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Ask HN: Where are the simple Git GUIs?
For years I used Atom's git GUI, and now that atom is being sunsetted, it has mysteriously started becoming buggy. I use VSCode as my IDE. I've tried: Sourcetree, GitKraken, VSCodes git gui, github desktop, and more. I really cannot stand them, there's 5000 UI elements and text everywhere, things are not laid out intuitively, things are in random places. I gave them a serious try, especially sourcetree (as it seemed the best of them all) and uninstalled it out of pure frustration.
My work process is this: use atoms ui (its very simple) for 99% of my git needs, and in the 1% I need something else, I use the CLI. I don't want every single git feature fit into ui elements on a single screen. I don't want to use the CLI 100%, because its just simply slower, and takes more effort, for most things.
Atom git gui screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/33EkpTu.png
Git kraken screenshot (for comparison): https://www.gitkraken.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/index-thumbnail.png
- db48x 4y agoTry Magit.
- hsn915 4y agoHave you tried Gitup?
- KingMob 4y agoSeconding Gitup. It was one of the first Git GUIs to map Cmd-Z to undo anything you did, making it very easy to play around and learn new stuff.
- DemocracyFTW2 4y agoI can recommend https://www.sublimemerge.com https://www.sublimemerge.com It's fast and nice to work with. I actually use it in conjunction with the command line (zsh w/ autocomplete so I normally only type the first one or two letters of each recurrent command to get the completion, hit return, done) specifically to pick those portions of each file that I want to go into a given commit. Occasionally I use some more advanced features like file history.
- pjmlp 4y agoI use mostly TortoiseGit, https://tortoisegit.org https://tortoisegit.org. As easy as it gets, no Electron boilerplate, full Windows native executable.
- jamesmunns 4y agoI learned git on tortoise git. It's definitely a good and simple option if you're on windows.
- captaindiego 4y agoIt's too bad there's no cross-platform equivalent - although it might be hard as it's context menu based
- refferal 4y agoI use mostly GitExtensions, see: https://github.com/gitextensions/gitextensions https://github.com/gitextensions/gitextensions Screenshot: https://gitextensions.github.io/images/commitlog205.png https://gitextensions.github.io/images/commitlog205.png Edit: added screenshot
- CrypticShift 4y agoI guess you could rapidly run through all the options here : just examine the screenshot of each product to gauge its UI complexity. https://alternativeto.net/category/developer-tools/git-client/?sort=likes https://alternativeto.net/category/developer-tools/git-clien...
- quadral 4y agoFor windows I use Git Extensions; http://gitextensions.github.io/ http://gitextensions.github.io/. Really simple UI.
- signaru 4y agoNice to see something made with C# (as someone who codes mostly in C#/VS).
- iruoy 4y agoI mostly use the terminal, but for when I need to find stuff I like Sublime Merge. https://www.sublimemerge.com/ https://www.sublimemerge.com/
- countmora 4y agoI am using https://www.git-tower.com https://www.git-tower.com.
- nashashmi 4y agoI like git tower. But I don’t like their annual subscription. I guess if you were in a corporate setting, you could expense it.
- eimrine 4y agoThere are a lot of recommendations here. I have never used any version control system but I feel a needness to have one for my config files such as .vimrc . Any recommentations of what should I consider for minimalization of learning process?
- worldsavior 4y ago>I have never used any version control system How? Anway, git is the most standralized one, hence you should try learning it. You can look at git-scm docs, experience with some repositories, use your own repo and things that make you use git.
- chasinglogic 4y agoIt uses git under the covers but my tool for dotfile management abstracts over it so you rarely have to interact unless you want to: https://github.com/chasinglogic/dfm https://github.com/chasinglogic/dfm
- NikkiA 4y agoMy recommendation is yadm, which is built on top of git
- iExploder 4y agogitk, git_gui, but i used them on linux, not sure how well they would run on other platforms
- james-skemp 4y agoHaven't used on Linux, but they work great on Windows and Mac.
- scanny 4y agoI use git graph (VS Code Extension). It is very visual and you can interact with git functionality through the tree visualisation itself. It shows the git tree and includes a diff mechanism. Used it since 2019 after moving from TortoiseHg. Demo Gif: https://github.com/mhutchie/vscode-git-graph/raw/master/resources/demo.gif https://github.com/mhutchie/vscode-git-graph/raw/master/reso... Extension Page: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mhutchie.git-graph https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mhutchie...
- Tijdreiziger 4y agoI use this + GitLens (which also appears in the demo gif you link, but collapsed).
- purerandomness 4y agoJetbrains IDEs (IDEA, PHPStorm, Goland,...) have the best GUI for git that I'm aware of. I'm a proficient CLI user, but the IDE's GUI really helps with diffs, partial commits, and is all around very convenient to use.
- lolive 4y agoThe best visual diff tool ever !
- 000001010011100 4y agoI use gitui. Its a TUI written in rust and it is great. I mainly use it for looking at the gitlog, committing, and pushing. https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui
- florianfmmartin 4y agoCheck out lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit
- izoow 4y agoSeconding this. After trying out a bunch of git guis and being unsatisfied with all of them, I recently discovered lazygit and I absolutely love it. Simple, lightweight, doesn't get in your way, doesn't hide things from you, just an absolute pleasure to use.
- dude187 4y agoProbably not an answer to your question, but take a look at gitk. It's more for visualization, but it comes installed with git for most distributions. I've found it's incredibly helpful for teaching people the commit tree model, or even just looking at all the diffs across a branch
- jbverschoor 4y agoGitbox used to be really nice.. http://gitboxapp.com/ http://gitboxapp.com/, but I just use VSCode
- datsro 4y agoI still use Gitbox today. I think it is due for an upgrade!
- biehl 4y agoI think Sourcetree is a very nice gui for git. https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/ https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/
- peanball 4y agoFork (https://fork.dev https://fork.dev) is my go-to. One time payment, super clear UI.
- terminal_d 4y agoEmacs' magit is the best out there.
- ioblomov 4y agoIf you're a Mac user, try GitX. Pros include: 1. browsing/searching/sorting commit histories 2. diffs (what you'd expect from a GUI) 3. super lightweight Cons are: 1. can't resolve conflicts (but it makes easy commits easier) 2. last release was 2014 (but it's perfectly usable as is) http://rowanj.github.io/gitx/ http://rowanj.github.io/gitx/