10 ms·

Tig – Text-mode interface for Git

302 points by lemonspat 6y ago

topher200 6y ago
I'm a huge fan of tig. It maps really well to my way of thinking about git repos and it is super quick way to see the graph of everything that's going on. In the Top 5 of command line tools for me.
smitty1e 6y ago
Mandatory plug: https://magit.vc/ https://magit.vc/
- RMPR 6y ago
  That's the first thing that drove me initially to Emacs. I never found a Git client that well-crafted.
  - globular-toast 6y ago
    That's because most aren't designed as git porcelains. Magit enhances and, in some cases, replaces git's abstractions with its own. If a git frontend starts by taking git's own built-in porcelain as a given then it's already doomed to failure.
    - ajarmst 6y ago
      I've been using Magit for years, but I've never seen the use of "porcelain" as a jargon term to describe anything but Magit. Can you point me to a 'splaner on the use of that term? Googling hasn't gotten me anything but an insight to just how many people take porcelain (the pottery) very, very seriously.
      - lapinot 6y ago
        https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Porcelain https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Po... tldr: git low-level commands are considered API and called "plumbing" (eg `git cat-file`, `git upload-pack`), otoh stuff like `git push` is porcelain: it's an ui layer.
      - globular-toast 6y ago
        It's a git specific terminology. The plumbing is low level stuff like creating objects etc (ie. DAG operations). The porcelain is high level stuff like "rebase" which is (supposedly) designed for human use.
      - simias 6y ago
        It's silly git nomenclature for "human readable output". Except it's not even used consistently within git. What the parent mean is that some tool rely on the human-oriented, potentially unstable output of git commands instead of using lower level layers.
- chipotle_coyote 6y ago
  And for Vim nerds: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive (I tend to be using different editors most of the time, but haven't found a text editor Git integration better than either Magit or Fugitive.)
  - falkd 6y ago
    There is also Vimagit, which is inspired by Magit: https://github.com/jreybert/vimagit https://github.com/jreybert/vimagit
knubie 6y ago
Been using tig for years and couldn’t imagine going back. I love how closely it maps to the standard git CLI.
xyproto 6y ago
Tig is and has been my favorite utility for browsing git logs for years now. Thanks tig developers and contributors! It's handy to know that the arrow keys are used for browsing the log messages, while return followed by either pgup/pgdn or j/k are used for scrolling the contents of a log message. And it's easy to search logs with /. Tig is also theme-able. For instance with: curl -so ~/.tigrc 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/dotfiles/master/tigrc.symlink https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/dotfiles/master/...' Note that this may overwrite your ~/.tigrc, if you already have one. Colors are subjective, but I like how it looks in my terminal emulator. Tig is highly recommended. It just works and is one less thing to worry about.
- ausjke 6y ago
  same here also it's much faster to open when you have a really large repository
- mkhnews 6y ago
  I will also say tig is awesome. I use it all the time and have submitted a few PRs to it for my particular idiosyncrasies. Vim's gv plugin is also good.
- al3ssapa 6y ago
  +1 Tig is awesome!
- CoolGuySteve 6y ago
  tig along with htop, tmux, ag, and vim are always the first packages I install on any new host. They're indispensable.
- simlevesque 6y ago
  curl -so ~/.tigrc 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/dotfiles/master/tigrc.symlink'
- mewpmewp2 6y ago
  How often do you browse git logs? I see others also mentioning using git logs, but I really myself have not used it very often except maybe in some very edge cases and it is hard for me to imagine when it might be useful.
cphoover 6y ago
Ahhh one of my fave command line utilities, super useful git tool.
hibbelig 6y ago
Lazygit is an alternative that I like.
- talkingtab 6y ago
  Second lazygit. My personal favorite at https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit
- sli 6y ago
  Started using lazygit a couple months ago and never looked back.
- rplnt 6y ago
  I've been using it for I think well over a year now. Started with using it just to add/remove files from staging. Used git for everything else. Slowly added committing, pushing, creating patches, seeing history, ... It's quite fast and is easy to add it to your regular git flows.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
chrisweekly 6y ago
