diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 03adf33..b1d86d6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -405,6 +405,7 @@ git gtr config set gtr.ui.color never
     include = **/.env.example
     exclude = **/.env
     includeDirs = node_modules
+    includeDirs = packages/*/generated
     excludeDirs = node_modules/.cache
 
 [hooks]
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 25c81b5..847bd27 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -263,7 +263,16 @@ Copy entire directories (like `node_modules`, `.venv`, `vendor`) to avoid reinst
 git gtr config add gtr.copy.includeDirs "node_modules"
 git gtr config add gtr.copy.includeDirs ".venv"
 git gtr config add gtr.copy.includeDirs "vendor"
+git gtr config add gtr.copy.includeDirs "packages/*/generated"
+```
+
+Directory include patterns are relative to the repository root. Literal paths
+are checked directly, `*` and `?` match within the pattern's explicit depth,
+and `**` enables recursive matching when a full-tree search is intentional. For
+backward compatibility, a bare basename that has no root-level match falls back
+to a recursive search. Prefer an explicit nested path to avoid that scan.
 
+```bash
 # Exclude specific nested directories (supports glob patterns)
 git gtr config add gtr.copy.excludeDirs "node_modules/.cache"  # Exclude exact path
 git gtr config add gtr.copy.excludeDirs "node_modules/.npm"    # Exclude npm cache (may contain tokens)
diff --git a/lib/commands/copy.sh b/lib/commands/copy.sh
index 6b1c6f5..4e49da7 100644
--- a/lib/commands/copy.sh
+++ b/lib/commands/copy.sh
@@ -59,6 +59,13 @@ cmd_copy() {
     exit 1
   fi
 
+  # Directory discovery depends only on the source. Resolve it once so --all
+  # does not repeat the same filesystem scan for every target worktree.
+  local resolved_dirs=""
+  if [ -n "$dir_includes" ]; then
+    resolved_dirs=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src_path" "$dir_includes") || exit 1
+  fi
+
   # Build target list for --all mode
   if [ "$all_mode" -eq 1 ]; then
     local all_branches
@@ -88,11 +95,11 @@ cmd_copy() {
     if [ "$dry_run" -eq 1 ]; then
       log_step "[dry-run] Would copy to: $dst_branch"
       [ -n "$patterns" ] && copy_patterns "$src_path" "$dst_path" "$patterns" "$excludes" "true" "true"
-      [ -n "$dir_includes" ] && copy_directories "$src_path" "$dst_path" "$dir_includes" "$dir_excludes" "true"
+      [ -n "$resolved_dirs" ] && _copy_resolved_directories "$src_path" "$dst_path" "$resolved_dirs" "$dir_excludes" "true"
     else
       log_step "Copying to: $dst_branch"
       [ -n "$patterns" ] && copy_patterns "$src_path" "$dst_path" "$patterns" "$excludes" "true"
-      [ -n "$dir_includes" ] && copy_directories "$src_path" "$dst_path" "$dir_includes" "$dir_excludes"
+      [ -n "$resolved_dirs" ] && _copy_resolved_directories "$src_path" "$dst_path" "$resolved_dirs" "$dir_excludes"
     fi
     copied_any=1
   done
diff --git a/lib/commands/help.sh b/lib/commands/help.sh
index 9af8711..e56d098 100644
--- a/lib/commands/help.sh
+++ b/lib/commands/help.sh
@@ -699,6 +699,7 @@ CONFIGURATION OPTIONS:
   gtr.copy.exclude         Files to exclude (multi-valued)
   gtr.copy.includeDirs     Directories to copy (multi-valued)
                            Example: node_modules, .venv, vendor
+                           Supports repo-relative globs; ** matches recursively
                            WARNING: May include sensitive files!
                            Use gtr.copy.excludeDirs to exclude them.
   gtr.copy.excludeDirs     Directories to exclude (multi-valued)
diff --git a/lib/copy.sh b/lib/copy.sh
index 0b7f7cb..1569821 100644
--- a/lib/copy.sh
+++ b/lib/copy.sh
@@ -430,29 +430,41 @@ EOF
   _apply_directory_excludes "$dst_root" "$dir_path" "$excludes"
 }
 
