Mistral Vibe Ships a Built-In Worktree Plugin
Mistral VibeMistral Vibe added a new built-in worktree plugin with a skill for creating, reusing, and cleaning up git worktrees under $VIBE_HOME/worktrees, formalizing a workflow developers previously had to script by hand. Vibe Desktop now keeps 15 recent managed Code worktrees by default, configurable in Local Coding settings, and its cleanup logic skips any worktree that is active, dirty, has untracked files, or has unpushed commits. A session that requests a worktree also starts faster: it now begins in the base repository immediately and moves into the worktree once git worktree add completes, rather than waiting for the checkout before the session exists at all.
Key Takeaways
- Mistral Vibe shipped a new built-in
worktreeplugin that turns creating, reusing, and cleaning up git worktrees into a first-party skill instead of a manual scripting task. - Vibe Desktop now manages worktree retention automatically, keeping 15 recent worktrees by default with the limit configurable in Local Coding settings.
- Desktop's cleanup logic is conservative on purpose, skipping any worktree that is active, dirty, has untracked files, or carries unpushed commits.
- A worktree session starts immediately in the base repository rather than waiting for the checkout, with only the first turn blocked on the move into the worktree.
- Attached images and files survive the move, so a worktree session doesn't lose context a developer had already provided.
- The feature targets developers who run several agent sessions in parallel on the same codebase, a workflow git worktrees are specifically built to support.
Worktrees Become a First-Class Plugin
Running multiple agent sessions in parallel on the same repository is a common pattern for developers who want to explore several approaches at once without them stepping on each other's files, and git worktrees are the standard way to do that. Mistral Vibe formalized this workflow in v2.25.1 with a new built-in worktree plugin that ships a skill for creating, reusing, and cleaning up worktrees under $VIBE_HOME/worktrees. Instead of developers wiring up their own scripts around git worktree add and git worktree remove, Vibe now exposes the whole lifecycle as a first-party capability.
Desktop Manages Worktree Retention Automatically
Vibe Desktop pairs the new plugin with automatic retention. It keeps 15 recent managed Code worktrees by default, a number developers can adjust in Local Coding settings, and it periodically cleans up the rest. That cleanup is conservative by design: any worktree that is still active, has uncommitted or untracked changes, or carries unpushed commits is skipped rather than removed, so Desktop will not quietly delete work a developer hasn't saved or pushed elsewhere.
Faster, Non-Blocking Session Startup
Mistral Vibe also changed how a session that requests a worktree gets started. Previously, the session effectively didn't exist until the git worktree add checkout finished. Now the session starts in the base repository the moment the prompt is sent and moves into the worktree once the checkout lands, with only the very first turn waiting on that move. Sessions that use a worktree also keep access to any images or files a developer had already attached, so switching into the worktree mid-session no longer strips context that was already in play.