tig seems like it could be a cool tool, but trying to view screenshots (on ios latest safari) left me stuck on a flickr login screen. ):
- Timothee 6y ago
  For what it's worth, I don't think the screenshots do it any favor. The main thing is that it's a terminal-based git client with Vim bindings, and customization. It's hard to represent that in screenshots :) But I've also been using it for years and it's working perfectly for me.
- aszen 6y ago
  See the video here https://youtu.be/z0mb0NteYjg https://youtu.be/z0mb0NteYjg
inetknght 6y ago
I've used `tig` for years and it's wonderful.
corytheboyd 6y ago
A timeless classic, have for years and will continue to use it daily
ktzar 6y ago
Using it for years. Pretty good and it's even included in the latest versions of git for windows (if you can't use something else, as it was my case for a while)
- GordonS 6y ago
  Thanks, I was just trying to find out where to download Windows binaries, and had no idea I already had it!
skocznymroczny 6y ago
In Poland in the 90s there was a spreadsheet application for DOS named TIG. It was a companion to word editor named TAG.
tnorthcutt 6y ago
text-mode interface for Git Based on the comments here saying they love Tig, I know I'm missing something, but: doesn't Git provide a text interface (the `git` command) to Git? I'm not trying to be obtuse; I genuinely don't know what Tig provides that Git doesn't already do, but would love to know!
- tgvaughan 6y ago
  It provides a curses-based TUI, while generally git just provides a CLI.
- bkane521 6y ago
  Tig provides a GUI that is text-based, i.e. runs right in your terminal. It's essentially a shell friendly version of sourcetree/tortoisegit etc. A great tool on its own, but particularly useful for headless servers/remote machines.
  - tnorthcutt 6y ago
    Interesting, thank you!
- masklinn 6y ago
  tig is a curses program, it's an interactive terminal GUI (a TUI), as opposed to a CLI e.g. you can browse and interact with your log rather than dump it in a pager and need a separate terminal to dive into a commit or whatever. magit is a good alternative, it's not exactly a TUI because it works entirely inside emacs and uses emacs concepts, but it's entirely text-based.
  - tnorthcutt 6y ago
    Interesting, thank you! I think I need go learn more about what "curses" means
    - acoard 6y ago
      "Curses" is a library for writing, well, TUIs[0]. I get that's a bit circular, so let me explain. With a normal CLI program, you essentially just output to STDOUT line by line. You type `git status`, and the git program basically does `print(status)`. Then you're back to your terminal and you type another command, git or otherwise. A "curses" program renders fundamentally different. It's much more like how video games render. Every time it renders, it'll draw to the entire screen. You're not in an empty command line where you can type any command, rather you are "in" the application. Take a look at this screenshot [1]. You can imagine how pressing up/down keys might move which input is selected. If you want to get back to the normal terminal you have to quit the TUI application. While not commonly thought of TUIs, generally vi/emacs/lynx/etc would all technically qualify (tho people might give you a strange look if you called them TUIs). To be clear, these do not use curses. They kind of predate curses and just wrote it manually. Curses is not a requirement ffor a TUI, but is by far the most common library to use when writing TUIs now-a-days. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_(programming_library) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_(programming_library) [1] https://i.stack.imgur.com/oD7mJ.png https://i.stack.imgur.com/oD7mJ.png
randylahey 6y ago
I've been using tig a lot recently; I've always just used git from the command line, but if you're working with a number of files, tig is hard to beat when you learn a few of the hotkeys.
pacificat0r 6y ago
Gitui is a better alternative https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui
- ocardoso 6y ago
  > gitui currently lacks essential features in git like push, pull, and checkout. The priorities are the basics (add, commit), and on features that are making me mad when done on the git shell, like stashes and hunks. Hardly a better alternative if it doesn't have all the basic features.
  - knubie 6y ago
    I’ve been using tig for years and never did a push / pull / checkout with it. The git CLI works fine for that, so I understand the authors priority here.
- yoz-y 6y ago
  What is the main feature that makes Gutui better than Tig?
- bsg75 6y ago
  That is subjective. I have not warmed up to curses UIs that have window frames. YMMV.
desireco42 6y ago
I've been using Tig for years. It works, it works well, it is fast and mostly intuitive. Usually people like it and want to use it after they see me using it.
