Before an AI coding agent edits a repository, check whether the checkout is already dirty. Treat staged, unstaged, and untracked work as user-owned by default: move the agent to a separate Git worktree, or stop and ask the operator how to proceed. A “spill gate” is a harness-level policy, not a built-in Git command.
What a spill gate protects—and what it does not
Git status distinguishes changes between the current commit (HEAD), the staging area (index), and the working tree, and also reports untracked files. That makes it possible for an agent harness to detect local work before giving an agent permission to edit. Git’s own status documentation describes these categories and provides porcelain output intended for scripts.
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A linked worktree gives the agent a separate checkout associated with the same repository. As the Git worktree manual puts it: “A git repository can support multiple working trees, allowing you to check out more than one branch at a time.” This separates files and index state at the checkout level, but it is not a security sandbox: repository data and references remain shared, and a worktree alone does not contain arbitrary commands or malicious code.
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The gate is a product or team rule built on Git’s status and worktree mechanisms; Git does not prescribe what an agent should do when it finds local changes. A practical policy can make the decision explicit:
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- Clean checkout, no competing task: allow in-place work only if the product’s normal permissions and review process permit it.
- Staged, unstaged, or untracked state: do not edit the existing checkout by default. Offer a separate worktree or pause for operator direction.
- Another agent task is running: assign each task a distinct worktree and branch, or a detached HEAD, and specify how results will be reviewed and promoted.
- Merge, rebase, cherry-pick, or bisect in progress: leave checkout and cleanup decisions to the operator until the state is understood.
The final case needs deliberate implementation: the Git sources cited here do not define a general-purpose check for every in-progress operation marker. Verify marker paths and semantics for the Git versions your harness supports before automating detection.
Capture a baseline that scripts can parse
Before any write, preserve a status snapshot. A useful starting command is:
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git status --branch --porcelain=v2 --untracked-files=allPorcelain v2 is intended for stable script parsing. The command reports branch information as well as tracked and untracked changes; keeping the initial output or a parsed summary gives the harness a baseline to compare during the task. The Git status manual also documents --show-stash, which reports whether stash entries exist. A stash is separate repository state: a gate should not silently apply or drop one.
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If the harness needs to check which branches are already in use, list registered worktrees in a path-safe format:
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git worktree list --porcelain -zThe worktree manual documents porcelain output as stable across versions and user configuration, and recommends NUL termination when paths must be parsed safely. Account for submodules separately: status reporting has qualifications around submodule dirtiness and untracked content, so a superproject snapshot may not be enough for every nested working directory.
Create a separate worktree without moving the user’s edits by accident
For a new task branch, Git supports this form:
git worktree add -b <new-branch> <path> <start-point>When no start point is supplied, the new branch starts at HEAD. Git also supports a detached worktree for a throwaway experiment. An ordinary add is refused if the requested branch is already checked out in another worktree. Prefer a unique branch or a detached worktree rather than routinely forcing that refusal.
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Give the agent the new working-directory path only after the worktree is ready. Creating a worktree checks out a commit; it does not automatically carry over arbitrary staged, unstaged, or untracked changes from the original checkout. If the task must build on those edits, copying or applying them is a separate, explicit handoff that should be approved and reviewed.
Product-specific shortcuts should not be confused with Git behavior. For example, the oh-my-pi coding agent package 18.4.6 release notes describe a /wt command that creates a linked worktree with uncommitted changes and moves the session there, leaving the original checkout untouched. That is a statement about that product version, not what plain git worktree add does. See the 18.4.6 release notes.
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Review changes and make cleanup a deliberate handoff
Before promoting agent work, inspect its status, branch, and diff from the agent’s worktree. Agree on a handoff contract rather than assuming Git will decide what happens next:
- Who owns and creates commits?
- How will the operator compare, cherry-pick, or merge the result?
- Which branch should receive the work?
- What happens to uncommitted agent changes if the task is interrupted?
- Who approves removal of the temporary worktree, and when?
Git normally protects an unclean linked worktree from ordinary removal; removing a worktree with tracked modifications or untracked files requires force. Make removal an explicit reviewed action, not an automatic session finalizer. The Git worktree manual documents the removal behavior and its safeguards.
Choose the right boundary for the risk
A linked worktree is useful when the problem is keeping the agent’s checkout and index separate from the user’s existing edits. It is not the right control when the concern is whether untrusted code can access files, processes, or credentials: use an actual execution boundary such as a container or sandbox for that threat model. Worktree separation and filesystem permissions are distinct controls; an implementation guide for OpenHands sandbox settings illustrates configuration specific to that project, not a universal agent setup.
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