ROS Worktree (Isolated Workspace) Workflow

Goal

Create a new ROS2 workspace directory (example: ~/moleworks/ros2_ws_menzi_base) that is safe to mutate and build in, while keeping ~/moleworks/ros2_ws untouched.

Create A New Workspace (Fast Path: Copy src/)

Pick a suffix/name and copy only src/.

SRC_WS=~/moleworks/ros2_ws
DST_WS=~/moleworks/ros2_ws_SUFFIX

test -d "$SRC_WS/src"
test ! -e "$DST_WS"  # fail fast if destination already exists

mkdir -p "$DST_WS/src"
rsync -a "$SRC_WS/src/" "$DST_WS/src/"

Replace Specific Repos With Git Worktrees (Recommended)

Rationale: keep a canonical clone in ~/git/REPO and put a worktree checkout in ~/git/.worktrees/REPO_SUFFIX. Then symlink that into the new workspace. This keeps PRs easy and avoids interfering with ongoing work elsewhere.

Example: moleworks_ros worktree + symlink into the new workspace

MOLEWORKS_ROS_GIT=~/git/moleworks_ros
MOLEWORKS_ROS_WT=~/git/.worktrees/moleworks_ros_SUFFIX

test -d "$MOLEWORKS_ROS_GIT/.git"
test -d "$DST_WS/src"

# Remove the copied repo in the new workspace (fail fast if you care about its state).
test -d "$DST_WS/src/moleworks_ros"
rm -rf "$DST_WS/src/moleworks_ros"

# Create a dedicated branch and worktree checkout.
cd "$MOLEWORKS_ROS_GIT"
git fetch origin
git worktree add -B MY_BRANCH "$MOLEWORKS_ROS_WT" origin/dev/integration_rebase3

# Symlink the worktree into the workspace.
ln -s "$MOLEWORKS_ROS_WT" "$DST_WS/src/moleworks_ros"

Notes:

• Use the same pattern for other repos you plan to change (e.g. holistic_fusion, menzi_docker, etc.).
• Prefer new branch names; avoid force-push.
• If you need a clean build, clean build/ install/ log in the workspace, not the git repos (see below).

Clean Build Artifacts (Recommended Before Testing New Images)

Keep the workspace git state intact; just reset build outputs.

cd "$DST_WS"
ts="$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "_old_build_${ts}"
for d in build install log; do
  if test -e "$d"; then
    mv "$d" "_old_build_${ts}/"
  fi
done

Add COLCON_IGNORE For Non-ROS / Heavy Packages (If Needed)

If colcon errors while identifying Python packages (common for ML repos) or you simply want faster builds, ignore them.

# Example: Segment Anything repo isn't a ROS package and can break colcon discovery.
touch "$DST_WS/src/segment-anything-2-real-time-ros-2/COLCON_IGNORE"

# Example: optional stack that may not be needed for most bringup builds.
# touch "$DST_WS/src/isaac_ros_nvblox/COLCON_IGNORE"

Build/Test In Docker Against The New Workspace

Generic docker run pattern

Mount the workspace into the container (so builds are deterministic and don't touch other workspaces).

docker run --rm -it \
  -v "$DST_WS:/workspaces/ros2_ws" \
  -w /workspaces/ros2_ws \
  IMAGE \
  bash -lc 'set -ex; source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash; colcon build --packages-up-to PKG'

If colcon tries to crawl everything under src/, restrict it:

colcon build --base-paths src/moleworks_ros src/holistic_fusion/ros2 --packages-up-to PKG

Moleworks-specific: use moleworks_ros/docker/docker_launch.sh

If you are testing moleworks_ros images, prefer the repo scripts. They mount your full $HOME, so the new workspace is visible automatically.

Important: the container bashrc typically auto-sources only ~/ros2_ws or /workspaces/ros2_ws. If your worktree is ~/moleworks/ros2_ws_SUFFIX, you must source ~/moleworks/ros2_ws_SUFFIX/install/setup.bash in each shell before running ros2 launch/ros2 run.