Command Reference

rift config

Set up shell integration and configure preferences. By default writes to the project-level rift.yaml. Use --global to set global defaults.

# Set up shell integration and show current config
rift config

# Set editor in project config (rift.yaml)
rift config --editor cursor

# Set agent in project config (any CLI command)
rift config --agent claude
rift config --agent "aider --model gpt-4"

# Set global defaults (for new projects)
rift config --global --editor cursor --agent claude

Running without flags detects your shell, adds the Rift shell wrapper to your RC file, and prints the current editor and agent. Use --editor and --agent flags to change them. A rift.yaml must exist for project-level changes — run rift init first.

rift init

Initialize a rift.yaml in the current git project. The editor defaults to VS Code and the agent to Claude Code, unless overridden by global config.

# Use global defaults
rift init

# Override editor
rift init --editor cursor

# Override agent (any CLI command)
rift init --agent aider

# Override both
rift init --editor cursor --agent aider

The generated rift.yaml includes commented-out hook examples. See Hooks for details on configuring lifecycle hooks.

rift status

Show current context — project name, branch, and whether you’re in a worktree or the main repo.

rift status

rift open [name]

Create a new worktree and launch your configured AI agent inside it.

# Auto-generate a name
rift open

# Specify a name
rift open my-feature

# Branch off a specific base
rift open my-feature --base develop

# Skip launching the agent
rift open my-feature --skip-agent

# Skip running hooks
rift open my-feature --skip-hooks

If no name is given, Rift generates a random one (e.g. bold-eagle).

rift list

List all worktrees for the current project. The base (main) workspace is always shown first, followed by Rift-managed worktrees. The active worktree is marked with *.

rift list

Alias: rift ls

rift jump <name>

Switch to an existing worktree and start the agent. Use base (or main) to jump to the main repository.

rift jump my-feature

# Jump to the main repository
rift jump base

# Jump without launching the agent
rift jump my-feature --skip-agent

# Jump without running hooks
rift jump my-feature --skip-hooks

rift close

Close the current worktree, delete its branch, and return to the main repo.

rift close

# Skip the confirmation prompt
rift close --force

# Close without running hooks
rift close --skip-hooks

Must be run from inside a Rift worktree (not the main repo).

rift code

Open the project in your configured editor. Creates a .code-workspace file containing all active worktrees as folders.

rift code

rift purge

Remove all worktrees for the current project and delete their branches.

rift purge

# Skip confirmation
rift purge --force

rift version

Print the current Rift version.

rift version

Also available as rift --version or rift -v.

Options

These flags can be combined with the commands above:

• --base <branch> (open) — base branch for the new worktree (default: current branch)
• --skip-agent (open, jump) — don’t launch the AI agent after switching
• --skip-hooks (open, jump, close) — don’t run lifecycle hooks
• --editor <cmd> (init, config) — editor to use
• --agent <cmd> (init, config) — AI agent command to use (any CLI command)
• -f, --force (close, purge) — skip confirmation prompts

Run rift <command> --help for more information on a specific command.