bxrxdx 6y ago
I love tig.
vr46 6y ago
Love Tig, it's an instant go-to everyday for Getting Things Done™
SomeHacker44 6y ago
I did not find any obvious screenshots in action when clicking around on the site. So, I won't bother investigating further. Maybe others would also like some prominent screenshots that show off why we may want to use/try this.
- mrapogee 6y ago
  Uhm, you didn’t see the featured “Screenshots” item in the main navigation?
  - donarb 6y ago
    He did say "prominent". I agree, inline screenshots on the site are preferable to a Flickr gallery.
  - jdubb 6y ago
    For those like me who still couldn't find it: there's a small menu button on the top left. Maybe it's because I'm on mobile, but it's a bit hard to see.
    - sli 6y ago
      That's why. The sidebar is open by default on desktop.
- pmcollins 6y ago
  ditto but i downloaded it anyway and am very glad i did. btw on mobile, the screenshots are hidden behind the hamburger menu at the top of the page.
evnix 6y ago
a simple video demo/gif would be really cool to see what it does in one glance
samuell 6y ago
Tig is one of the most valuable hidden gems out there. I use it both for simple things like a good looking commit log (the default view), but like especially how I can navigate into an old commit, hit t (for tree), and navigate and peek into the files available in that specific commit, hit b (for blame) to view which commit changed a particular row etc. I like how all the different views play together into such useful workflows, and how, just like in vim, everything is available one mnemonic keystroke away. Hit h (for help) inside it to explore ... you will be surprised at the power of using these different views together in practice.
- torvald 6y ago
  And also e (for edit) which, at least for me, opens vin for a quick change when needed.
  - JNRowe 6y ago
    It uses whatever git's core.editor option tells it to, and supports setting $GIT_EDITOR to override it. I rely on that from time to time instead of having to write a bunch of different aliases in to my tig config for different editors.
spicybright 6y ago
Why no pictures, I'd like to see it first without installing it to my machine.
ninetax 6y ago
I use tig every day! Love it! My one wish is that when you go to edit a file from the interface (by hitting e) is that it would keep you in the directory you're in rather than editing the file as if you're in git root. Linters and other things break when I edit files from the root directory in our mono repo
- JNRowe 6y ago
  You can add your own binding for e or perhaps some other key: [tig "bind"] generic = e !script %(file) With script containing something like: cd `dirname $1` vim `basename $1` Although, if you're already a vim user using `set autochdir` is probably easier.
ninetax 6y ago
Do folks have .tigrc shortcuts they'd recommend?
dionian 6y ago
I use this quite a bit for ad-hoc git log viewing in bash. Thanks to the developers!
kissgyorgy 6y ago
My favorite is lazygit: https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit It has better layouts and shortcuts. I used Magit before, but hated to install Emacs only for such a small feature set. Lazygit is perfect when you want to manipulate a git repo quickly, but very similarly to Magit.
- tcoff91 6y ago
  Excited to try this. I work in this one massive repo that Magit just can't handle. Pulling up the Magit status window takes 15-25 seconds on a 2019 15" MBP with an 8-core i9. It's torture because I'm so used to Magit that I hate having to change my workflow for one repo. I hope lazygit is faster than Magit.
metaodi 6y ago
tig is great, it's my go-to git client on all my machines. Only since I use tig I understand how to commit hunks. It's super easy to split the changes of a file into different commits that make sense. With most other clients this is either cumbersome or not possible. So your forced to always commit all changes of a file in one commit. I guess it just really works great for my workflow and the way I think about my repositories/commits.
- timidger 6y ago
  Out of curiosity what's wrong with git add -i? That's what I use to stage parts of a file.
  - petepete 6y ago
    Tig is just faster, staging and unstaging take a fraction of a second. I've used Tig daily for years (about ten) and basically use it for for quickly browsing the log and changing what's staged - probably less than 5% of its features. Everything else I do via the command line with ZSH's excellent git completion.
  - robenkleene 6y ago
    `git add -i` is linear, you have to address files and chunks in order (there are workarounds for this, but they're clumsy). `git add -i` is a bit like using a typewriter, whereas `tig`, which lets you address files and chunks non-linearly, is like using a word processor by comparison. Edit to your hearts content.
