Mergepond Plugins

Let Claude Code, Codex and other coding agents set up and manage their own git worktrees with Mergepond. One tool call makes a branch for the task, checks it out in its own folder and runs the repository's setup recipe (copy .env files, link node_modules, install). The worktree shows on Mergepond's worktree board, marked working, ready for review or done.

Everything here runs on pond, the command line tool that comes with Mergepond. Mergepond doesn't need to be running. On a machine you reach over SSH, Mergepond installs pond the first time it connects. To put pond on your PATH on a Mac, choose Mergepond › Install Command Line Tool.

What is Mergepond?

Mergepond is a Git client for the Mac. It keeps all your worktrees, projects and SSH machines in one window:

• Worktrees: every worktree of a repository on one board, with branch, changes, ahead and behind, and what its agent is doing.
• Workspaces: group repositories by client or project, each with its own commit identity.
• Remote repositories: open a repository on a machine you SSH into and use it like a local one. Mergepond uses your SSH login and opens no ports.
• The everyday Git work: staging, committing, history, branches, stashes, merges and conflicts, with undo.

Mergepond is free for local repositories. Download it or install it with Homebrew:

brew install --cask webb-ventures/tap/mergepond

This repository holds what coding agents need to use it. For a step-by-step setup, see the walkthrough; every setting and tool is in the reference.

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add Webb-Ventures/mergepond-plugins
/plugin install mergepond@mergepond

The plugin adds:

• the mergepond MCP server,
• a skill telling Claude when and how to use a worktree,
• hooks that mark Claude's worktrees "working" when you send a message and "review" when it stops.

Codex

codex mcp add mergepond -- pond mcp

Then add codex/AGENTS.md to your AGENTS.md (in the repository or ~/.codex/AGENTS.md). See codex/config.toml for a longer tool timeout, so a big install finishes in one call, and an optional notify hook that marks worktrees for review at the end of each turn.

Other agents

Register pond mcp as a stdio MCP server, or have the agent run pond in a shell. pond help lists the commands.

Is the agent meant to use a worktree?

That's up to you, per repository. The first time an agent works in a repository, it asks whether it should:

• always work in a new worktree,
• only use one when asked, or
• ask before each task.

Your answer is saved in the repository's .mergepond.local.toml. Change it with pond policy always, pond policy when-asked, pond policy ask or pond policy clear, or in Mergepond's worktree settings.

Tools

Tool	What it does
worktree_policy	Whether to use a worktree in this repository, and what to do. With isolation, saves the user's answer.
create_worktree	Start a task: a new branch named for the task (or a given branch, or a pr) in a new folder, set up by the recipe and marked working. Returns the folder and each setup step's result.
list_worktrees	Every worktree: branch, folder, changes, ahead and behind, merged, on the remote, and what agents said.
worktree_status	One worktree, with setup progress. wait_seconds waits for setup to finish.
mark_worktree	working, review or done, with a note, for the board.

Agents can't remove worktrees. You do that on the board, or with pond remove <branch>, which refuses a worktree with uncommitted changes or unpushed commits unless you add --force.

Project settings

Mergepond and pond read two files at the top of the repository:

• .mergepond.toml is committed and shared with your team.
• .mergepond.local.toml is yours. Mergepond keeps it out of Git (through .git/info/exclude).

A setting in your local file wins over the team's. Anything neither file sets comes from Mergepond's settings.

workspace = "Acme"                     # the Mergepond workspace this repository belongs to
identity = "Work"                      # the identity profile to commit as, by name

[worktrees]
location = "../<repo>.worktrees/<branch>"

[setup]
copy = [".env", ".env.local"]          # files that aren't in Git, copied from the main folder
link = ["node_modules"]                # folders shared through a symlink
run = ["pnpm install"]                 # commands run in the new folder, in order

[agents]
isolation = "always"                   # always, when-asked or ask
branch = "agent/<agent>/<task>"        # <agent> is claude-code or codex

The team file may only name an identity profile. To spell out a name and email, use your local file:

[identity]
name = "Ada Lovelace"
email = "[email protected]"

Mergepond's worktree settings save to .mergepond.local.toml, or to .mergepond.toml with Share with the team turned on.

Licence

This repository is under the MIT licence. Mergepond and pond are proprietary software from Webb Ventures. pond comes free with Mergepond.