fix(maestro): suffix branch name on new-branch worktree collision

git worktree add -b fails outright when the branch already exists, even
if the target directory is free. A random fast-forward handle commonly
collides with a branch an earlier, already-removed worktree left behind.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

crates/maestro-daemon/src/worktree.rs

@@ -111,16 +111,33 @@ impl WorktreeManager {
         // Clear registrations whose directory is gone first, so a
         // previously-leaked entry doesn't push this branch to a suffix.
         prune(base_repo)?;
-        // Anything occupying the target — a tree we left behind, one the
-        // operator made, an unrelated directory — is sidestepped with a
-        // numeric suffix on the directory; the branch stays whatever was
-        // requested (#77). The daemon never adopts what it finds.
-        let mut path = self.target_path(base_repo, branch);
-        let mut n = 1;
-        while path.symlink_metadata().is_ok() {
-            n += 1;
-            path = self.target_path_suffixed(base_repo, branch, n);
-        }
+        let (branch, path) = if create_branch {
+            // Worktrees are commonly abandoned without deleting their branch,
+            // so a random handle can collide with one of its own past runs.
+            // Unlike the `add_existing` arm below, the suffix goes on the
+            // branch name itself — the path is derived from it anyway.
+            let mut candidate = branch.to_string();
+            let mut path = self.target_path(base_repo, &candidate);
+            let mut n = 1;
+            while path.symlink_metadata().is_ok() || branch_exists(base_repo, &candidate) {
+                n += 1;
+                candidate = format!("{branch}-{n}");
+                path = self.target_path(base_repo, &candidate);
+            }
+            (candidate, path)
+        } else {
+            // Existing branch: the name must stay exact, so only the
+            // directory — anything occupying it, ours or the operator's — is
+            // sidestepped with a numeric suffix (#77). The daemon never
+            // adopts what it finds.
+            let mut path = self.target_path(base_repo, branch);
+            let mut n = 1;
+            while path.symlink_metadata().is_ok() {
+                n += 1;
+                path = self.target_path_suffixed(base_repo, branch, n);
+            }
+            (branch.to_string(), path)
+        };
         // The parent (`<repo>/worktrees` or the override root) may not exist
         // yet; the target itself must not.
         if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
@@ -129,10 +146,10 @@ impl WorktreeManager {
         let mut cmd = Command::new("git");
         cmd.arg("-C").arg(base_repo).args(["worktree", "add"]);
         if create_branch {
-            cmd.arg("-b").arg(branch).arg(&path);
+            cmd.arg("-b").arg(&branch).arg(&path);
         } else {
             // Existing branch: `worktree add <path> <branch>` with no `-b`.
-            cmd.arg(&path).arg(branch);
+            cmd.arg(&path).arg(&branch);
         }
         let out = cmd.output()?;
         check(out)?;
@@ -266,6 +283,17 @@ fn branch_relpath(branch: &str) -> Option<PathBuf> {
     Some(candidate.to_path_buf())
 }
 
+/// Whether `refs/heads/<branch>` already exists in `base_repo`.
+fn branch_exists(base_repo: &Path, branch: &str) -> bool {
+    Command::new("git")
+        .arg("-C")
+        .arg(base_repo)
+        .args(["show-ref", "--verify", "--quiet"])
+        .arg(format!("refs/heads/{branch}"))
+        .status()
+        .is_ok_and(|s| s.success())
+}
+
 /// `git -C <base_repo> worktree prune` — drops registrations whose directory
 /// no longer exists.
 fn prune(base_repo: &Path) -> Result<(), WorktreeError> {

crates/maestro-e2e/tests/e2e.rs

@@ -497,6 +497,57 @@ async fn occupied_path_gets_suffixed_directory_and_both_worktrees_work() {
     );
 }
 
+/// A random handle can reuse the name of a branch left behind by an earlier,
+/// already-removed worktree — `git worktree add -b` refuses outright in that
+/// case, even though the directory is free. The daemon suffixes the branch
+/// itself (not just the directory) and both land on `-2`.
+#[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread")]
+async fn colliding_branch_name_gets_suffixed_too() {
+    let (_daemon, client) = bring_up().await;
+
+    let base = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    init_repo(base.path());
+
+    // No worktree directory in the way, but the branch already exists.
+    run_git(&["branch", "handle"], base.path());
+
+    let s = client
+        .spawn_session(&worktree_req(base.path(), "handle", true))
+        .await
+        .expect("spawn onto a taken branch name");
+
+    let suffixed = base.path().join("worktrees").join("handle-2");
+    assert_eq!(
+        s.cwd, suffixed,
+        "the directory must follow the suffixed branch name"
+    );
+    assert!(suffixed.is_dir());
+
+    let registrations = git_worktree_list(base.path());
+    assert!(
+        registrations.iter().any(|l| l.contains("handle-2")),
+        "the -2 branch's worktree must be registered: {registrations:?}"
+    );
+
+    let branches = String::from_utf8(
+        std::process::Command::new("git")
+            .arg("-C")
+            .arg(base.path())
+            .args(["branch", "--list"])
+            .output()
+            .unwrap()
+            .stdout,
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+    assert!(
+        branches.contains("handle-2"),
+        "the branch itself must be named handle-2: {branches}"
+    );
+
+    let _origin = throwaway_origin(base.path());
+    client.kill_session(s.id).await.expect("kill");
+}
+
 /// #77/#88: the target path holds a plain directory the daemon never made and
 /// git has never heard of. The daemon neither adopts it nor errors — it builds
 /// beside it and leaves every byte of it alone.

