from the folder with that branch checked out and leaves the source untouched.

​
Create a lane from a commit

In the History tab, the Create lane here action on any commit branches a new lane starting from exactly that commit, instead of from a branch head. ADE verifies the ref and uses the resolved commit as the worktree’s start point.

​
Rename, archive, or delete

Open a lane’s manage dialog to change it once work is underway or done.

​
What delete tears down

Delete isn’t just rm -rf. ADE runs an ordered teardown and shows live progress for each step: it stops the lane’s processes, terminals, and file watchers, cleans up lane environment resources, releases the lane’s leased port range, removes the git worktree, and only then clears ADE’s rows. You can optionally also delete the local branch (and the remote branch). Before you confirm, ADE surfaces a preflight check — dirty files, unpushed commits, running processes, and whether a remote branch exists.
Deleting a managed worktree removes its working directory, including uncommitted changes. ADE warns you about dirty state and unpushed commits first, but commit or push anything you want to keep before you confirm. Once a delete starts it runs to completion — it can’t be cancelled.

​
Good cleanup habits

  • Archive stalled experiments instead of leaving every lane active.
  • Delete lanes once their PRs merge and follow-up work is done — this returns the port range to the pool.
  • Keep lane names tied to outcomes, not model names.
  • Use the History tab to find what happened in a deleted or archived lane.
Every lane action is also available from the ade CLI:
Run ade lanes --help to see every command and flag.

Lanes overview

How lanes isolate work and sync across surfaces.

Stacked pull requests

Review dependent branches with GitHub pull requests.