Backend guarantees
A successful Riftri creation gives you:
- A real linked worktree registered with Git.
- The requested committed files and a clean initial Git status.
- Native storage sharing for unchanged data.
- Private edits that never change the base or sibling worktrees.
- Recorded lifecycle operations that can be inspected and recovered.
Unsupported configurations stop with an explanation rather than weakening these guarantees.
Filesystems differ
| Backend | How it shares storage |
|---|---|
| APFS | Cloned file-data blocks |
| Btrfs / reflink-enabled XFS | Shared file extents |
| OverlayFS | A shared base with a private writable layer |
| ReFS | Aligned file extents; small tails may be copied |
Mounted OverlayFS moves and compaction are not supported. Pristine native-COW sparse worktrees can compact at their original cone selection; compaction after changing that selection remains unsupported.
Not promised
Copying uncommitted changes, untracked dependencies, or source-directory metadata; faster creation; fixed space savings; a security boundary.
Start with filesystem compatibility. Complete metadata and lifecycle support matrix: View .md.