docs/SIDEBAR.md

@@ -307,10 +307,9 @@ lands on the first row it was hiding. A highlight parked on a skipped row —
 reachable by clicking a folder header — still steps to its neighbour rather
 than jumping to the end of the list.
 
-The web client needs a chord to reach the list at all (leader-`h` — `Ctrl+A h`
-by default — and the same chord back): an attached terminal owns every plain
-keystroke, and Escape is left to reach the pane's shell/app instead. The TUI
-uses `ctrl-w h`.
+The web client needs a chord to reach the list at all (`Ctrl+Shift+H`, and the
+same chord back): an attached terminal owns every plain keystroke. The TUI uses
+`ctrl-w h`.
 
 Everything else is the same key on both clients:
 

docs/WORKTREES.md

@@ -35,10 +35,18 @@ The branch name is used verbatim as a relative path, so `feature/login` becomes
 back to a short hash of the branch.
 
 If that path exists, the daemon appends `-2`, then `-3`, and so on until it finds
-a free one. The suffix names the **directory only**. The branch is whatever was
-requested; a second worktree of the same branch is not what happens here, because
-git refuses to check the same branch out twice and the branch picker already
-marks branches that are checked out elsewhere.
+a free one.
+
+For a *new* branch (`create_branch: true`), the suffix goes on the branch name
+itself, and the directory follows since it is derived from the branch — a
+random handle can otherwise reuse the name of a branch some earlier, already
+removed worktree left behind, and `git worktree add -b` refuses outright even
+though the directory is free.
+
+For an *existing* branch (`create_branch: false`) the name must stay exact, so
+only the directory is suffixed — a second worktree of the same branch is not
+what happens here, because git refuses to check the same branch out twice and
+the branch picker already marks branches that are checked out elsewhere.
 
 ### The `worktree_root` override
 

web/src/attach.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import { Terminal } from "@xterm/xterm";
 import "@xterm/xterm/css/xterm.css";
 
 import { attachWsUrl } from "./routes.js";
+import { FOCUS_SIDEBAR_EVENT } from "./catalog.js";
+import { CommandSet, defineCommands } from "./commands.js";
 import { escapeHtml } from "./html.js";
 import { INITIAL_RECONNECT_MS, MAX_RECONNECT_MS } from "./reconnect.js";
 import { applyModsToChar, cursorSeq, tildeSeq } from "./keys.js";
@@ -12,6 +14,15 @@ import { splitCommand, toolIconSvg } from "./toolIcon.js";
 import type { ClientControl, Uuid } from "./types.js";
 import { WebglPolicy } from "./webglRenderer.js";
 
+// The pane's half of the command registry (#148): plain Escape hands the
+// keyboard back to the session list, the pair to the list's Tab.
+const paneKeys = new CommandSet(
+  defineCommands({
+    "pane.focusList": () => document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(FOCUS_SIDEBAR_EVENT)),
+  }),
+  { preventDefault: false },
+);
+
 /** One budget for the whole page — see webglRenderer.ts for why contexts are
  *  rationed rather than handed to every connection. */
 const webglPolicy = new WebglPolicy();
@@ -210,6 +221,15 @@ export function createAttachConnection(
     }
   }
 
+  // Plain Escape hands the keyboard back to the session list instead of the
+  // shell/app. `false` tells xterm to skip its own handling of this event —
+  // which is also why the set doesn't `preventDefault`: swallowing here is
+  // xterm's return value, not the browser's.
+  term.attachCustomKeyEventHandler((e) => {
+    if (e.type !== "keydown") return true;
+    return !paneKeys.handle(e);
+  });
+
   // Touch scrolling: xterm's built-in touch handling is jittery (drags crawl a
   // line at a time and stall), so map finger drags ourselves. Two routes:
   //   • normal buffer  → term.scrollLines walks the scrollback.

web/src/catalog.ts

@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ export function requestOpenCommandBar(): void {
  *  connection pool. */
 export const FOCUS_PANE_EVENT = "catalog-focus-pane";
 