skibz 6y ago
Not only is the name just three letters long, it's git backwards, and the acronym text-mode interface for git. Simply perfect.
qwertywert_ 6y ago
Really, do you have to link screenshots separately to a flickr page? Screenshots are super important for projects imo to quickly understand how something is actually useful. Should always make the small effort to add an example GIF or image (if applicable to the project).
dag11 6y ago
I'd like to just say that Tig has been deeply integrated into my terminal git workflow for so many years, it's one of the first things I install on any new system. I've found that practically all GUIs for git only serve to be a shell for the same commands you'd be quicker typing out in the first place, and their only unique value is a visual representation your branching and the ability to quickly stage/unstage chunks of code within a file. Tig brings these two tasks beautifully into any command line workflow, loading instantly and having good keyboard shortcuts <3
- tcoff91 6y ago
  I'll have to try it and see how it compares to Magit. Magit is by far my favorite way to interact with git. I do work on a repo currently however that brings Magit to its knees performance-wise, so I'll have to see if Tig performs better with it.
mlang23 6y ago
Git already has a text-mode interface, its called Git!
pengaru 6y ago
As a longtime vim user it feels like if I actually wanted a TUI veneer over the git CLI I'm already quite familiar with, I'd prefer it be done within vim as an extension/plugin or something. Having some vim-like keybindings in non-vim tools is nice, but it's always a far cry from being vim. And personally I find it incredibly annoying when I'm in something vim-like enough to establish "I'm in vim" expectations and not meet them once I start trying to use the thing like vim without restraint. I'm then put into this constant second guessing mode of "if this really were vim I'd do so and so, but should I just try it? maybe it'll do something really unexpected, time to RTFM? sigh." which is really unproductive and psychologically awful. Especially when we're talking about dev tools like git integration, where the mental state is already going to be steeped well into text editor land, all the familiar vimisms are going to be hot in the habitual cache. Does anyone know of anything tig-like that's implemented as a vim plugin one interacts with through regular vim windows? I wouldn't mind having an interactive list interface for tagging files to include in a `git commit -p` for instance, without leaving the editor.
- wrboyce 6y ago
  I’m a big fan of tpope’s fugitive: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
- mkhnews 6y ago
  fugitive + gv vim plugins
- brandmeyer 6y ago
  Check out vim's `:terminal` and `:vertical terminal` commands. It uses vim's window split management to place an ordinary no-kidding pty-based terminal into the vim UI. Ctrl-W N goes to Normal mode for copy (but not paste), Ctrl-W <motion> moves around like normal.
nathias 6y ago
tig really is great, I've been using it for years now
felixr 6y ago
Are there any good TUIs for mercurial? I have only found https://github.com/matheuslessarodrigues/verco https://github.com/matheuslessarodrigues/verco which not as good as tig or lazygit
keyle 6y ago
I like tig, then I discovered lazygit, a samish idea in Go which as far as I can tell is more powerful and easier to use. (I have no affiliation to any).
bjarneh 6y ago
This is automatically installed when you install git on Windows, very good tool. The guy who wrote that piece of code that draws how the different branches are connected should receive some kind of award...
barbs 6y ago
Tig is my favourite command-line Git interface. Handy tip - you can enable mouse support by putting "set mouse = yes" in ~/.tigrc.
kristianpaul 6y ago
I use it all time for years now, must have git companion
cameldrv 6y ago
Related, I like https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit
unigiri 6y ago
Tig is so useful for Vimmer since some of key binds are the same with Vim. Also, it's easier to execute rebase, cherry pick or all of git's commands than plane git commands if you customize it. I have no idea why all people who are familiar with CLI don't use it.
vngzs 6y ago
Does anyone here actually use tig to interact with Git repositories, rather than simply as a repository viewer? I've been a user for 8 years, but I only use it for viewing. Editing a repository remains a task exclusively for the CLI (or, occasionally, with magit).
MehdiHK 6y ago
bit is my latest favorite git TUI. Check it out here: https://github.com/chriswalz/bit https://github.com/chriswalz/bit
slezyr 6y ago
I just can't understand how all these people here use Git clients without a syntax highlighting.