-# Copy directories matching patterns (typically git-ignored directories like node_modules)
-# Usage: copy_directories src_root dst_root dir_patterns excludes [dry_run]
-# dir_patterns: newline-separated directory names to copy (e.g., "node_modules", ".venv")
-# excludes: newline-separated directory patterns to exclude (supports globs like "node_modules/.cache")
-# WARNING: This copies entire directories including potentially sensitive files.
-#          Use gtr.copy.excludeDirs to exclude sensitive directories.
-copy_directories() {
-  local src_root="$1"
-  local dst_root="$2"
-  local dir_patterns="$3"
-  local excludes="$4"
-  local dry_run="${5:-false}"
+# Return the number of path components in a directory pattern.
+# Usage: _directory_pattern_depth <pattern>
+_directory_pattern_depth() {
+  local pattern="$1"
+  local depth=1
 
-  if [ -z "$dir_patterns" ]; then
-    return 0
-  fi
+  while :; do
+    case "$pattern" in
+      */*)
+        depth=$((depth + 1))
+        pattern="${pattern#*/}"
+        ;;
+      *) break ;;
+    esac
+  done
 
+  printf '%s\n' "$depth"
+}
+
+# Resolve directory patterns once relative to a source root.
+# Literal paths use a direct filesystem check. Missing bare basenames retain
+# the legacy recursive fallback, batched into one scan. Single-star path globs
+# are bounded to their explicit component depth; only ** patterns recurse.
+# Usage: _resolve_directory_patterns <src_root> <dir_patterns>
+_resolve_directory_patterns() {
+  local src_root="$1"
+  local dir_patterns="$2"
   local old_pwd
   old_pwd=$(pwd)
   cd "$src_root" || return 1
 
-  local copied_count=0
-
+  local pattern
+  local bounded_max_depth=0
+  local -a bounded_expr=()
+  local -a recursive_expr=()
   while IFS= read -r pattern; do
     [ -z "$pattern" ] && continue
 
@@ -461,59 +473,116 @@ copy_directories() {
       continue
     fi
 
-    # Find directories matching the pattern
-    # Use -path for patterns with slashes (e.g., vendor/bundle), -name for basenames
-    # Note: case inside $() inside heredocs breaks Bash 3.2, so compute first
-    # Use -maxdepth 1 for simple basenames to avoid scanning entire repo (e.g., node_modules)
-    # Falls back to recursive search if shallow search finds nothing
-    local find_results
+    local find_results=""
     case "$pattern" in
-      */*) find_results=$(find . -type d -path "./$pattern" 2>/dev/null || true) ;;
-      *)   find_results=$(find . -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "$pattern" 2>/dev/null || true)
-           if [ -z "$find_results" ]; then
-             find_results=$(find . -type d -name "$pattern" 2>/dev/null || true)
-           fi ;;
+      *[\*\?\[]*)
+        case "$pattern" in
+          *'**'*)
+            [ "${#recursive_expr[@]}" -gt 0 ] && recursive_expr+=("-o")
+            recursive_expr+=("-path" "./$pattern")
+            ;;
+          */*)
+            local max_depth
+            max_depth=$(_directory_pattern_depth "$pattern")
+            [ "$max_depth" -gt "$bounded_max_depth" ] && bounded_max_depth="$max_depth"
+            [ "${#bounded_expr[@]}" -gt 0 ] && bounded_expr+=("-o")
+            bounded_expr+=("-path" "./$pattern")
+            ;;
+          *)
+            find_results=$(find . -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "$pattern" 2>/dev/null || true)
+            if [ -z "$find_results" ]; then
+              [ "${#recursive_expr[@]}" -gt 0 ] && recursive_expr+=("-o")
+              recursive_expr+=("-name" "$pattern")
+            fi
+            ;;
+        esac
+        ;;
+      *)
+        if [ -d "$pattern" ]; then
+          find_results="./$pattern"
+        else
+          case "$pattern" in
+            */*) ;;
+            *)
+              [ "${#recursive_expr[@]}" -gt 0 ] && recursive_expr+=("-o")
+              recursive_expr+=("-name" "$pattern")
+              ;;
+          esac
+        fi
+        ;;
     esac
 
-    while IFS= read -r dir_path; do
-      [ -z "$dir_path" ] && continue
-      dir_path="${dir_path#./}"
+    [ -n "$find_results" ] && printf '%s\n' "$find_results"
+  done <<EOF
+$dir_patterns
+EOF
 
-      is_excluded "$dir_path" "$excludes" && continue
-      [ ! -d "$dir_path" ] && continue
+  if [ "${#bounded_expr[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    find . -maxdepth "$bounded_max_depth" -type d \( "${bounded_expr[@]}" \) 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
 
-      local dest_dir="$dst_root/$dir_path"
-      local dest_parent
-      dest_parent=$(dirname "$dest_dir")
+  if [ "${#recursive_expr[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    find . -type d \( "${recursive_expr[@]}" \) 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
 
