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Overview

Each workspace is an isolated git worktree with its own branch. This means multiple agents can work on different features simultaneously without conflicts.

Creating Workspaces

Create workspaces in three ways:
  • From scratchCmd+N, name it, and write an initial prompt
  • From a Linear issue — Select a Linear issue and Commander creates a workspace linked to it
  • From a pull request — Provide a PR URL and Commander checks out the branch

Setup Scripts

Configure per-repository setup scripts that run when a workspace is created:
  • Dependency installation (pnpm install)
  • Database migrations
  • Code generation
  • Any custom setup commands
Each script has a name, command, args, timeout, and optional flag (can be skipped on failure).

Git Integration

Commander polls git status for each workspace:
  • Files changed — Modified, added, deleted, renamed
  • Ahead/behind — Commits ahead of and behind the base branch
  • Conflicts — Merge conflict detection
  • Staged/unstaged — Separate tracking for staging area

Linking

Workspaces can be linked to:
  • GitHub Pull Requests — View PR details, CI checks, and review comments
  • Linear Issues — View issue details, status, assignee, priority

Lifecycle

StatusDescription
initializingSetup scripts running
activeReady and in use
pausedTemporarily suspended
erroredSetup or agent failure
archivedCompleted, hidden from sidebar
deletedWorktree removed

Management

  • Archive — Hide completed workspaces (worktree preserved)
  • Unarchive — Restore archived workspaces
  • Delete — Remove workspace and its git worktree
  • Rename — Change workspace display name
  • Reorder — Drag workspaces in the sidebar

Target Branch

Set a target branch for each workspace to control where its work will merge:
  • Configure when creating the workspace or later via workspace settings
  • The manager and agents are aware of the target branch for PR creation

Setup Script Variables

Setup scripts support dynamic template variables:
VariableDescription
{{workspace.index}}Numeric index of the workspace
{{workspace.branch}}Branch name
{{issue.type}}Type of linked Linear issue
{{issue.labels}}Labels from linked Linear issue

Containers

Workspaces can include Docker containers for running services, databases, or dev tools:
  • Add containers with a specific image, port mappings, environment variables, and volume mounts
  • Configure health checks to monitor container readiness
  • View container status and logs within the workspace
  • Containers are automatically managed when archiving or deleting workspaces

Environments

Workspaces can use managed development environments provisioned from devcontainer.json:
  • Local Docker environments or GitHub Codespaces
  • Auto-provisioned when the workspace is created (if enabled in repository settings)
  • Port forwarding, health monitoring, and lifecycle management
  • Agents can build, test, and run code inside the environment
See Environments for full details.