302 points by lemonspat 6y ago

I'm a huge fan of tig. It maps really well to my way of thinking about git repos and it is super quick way to see the graph of everything that's going on. In the Top 5 of command line tools for me.

smitty1e 6y ago

Mandatory plug: https://magit.vc/ https://magit.vc/

RMPR 6y ago
That's the first thing that drove me initially to Emacs. I never found a Git client that well-crafted.
- globular-toast 6y ago
  That's because most aren't designed as git porcelains. Magit enhances and, in some cases, replaces git's abstractions with its own. If a git frontend starts by taking git's own built-in porcelain as a given then it's already doomed to failure.
  - ajarmst 6y ago
    I've been using Magit for years, but I've never seen the use of "porcelain" as a jargon term to describe anything but Magit. Can you point me to a 'splaner on the use of that term? Googling hasn't gotten me anything but an insight to just how many people take porcelain (the pottery) very, very seriously.
    - lapinot 6y ago
      https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Porcelain https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Po... tldr: git low-level commands are considered API and called "plumbing" (eg `git cat-file`, `git upload-pack`), otoh stuff like `git push` is porcelain: it's an ui layer.
    - globular-toast 6y ago
      It's a git specific terminology. The plumbing is low level stuff like creating objects etc (ie. DAG operations). The porcelain is high level stuff like "rebase" which is (supposedly) designed for human use.
    - simias 6y ago
      It's silly git nomenclature for "human readable output". Except it's not even used consistently within git. What the parent mean is that some tool rely on the human-oriented, potentially unstable output of git commands instead of using lower level layers.
chipotle_coyote 6y ago
And for Vim nerds: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive (I tend to be using different editors most of the time, but haven't found a text editor Git integration better than either Magit or Fugitive.)
- falkd 6y ago
  There is also Vimagit, which is inspired by Magit: https://github.com/jreybert/vimagit https://github.com/jreybert/vimagit

knubie 6y ago

Been using tig for years and couldn’t imagine going back. I love how closely it maps to the standard git CLI.

xyproto 6y ago

Tig is and has been my favorite utility for browsing git logs for years now. Thanks tig developers and contributors! It's handy to know that the arrow keys are used for browsing the log messages, while return followed by either pgup/pgdn or j/k are used for scrolling the contents of a log message. And it's easy to search logs with /. Tig is also theme-able. For instance with: curl -so ~/.tigrc 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/dotfiles/master/tigrc.symlink https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/dotfiles/master/...' Note that this may overwrite your ~/.tigrc, if you already have one. Colors are subjective, but I like how it looks in my terminal emulator. Tig is highly recommended. It just works and is one less thing to worry about.

ausjke 6y ago
same here also it's much faster to open when you have a really large repository
mkhnews 6y ago
I will also say tig is awesome. I use it all the time and have submitted a few PRs to it for my particular idiosyncrasies. Vim's gv plugin is also good.
al3ssapa 6y ago
+1 Tig is awesome!
CoolGuySteve 6y ago
tig along with htop, tmux, ag, and vim are always the first packages I install on any new host. They're indispensable.
simlevesque 6y ago
curl -so ~/.tigrc 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/dotfiles/master/tigrc.symlink'
mewpmewp2 6y ago
How often do you browse git logs? I see others also mentioning using git logs, but I really myself have not used it very often except maybe in some very edge cases and it is hard for me to imagine when it might be useful.

cphoover 6y ago

Ahhh one of my fave command line utilities, super useful git tool.

hibbelig 6y ago

Lazygit is an alternative that I like.

talkingtab 6y ago
Second lazygit. My personal favorite at https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit
sli 6y ago
Started using lazygit a couple months ago and never looked back.
rplnt 6y ago
I've been using it for I think well over a year now. Started with using it just to add/remove files from staging. Used git for everything else. Slowly added committing, pushing, creating patches, seeing history, ... It's quite fast and is easy to add it to your regular git flows.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

chrisweekly 6y ago

tig seems like it could be a cool tool, but trying to view screenshots (on ios latest safari) left me stuck on a flickr login screen. ):