-      if [ "$dry_run" = "true" ]; then
-        log_info "[dry-run] Would copy directory $dir_path"
-        copied_count=$((copied_count + 1))
-        continue
-      fi
+  cd "$old_pwd" || return 1
+}
 
-      mkdir -p "$dest_parent"
+# Copy already-resolved directories from a source root.
+# Usage: _copy_resolved_directories src_root dst_root resolved_dirs excludes [dry_run]
+_copy_resolved_directories() {
+  local src_root="$1"
+  local dst_root="$2"
+  local resolved_dirs="$3"
+  local excludes="$4"
+  local dry_run="${5:-false}"
 
-      # Copy directory using CoW when available (preserves symlinks as symlinks)
-      if _has_subdir_excludes "$dir_path" "$excludes"; then
-        if _selective_copy_dir "$dir_path" "$dst_root" "$excludes"; then
-          log_info "Copied directory $dir_path"
-          copied_count=$((copied_count + 1))
-        else
-          log_warn "Failed to copy directory $dir_path"
-        fi
-      elif _fast_copy_dir "$dir_path" "$dest_parent/"; then
+  if [ -z "$resolved_dirs" ]; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  local old_pwd
+  old_pwd=$(pwd)
+  cd "$src_root" || return 1
+
+  local copied_count=0
+  local dir_path
+  while IFS= read -r dir_path; do
+    [ -z "$dir_path" ] && continue
+    dir_path="${dir_path#./}"
+
+    is_excluded "$dir_path" "$excludes" && continue
+    [ ! -d "$dir_path" ] && continue
+
+    local dest_dir="$dst_root/$dir_path"
+    local dest_parent
+    dest_parent=$(dirname "$dest_dir")
+
+    if [ "$dry_run" = "true" ]; then
+      log_info "[dry-run] Would copy directory $dir_path"
+      copied_count=$((copied_count + 1))
+      continue
+    fi
+
+    mkdir -p "$dest_parent"
+
+    # Copy directory using CoW when available (preserves symlinks as symlinks)
+    if _has_subdir_excludes "$dir_path" "$excludes"; then
+      if _selective_copy_dir "$dir_path" "$dst_root" "$excludes"; then
         log_info "Copied directory $dir_path"
         copied_count=$((copied_count + 1))
-        _apply_directory_excludes "$dst_root" "$dir_path" "$excludes"
       else
         log_warn "Failed to copy directory $dir_path"
       fi
-    done <<EOF
-$find_results
-EOF
+    elif _fast_copy_dir "$dir_path" "$dest_parent/"; then
+      log_info "Copied directory $dir_path"
+      copied_count=$((copied_count + 1))
+      _apply_directory_excludes "$dst_root" "$dir_path" "$excludes"
+    else
+      log_warn "Failed to copy directory $dir_path"
+    fi
   done <<EOF
-$dir_patterns
+$resolved_dirs
 EOF
 
   cd "$old_pwd" || return 1
@@ -528,3 +597,21 @@ EOF
 
   return 0
 }
+
+# Copy directories matching patterns (typically git-ignored directories like node_modules)
+# Usage: copy_directories src_root dst_root dir_patterns excludes [dry_run]
+# dir_patterns: newline-separated repo-relative paths or glob patterns
+# excludes: newline-separated directory patterns to exclude (supports globs like "node_modules/.cache")
+# WARNING: This copies entire directories including potentially sensitive files.
+#          Use gtr.copy.excludeDirs to exclude sensitive directories.
+copy_directories() {
+  local src_root="$1"
+  local dst_root="$2"
+  local dir_patterns="$3"
+  local excludes="$4"
+  local dry_run="${5:-false}"
+
+  local resolved_dirs
+  resolved_dirs=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src_root" "$dir_patterns") || return 1
+  _copy_resolved_directories "$src_root" "$dst_root" "$resolved_dirs" "$excludes" "$dry_run"
+}
diff --git a/tests/cmd_copy.bats b/tests/cmd_copy.bats
index c4ce9e6..69afba3 100644
--- a/tests/cmd_copy.bats
+++ b/tests/cmd_copy.bats
@@ -103,6 +103,25 @@ teardown() {
   [ -f "$TEST_WORKTREES_DIR/copy-target-2/.zed/settings.json" ]
 }
 