+/** Ask the shell to hand the keyboard back to the session list — what Escape
+ *  does when the pane's terminal is focused. Handled in main.ts. */
+export const FOCUS_SIDEBAR_EVENT = "catalog-focus-sidebar";
+
 /** Ask the shell to open the spawn modal seeded from an existing session
  *  ("Spawn similar"). Detail is the session being cloned. */
 export const SPAWN_SIMILAR_EVENT = "catalog-spawn-similar";

web/src/commands.test.ts

@@ -133,28 +133,31 @@ describe("CommandSet", () => {
     expect(run).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
   });
 
-  it("keeps plain keys deaf inside a form field, and leader chords live from the pane", () => {
+  it("keeps plain keys deaf inside a form field, and chorded ones live", () => {
     const plain = vi.fn();
     const chorded = vi.fn();
     const set = new CommandSet(
-      defineCommands({ "spawn.open": plain, "focus.toggle": chorded }, DEFAULT_LEADER),
-      { leader: DEFAULT_LEADER },
+      defineCommands({ "spawn.open": plain, "focus.toggle": chorded }),
     );
     const input = el("<input>");
     expect(pressOn(set, input, "n")).toBe(false);
     expect(plain).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    // focus.toggle hangs off the leader (#166): a plain, unmodified Escape is
-    // left for the pane's shell/app instead.
-    const terminal = el('<textarea class="xterm-helper-textarea"></textarea>');
-    pressOn(set, terminal, "a", { ctrlKey: true });
-    expect(pressOn(set, terminal, "h")).toBe(true);
+    expect(pressOn(set, input, "H", { ctrlKey: true, shiftKey: true })).toBe(true);
     expect(chorded).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
 
-  it("leaves a plain Escape for the pane instead of binding it", () => {
-    const set = new CommandSet(defineCommands({ "spawn.open": vi.fn() }));
+  it("keeps pane commands live inside the terminal's textarea", () => {
+    const run = vi.fn();
+    const set = new CommandSet(defineCommands({ "pane.focusList": run }), {
+      preventDefault: false,
+    });
     const textarea = el('<textarea class="xterm-helper-textarea"></textarea>');
-    expect(pressOn(set, textarea, "Escape")).toBe(false);
+    const e = key("Escape");
+    Object.defineProperty(e, "target", { value: textarea });
+    expect(set.handle(e)).toBe(true);
+    expect(run).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    // xterm is told to swallow by the return value, not by the browser default.
+    expect(e.defaultPrevented).toBe(false);
   });
 });
 
@@ -170,7 +173,6 @@ describe("the leader", () => {
     const byId = new Map(commandSpecs("ctrl-b").map((s) => [s.id, s]));
     expect(byId.get("pane.literalCtrlK")?.keys).toEqual(["ctrl-b ctrl-k"]);
     expect(byId.get("pane.literalLeader")?.keys).toEqual(["ctrl-b ctrl-b"]);
-    expect(byId.get("focus.toggle")?.keys).toEqual(["ctrl-b h"]);
     // Commands that do not hang off the leader are untouched.
     expect(byId.get("bar.open")?.keys).toEqual(["ctrl-k"]);
   });

web/src/commands.ts

@@ -93,8 +93,7 @@ const SPECS: readonly SpecSource[] = [
     id: "focus.toggle",
     label: "Move the keyboard between the session list and the pane",
     group: "Session list",
-    keys: [`${DEFAULT_LEADER} h`],
-    leaderKeys: (leader) => [`${leader} h`],
+    keys: ["ctrl-shift-h"],
     scope: "global",
   },
   {
@@ -146,6 +145,13 @@ const SPECS: readonly SpecSource[] = [
     keys: ["tab"],
     scope: "list",
   },
+  {
+    id: "pane.focusList",
+    label: "Hand the keyboard back to the session list, from the pane",
+    group: "Session list",
+    keys: ["esc"],
+    scope: "pane",
+  },
   {
     id: "help.toggle",
     label: "Show or hide this help",

web/src/layout.test.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
 import {
   emptyLayout,
-  equalizeRatios,
   leaves,
   locateSession,
   openSessions,
@@ -45,23 +44,6 @@ describe("splitLeaf", () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe("equalizeRatios", () => {
-  it("resets nested splits to equal width, not just the newest one", () => {
-    const tab = tabWithOneLeaf("s1");
-    const first = leaves(tab.root)[0].id;
-    splitLeaf(tab, first, "s2", "row", true); // A|B, 0.5/0.5
-    const second = leaves(tab.root)[1].id;
-    splitLeaf(tab, second, "s3", "row", true); // A(0.5) | (B|C, 0.5/0.5) -> B,C at 0.25 each
-
-    equalizeRatios(tab.root);
-
-    const root = tab.root as Extract<typeof tab.root, { kind: "split" }>;
-    expect(root.ratio).toBeCloseTo(1 / 3);
-    const inner = root.b as Extract<typeof root.b, { kind: "split" }>;
-    expect(inner.ratio).toBeCloseTo(1 / 2);
-  });
-});
-
 describe("removeLeaf", () => {
   it("collapses the parent split into the surviving sibling", () => {
     const tab = tabWithOneLeaf("s1");

web/src/layout.ts

@@ -118,17 +118,6 @@ export function removeLeaf(tab: Tab, leafId: string): void {
   tab.root = tab.root ? rec(tab.root) : null;
 }
 