Timothee 6y ago
For what it's worth, I don't think the screenshots do it any favor. The main thing is that it's a terminal-based git client with Vim bindings, and customization. It's hard to represent that in screenshots :) But I've also been using it for years and it's working perfectly for me.
aszen 6y ago
See the video here https://youtu.be/z0mb0NteYjg https://youtu.be/z0mb0NteYjg

inetknght 6y ago

I've used `tig` for years and it's wonderful.

corytheboyd 6y ago

A timeless classic, have for years and will continue to use it daily

ktzar 6y ago

Using it for years. Pretty good and it's even included in the latest versions of git for windows (if you can't use something else, as it was my case for a while)

GordonS 6y ago
Thanks, I was just trying to find out where to download Windows binaries, and had no idea I already had it!

skocznymroczny 6y ago

In Poland in the 90s there was a spreadsheet application for DOS named TIG. It was a companion to word editor named TAG.

tnorthcutt 6y ago

text-mode interface for Git Based on the comments here saying they love Tig, I know I'm missing something, but: doesn't Git provide a text interface (the `git` command) to Git? I'm not trying to be obtuse; I genuinely don't know what Tig provides that Git doesn't already do, but would love to know!

tgvaughan 6y ago
It provides a curses-based TUI, while generally git just provides a CLI.
bkane521 6y ago
Tig provides a GUI that is text-based, i.e. runs right in your terminal. It's essentially a shell friendly version of sourcetree/tortoisegit etc. A great tool on its own, but particularly useful for headless servers/remote machines.
- tnorthcutt 6y ago
  Interesting, thank you!
masklinn 6y ago
tig is a curses program, it's an interactive terminal GUI (a TUI), as opposed to a CLI e.g. you can browse and interact with your log rather than dump it in a pager and need a separate terminal to dive into a commit or whatever. magit is a good alternative, it's not exactly a TUI because it works entirely inside emacs and uses emacs concepts, but it's entirely text-based.
- tnorthcutt 6y ago
  Interesting, thank you! I think I need go learn more about what "curses" means
  - acoard 6y ago
    "Curses" is a library for writing, well, TUIs[0]. I get that's a bit circular, so let me explain. With a normal CLI program, you essentially just output to STDOUT line by line. You type `git status`, and the git program basically does `print(status)`. Then you're back to your terminal and you type another command, git or otherwise. A "curses" program renders fundamentally different. It's much more like how video games render. Every time it renders, it'll draw to the entire screen. You're not in an empty command line where you can type any command, rather you are "in" the application. Take a look at this screenshot [1]. You can imagine how pressing up/down keys might move which input is selected. If you want to get back to the normal terminal you have to quit the TUI application. While not commonly thought of TUIs, generally vi/emacs/lynx/etc would all technically qualify (tho people might give you a strange look if you called them TUIs). To be clear, these do not use curses. They kind of predate curses and just wrote it manually. Curses is not a requirement ffor a TUI, but is by far the most common library to use when writing TUIs now-a-days. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_(programming_library) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_(programming_library) [1] https://i.stack.imgur.com/oD7mJ.png https://i.stack.imgur.com/oD7mJ.png

randylahey 6y ago

I've been using tig a lot recently; I've always just used git from the command line, but if you're working with a number of files, tig is hard to beat when you learn a few of the hotkeys.

pacificat0r 6y ago

Gitui is a better alternative https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui

ocardoso 6y ago
> gitui currently lacks essential features in git like push, pull, and checkout. The priorities are the basics (add, commit), and on features that are making me mad when done on the git shell, like stashes and hunks. Hardly a better alternative if it doesn't have all the basic features.
- knubie 6y ago
  I’ve been using tig for years and never did a push / pull / checkout with it. The git CLI works fine for that, so I understand the authors priority here.
yoz-y 6y ago
What is the main feature that makes Gutui better than Tig?
bsg75 6y ago
That is subjective. I have not warmed up to curses UIs that have window frames. YMMV.

desireco42 6y ago

I've been using Tig for years. It works, it works well, it is fast and mostly intuitive. Usually people like it and want to use it after they see me using it.

