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Getting Started

Liney is a native macOS workspace for repositories, worktrees, and terminal sessions.

This guide gets you from download to a usable daily setup.

Download and install​

There are two ways to install Liney:

brew install --cask everettjf/tap/liney

GitHub Releases​

Download the latest .dmg directly from GitHub Releases. Open the .dmg and drag Liney into your Applications folder.

Add your first repository​

Open Liney and add a local repository from the sidebar.

After import, Liney treats that repository as a workspace:

  • the workspace appears in the left sidebar
  • the active branch and worktree become visible
  • you can open sessions without leaving the app

Learn the core terms​

  • Workspace: the top-level repository container in the sidebar
  • Worktree: a specific checkout under that repository
  • Session: a terminal-backed pane running inside a worktree
  • Tab: a saved arrangement of one or more panes

You do not need to learn every feature up front. Start by opening one workspace and one session.

Open a session​

Create a terminal session from the active workspace or worktree.

Use this when you want to:

  • run your app
  • start tests
  • keep a long-running watcher alive
  • open a second shell for Git work

Use worktrees on purpose​

If you work on more than one task at a time, create or switch to a Git worktree instead of stacking unrelated changes in one checkout.

A strong starter setup is:

  • one worktree for the main branch
  • one worktree for the current feature
  • one worktree for review or debugging

Read the sidebar signals​

The sidebar gives you a fast status pass:

  • Current badge: this is the worktree currently selected for the workspace
  • Green pulse dot: this worktree has active terminal panes running
  • Changed file badge: this worktree has uncommitted changes

That means you can spot where work is happening without opening every pane.

  1. Add one repository.
  2. Create a feature worktree.
  3. Open two sessions in that worktree.
  4. Switch back to the main worktree and compare the sidebar state.