+@test "cmd_copy --all resolves includeDirs once" {
+  create_test_worktree "copy-target-2"
+  mkdir -p "$TEST_REPO/.zed"
+  echo "settings" > "$TEST_REPO/.zed/settings.json"
+  git config --add gtr.copy.includeDirs ".zed"
+  local resolve_log="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/resolve.log"
+
+  _resolve_directory_patterns() {
+    printf 'called\n' >> "$resolve_log"
+    printf './.zed\n'
+  }
+
+  run cmd_copy --all
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [ "$(wc -l < "$resolve_log" | tr -d ' ')" -eq 1 ]
+  [ -f "$TEST_WORKTREES_DIR/copy-target/.zed/settings.json" ]
+  [ -f "$TEST_WORKTREES_DIR/copy-target-2/.zed/settings.json" ]
+}
+
 @test "cmd_copy --from copies configured includeDirs from source worktree" {
   create_test_worktree "copy-source"
   mkdir -p "$TEST_WORKTREES_DIR/copy-source/.idea"
diff --git a/tests/copy_safety.bats b/tests/copy_safety.bats
index 9f1f28b..aebdcf5 100644
--- a/tests/copy_safety.bats
+++ b/tests/copy_safety.bats
@@ -342,3 +342,95 @@ teardown() {
   [ ! -e "$dst/vendor/bundle/cache" ]
   ! grep -qx "vendor/bundle/cache" "$copy_log"
 }
+
+@test "literal directory patterns do not invoke find" {
+  _test_tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local src="$_test_tmpdir/src" find_log="$_test_tmpdir/find.log"
+  mkdir -p "$src/build/generated" "$src/node_modules"
+
+  find() {
+    printf 'called\n' >> "$find_log"
+    return 1
+  }
+
+  local resolved
+  resolved=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src" $'build/generated\nnode_modules\nbuild/missing')
+
+  [ "$resolved" = $'./build/generated\n./node_modules' ]
+  [ ! -e "$find_log" ]
+}
+
+@test "missing basename retains recursive matching" {
+  _test_tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local src="$_test_tmpdir/src"
+  mkdir -p "$src/packages/a/vendor"
+
+  local resolved
+  resolved=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src" "vendor")
+
+  [ "$resolved" = "./packages/a/vendor" ]
+}
+
+@test "copy_directories copies nested basename after root miss" {
+  _test_tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local src="$_test_tmpdir/src" dst="$_test_tmpdir/dst"
+  mkdir -p "$src/packages/a/vendor" "$dst"
+  echo "nested" > "$src/packages/a/vendor/marker"
+
+  copy_directories "$src" "$dst" "vendor" ""
+
+  [ -f "$dst/packages/a/vendor/marker" ]
+}
+
+@test "missing basename patterns share one recursive scan" {
+  _test_tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local src="$_test_tmpdir/src" find_log="$_test_tmpdir/find.log"
+  mkdir -p "$src/packages/a/vendor" "$src/packages/b/cache"
+
+  find() {
+    printf 'called\n' >> "$find_log"
+    command find "$@"
+  }
+
+  local resolved
+  resolved=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src" $'vendor\ncache')
+
+  [ "$(wc -l < "$find_log" | tr -d ' ')" -eq 1 ]
+  [ "$(printf '%s\n' "$resolved" | grep -c '^./packages/a/vendor$')" -eq 1 ]
+  [ "$(printf '%s\n' "$resolved" | grep -c '^./packages/b/cache$')" -eq 1 ]
+}
+
+@test "missing basename glob retains recursive matching" {
+  _test_tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local src="$_test_tmpdir/src"
+  mkdir -p "$src/packages/a/vendor-cache"
+
+  local resolved
+  resolved=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src" "vendor-*")
+
+  [ "$resolved" = "./packages/a/vendor-cache" ]
+}
+
+@test "single-star directory patterns are bounded to their explicit depth" {
+  _test_tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local src="$_test_tmpdir/src"
+  mkdir -p "$src/one/cache" "$src/one/deep/cache"
+
+  local resolved
+  resolved=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src" "*/cache")
+
+  [ "$resolved" = "./one/cache" ]
+}
+
+@test "double-star directory patterns retain recursive matching" {
+  _test_tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local src="$_test_tmpdir/src"
+  mkdir -p "$src/one/cache" "$src/one/deep/cache"
+
+  local resolved
+  resolved=$(_resolve_directory_patterns "$src" "**/cache")
+
+  [ "$(printf '%s\n' "$resolved" | grep -c '^./one/cache$')" -eq 1 ]
+  [ "$(printf '%s\n' "$resolved" | grep -c '^./one/deep/cache$')" -eq 1 ]
+  [ "$(printf '%s\n' "$resolved" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')" -eq 2 ]
+}