bxrxdx 6y ago

I love tig.

vr46 6y ago

Love Tig, it's an instant go-to everyday for Getting Things Done™

SomeHacker44 6y ago

I did not find any obvious screenshots in action when clicking around on the site. So, I won't bother investigating further. Maybe others would also like some prominent screenshots that show off why we may want to use/try this.

mrapogee 6y ago
Uhm, you didn’t see the featured “Screenshots” item in the main navigation?
- donarb 6y ago
  He did say "prominent". I agree, inline screenshots on the site are preferable to a Flickr gallery.
- jdubb 6y ago
  For those like me who still couldn't find it: there's a small menu button on the top left. Maybe it's because I'm on mobile, but it's a bit hard to see.
  - sli 6y ago
    That's why. The sidebar is open by default on desktop.
pmcollins 6y ago
ditto but i downloaded it anyway and am very glad i did. btw on mobile, the screenshots are hidden behind the hamburger menu at the top of the page.

evnix 6y ago

a simple video demo/gif would be really cool to see what it does in one glance

samuell 6y ago

Tig is one of the most valuable hidden gems out there. I use it both for simple things like a good looking commit log (the default view), but like especially how I can navigate into an old commit, hit t (for tree), and navigate and peek into the files available in that specific commit, hit b (for blame) to view which commit changed a particular row etc. I like how all the different views play together into such useful workflows, and how, just like in vim, everything is available one mnemonic keystroke away. Hit h (for help) inside it to explore ... you will be surprised at the power of using these different views together in practice.

torvald 6y ago
And also e (for edit) which, at least for me, opens vin for a quick change when needed.
- JNRowe 6y ago
  It uses whatever git's core.editor option tells it to, and supports setting $GIT_EDITOR to override it. I rely on that from time to time instead of having to write a bunch of different aliases in to my tig config for different editors.

spicybright 6y ago

Why no pictures, I'd like to see it first without installing it to my machine.

ninetax 6y ago

I use tig every day! Love it! My one wish is that when you go to edit a file from the interface (by hitting e) is that it would keep you in the directory you're in rather than editing the file as if you're in git root. Linters and other things break when I edit files from the root directory in our mono repo

JNRowe 6y ago
You can add your own binding for e or perhaps some other key: [tig "bind"] generic = e !script %(file) With script containing something like: cd `dirname $1` vim `basename $1` Although, if you're already a vim user using `set autochdir` is probably easier.

ninetax 6y ago

Do folks have .tigrc shortcuts they'd recommend?

dionian 6y ago

I use this quite a bit for ad-hoc git log viewing in bash. Thanks to the developers!

kissgyorgy 6y ago

My favorite is lazygit: https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit It has better layouts and shortcuts. I used Magit before, but hated to install Emacs only for such a small feature set. Lazygit is perfect when you want to manipulate a git repo quickly, but very similarly to Magit.

tcoff91 6y ago
Excited to try this. I work in this one massive repo that Magit just can't handle. Pulling up the Magit status window takes 15-25 seconds on a 2019 15" MBP with an 8-core i9. It's torture because I'm so used to Magit that I hate having to change my workflow for one repo. I hope lazygit is faster than Magit.

metaodi 6y ago

tig is great, it's my go-to git client on all my machines. Only since I use tig I understand how to commit hunks. It's super easy to split the changes of a file into different commits that make sense. With most other clients this is either cumbersome or not possible. So your forced to always commit all changes of a file in one commit. I guess it just really works great for my workflow and the way I think about my repositories/commits.

timidger 6y ago
Out of curiosity what's wrong with git add -i? That's what I use to stage parts of a file.
- petepete 6y ago
  Tig is just faster, staging and unstaging take a fraction of a second. I've used Tig daily for years (about ten) and basically use it for for quickly browsing the log and changing what's staged - probably less than 5% of its features. Everything else I do via the command line with ZSH's excellent git completion.
- robenkleene 6y ago
  `git add -i` is linear, you have to address files and chunks in order (there are workarounds for this, but they're clumsy). `git add -i` is a bit like using a typewriter, whereas `tig`, which lets you address files and chunks non-linearly, is like using a word processor by comparison. Edit to your hearts content.