-/** Reset every split ratio under `node` so all leaves get equal width,
- *  regardless of split direction or nesting order. Returns the leaf count. */
-export function equalizeRatios(node: Node | null): number {
-  if (!node) return 0;
-  if (node.kind === "leaf") return 1;
-  const na = equalizeRatios(node.a);
-  const nb = equalizeRatios(node.b);
-  node.ratio = na / (na + nb);
-  return na + nb;
-}
-
 export function addTab(layout: Layout): Tab {
   const tab: Tab = {
     id: freshId("t"),

web/src/main.ts

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import { loadLayout, saveLayout } from "./persistence.js";
 import { createPreviewSchedule } from "./previewSchedule.js";
 import {
   FOCUS_PANE_EVENT,
+  FOCUS_SIDEBAR_EVENT,
   OPEN_COMMAND_BAR_EVENT,
   OPEN_SPAWN_EVENT,
   SESSION_SELECT_EVENT,
@@ -439,11 +440,10 @@ const spawnKeys = new CommandSet(
   }),
 );
 
-// Leader-h moves the keyboard between the session list and the pane, the web
-// counterpart of the TUI's `ctrl-w h`. It has to be a chord behind the
-// leader: an attached terminal owns every plain keystroke, and Ctrl+Shift+H
-// is already claimed by the browser (history), so nothing unmodified — or
-// modified with a common browser chord — could get the focus back out of it.
+// Ctrl+Shift+H moves the keyboard between the session list and the pane, the
+// web counterpart of the TUI's `ctrl-w h`. It has to be a chord: an attached
+// terminal owns every plain keystroke, so nothing unmodified could ever get
+// the focus back out of it.
 //
 // This set also owns the leader (`[tui].leader`, `ctrl-a` by default, served
 // on `/api/info`): it holds the key as a partial chord and takes select-all off
@@ -528,8 +528,8 @@ window.addEventListener(
 );
 
 
-// Tab in the session list hands the keyboard to the pane; leader-h (focus.toggle,
-// above) hands it back the other way.
+// Tab in the session list hands the keyboard to the pane; Escape in the pane
+// hands it back — the pair the TUI gets from `tab` and `esc`.
 document.addEventListener(FOCUS_PANE_EVENT, () => {
   // Handing the keyboard to a previewed pane is choosing it: the preview stops
   // being provisional rather than snapping back the moment the list blurs.
@@ -537,6 +537,10 @@ document.addEventListener(FOCUS_PANE_EVENT, () => {
   if (previewed) focusSession(previewed);
   pool.focusTerminal();
 });
+document.addEventListener(FOCUS_SIDEBAR_EVENT, () => {
+  drawer.open(); // no-op on desktop; on mobile the list is off-canvas
+  sidebar.focusList();
+});
 
 /** Open/focus a session and reflect it in the shell chrome. Shared by the
  *  hash router and the sidebar's click-driven path (#133), which can't rely

web/src/multiview.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import {
   activeTab,
   addTab,
   closeTab,
-  equalizeRatios,
   findLeaf,
   freshId,
   type Dir,
@@ -458,7 +457,6 @@ export function createMultiView(opts: MultiViewOptions): MultiView {
     dropPreview();
     const tab = activeTab(layout);
     tab.focusedLeafId = splitLeaf(tab, leafId, null, dir, true);
-    equalizeRatios(tab.root);
     render();
   }
 
@@ -544,7 +542,6 @@ export function createMultiView(opts: MultiViewOptions): MultiView {
       target.sessionId = sessionId;
     } else {
       tab.focusedLeafId = splitLeaf(tab, target.id, sessionId, "row", true);
-      equalizeRatios(tab.root);
     }
     render();
     opts.onOpenSessionsChange?.();
@@ -818,7 +815,6 @@ export function createMultiView(opts: MultiViewOptions): MultiView {
     if (source.kind === "pane" && self) removeLeaf(tab, self);
     else if (loc) removeLeaf(loc.tab, loc.leaf.id);
     tab.focusedLeafId = splitLeaf(tab, targetLeafId, sessionId, dir, after);
-    equalizeRatios(tab.root);
     render();
   }