File Sync

Automatic Sync

When you run rft start, rft automatically copies essential files to each worktree directory:

• Compose file (docker-compose.yml or compose.yml)
• Dockerfiles referenced in the compose file
• .env file (with port overrides injected)

These files are always synced regardless of configuration.

.env Handling

The .env file receives special treatment:

1. The original .env from the repo root is copied to the worktree
2. Port override variables are appended (or replaced if they already exist)
3. Any env_overrides from configuration are applied with ${VAR} templates resolved

For example, if your .env contains:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost:5432/myapp

And rft allocates ports for worktree #1, the worktree's .env becomes:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost:5432/myapp
FRONTEND_PORT=23001
API_PORT=28081

Custom Sync

Add extra files and directories to sync in your configuration:

sync = ["nginx/", "scripts/init.sql", "Makefile"]

Directories are copied recursively. Paths are relative to the repository root.

env_overrides

Use env_overrides to inject computed environment variables that depend on allocated ports:

[env_overrides]
API_URL = "http://localhost:${API_PORT}"
CORS_ORIGIN = "http://localhost:${FRONTEND_PORT}"
WEBSOCKET_URL = "ws://localhost:${WS_PORT}"

The ${VAR} placeholders are replaced with the actual allocated port values for each worktree. This is useful when services need full URLs, not just port numbers.