skibz 6y ago

Not only is the name just three letters long, it's git backwards, and the acronym text-mode interface for git. Simply perfect.

qwertywert_ 6y ago

Really, do you have to link screenshots separately to a flickr page? Screenshots are super important for projects imo to quickly understand how something is actually useful. Should always make the small effort to add an example GIF or image (if applicable to the project).

dag11 6y ago

I'd like to just say that Tig has been deeply integrated into my terminal git workflow for so many years, it's one of the first things I install on any new system. I've found that practically all GUIs for git only serve to be a shell for the same commands you'd be quicker typing out in the first place, and their only unique value is a visual representation your branching and the ability to quickly stage/unstage chunks of code within a file. Tig brings these two tasks beautifully into any command line workflow, loading instantly and having good keyboard shortcuts <3

tcoff91 6y ago
I'll have to try it and see how it compares to Magit. Magit is by far my favorite way to interact with git. I do work on a repo currently however that brings Magit to its knees performance-wise, so I'll have to see if Tig performs better with it.

mlang23 6y ago

Git already has a text-mode interface, its called Git!

pengaru 6y ago

As a longtime vim user it feels like if I actually wanted a TUI veneer over the git CLI I'm already quite familiar with, I'd prefer it be done within vim as an extension/plugin or something. Having some vim-like keybindings in non-vim tools is nice, but it's always a far cry from being vim. And personally I find it incredibly annoying when I'm in something vim-like enough to establish "I'm in vim" expectations and not meet them once I start trying to use the thing like vim without restraint. I'm then put into this constant second guessing mode of "if this really were vim I'd do so and so, but should I just try it? maybe it'll do something really unexpected, time to RTFM? sigh." which is really unproductive and psychologically awful. Especially when we're talking about dev tools like git integration, where the mental state is already going to be steeped well into text editor land, all the familiar vimisms are going to be hot in the habitual cache. Does anyone know of anything tig-like that's implemented as a vim plugin one interacts with through regular vim windows? I wouldn't mind having an interactive list interface for tagging files to include in a `git commit -p` for instance, without leaving the editor.

wrboyce 6y ago
I’m a big fan of tpope’s fugitive: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
mkhnews 6y ago
fugitive + gv vim plugins
brandmeyer 6y ago
Check out vim's `:terminal` and `:vertical terminal` commands. It uses vim's window split management to place an ordinary no-kidding pty-based terminal into the vim UI. Ctrl-W N goes to Normal mode for copy (but not paste), Ctrl-W <motion> moves around like normal.

nathias 6y ago

tig really is great, I've been using it for years now

felixr 6y ago

Are there any good TUIs for mercurial? I have only found https://github.com/matheuslessarodrigues/verco https://github.com/matheuslessarodrigues/verco which not as good as tig or lazygit

keyle 6y ago

I like tig, then I discovered lazygit, a samish idea in Go which as far as I can tell is more powerful and easier to use. (I have no affiliation to any).

bjarneh 6y ago

This is automatically installed when you install git on Windows, very good tool. The guy who wrote that piece of code that draws how the different branches are connected should receive some kind of award...

barbs 6y ago

Tig is my favourite command-line Git interface. Handy tip - you can enable mouse support by putting "set mouse = yes" in ~/.tigrc.

kristianpaul 6y ago

I use it all time for years now, must have git companion

cameldrv 6y ago

Related, I like https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit

unigiri 6y ago

Tig is so useful for Vimmer since some of key binds are the same with Vim. Also, it's easier to execute rebase, cherry pick or all of git's commands than plane git commands if you customize it. I have no idea why all people who are familiar with CLI don't use it.

vngzs 6y ago

Does anyone here actually use tig to interact with Git repositories, rather than simply as a repository viewer? I've been a user for 8 years, but I only use it for viewing. Editing a repository remains a task exclusively for the CLI (or, occasionally, with magit).

MehdiHK 6y ago

bit is my latest favorite git TUI. Check it out here: https://github.com/chriswalz/bit https://github.com/chriswalz/bit

slezyr 6y ago

I just can't understand how all these people here use Git clients without a syntax highlighting.