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Show HN: Git-Add–Interactive with Enhancements

75 points by xn 1y ago

I created a replacement for the perl git-add--interactive that adds a few enhancements: - S to automatically split all hunks - G to set a global filter on hunks to show - A to automatically accept all hunks (after auto-splitting and global filter are applied)

Ayesh 1y ago
Congratulations on publishing this. I use `git add -p` quite a lot, and this project looks interesting! I knew that you could place a `git-xyz` executable and you can call it as `git xyz`. I didn't know you could do it with flags !?! A small video or some screenshots would help a lot. If you can record interactivity with ascii-cinema, that will be even better.
- zacharytamas 1y ago
  Since the OP is familiar with the Go ecosystem, they could probably use vhs[1] easily to programmatically create an interactive demo GIF. That has worked very well for me in the past. [1]: https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs
  - xn 1y ago
    Good thinking. I added a vhs tape: https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/blob/main/README.md https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/blob/main/RE...
- xn 1y ago
  Good idea. I'll try to throw something together.
sevg 1y ago
This looks neat! I think it’ll fit nicely alongside scmpuff which I’ve been using for years (and at this point refuse to ever give it up): https://github.com/mroth/scmpuff https://github.com/mroth/scmpuff
wapeoifjaweofji 1y ago
I've used `tig` for this sort of thing for well over a decade. `tig status` lets you see all files, interactively add things, whatever.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- foobarbaz33 1y ago
  Another tig user! Proof there are 1's of us out there.
- 29athrowaway 1y ago
  I have been using tig for years. Great software
zacharytamas 1y ago
I always love to see these little git extensions. For anyone else interested in this stuff, here are some others I like: lazygit (of course): https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit git-machete: https://github.com/VirtusLab/git-machete https://github.com/VirtusLab/git-machete rebase-editor: https://github.com/sjurba/rebase-editor https://github.com/sjurba/rebase-editor
- G1N 1y ago
  Been looking for something like git machete for the longest time, thanks for sharing!
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
lucasoshiro 1y ago
Question: why not send this to the Git mailing list, and hopefully get this in upstream?
- xn 1y ago
  After banging on it a bit more, yes, it would be nice to replace the upstream version.
  - lucasoshiro 1y ago
    Nice!
- williamdclt 1y ago
  I don’t think the Git maintainers will consider adding Go as a dependency and having commands in a new language. Or at least, it would require first a massive effort to align the maintainers on the idea of a new language, like Rust in the Linux kernel
  - xn 1y ago
    I updated my calendar to revisit in 2045.
  - lucasoshiro 1y ago
    > I don’t think the Git maintainers will consider adding Go as a dependency Just re-write in C
    - williamdclt 1y ago
      This "just" carries a lot of weight. And that's probably not enough: for example likely you'd need to reuse whatever Git uses to generates patch formats. It's not necessarily _hard_, but it's not "just" a language translation.
    - derintegrative 1y ago
      "Just"
halpow 1y ago
[dead]
jdlyga 1y ago
It would be nice if this had the same interface for `git add -i` allowing you to type in numbers or letters. ** Commands ** 1: status 2: update 3: revert 4: add untracked 5: patch 6: diff 7: quit 8: help What now> This allows you to either type in (p) or (5) to go into patch mode.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- xn 1y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. The latest version improves compatiblity with the perl version: https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/releases/tag/v0.3.0 https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/releases/tag...
jasonjmcghee 1y ago
I'm a serial "git add -p" user. (Micro-review before every commit is super healthy imo). I made an alias a while ago I use frequently: af => !f() { git add -p $(git diff --name-only | fzf); }; f When you have a large diff, it's get unruly quickly to "add -p". This just prompts you with a fuzzy find of the files that have changed and you can just pick one to go through the "add -p" process for that file. For the terminal averse, IDEs usually have "jump to next change" and a tab for the changed files that can achieve the same.
- Night_Thastus 1y ago
  I used to do patch operations and hunk-editing for everything and really enjoyed it. It definitely helps to put a fresh view on the code and see anything missed. Eventually I moved on to going line-by-line with a GUI tool. In my case Git-cola, but I'm not positive I'd recommend it because it's quite slow on Windows.
- h1fra 1y ago
  same I just wish it would split things even more by default
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
RadiozRadioz 1y ago
[flagged]
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
muxxa 1y ago
My 2c: I'd like to see git add interactive go through the hunks in order of most recent first!
- yencabulator 1y ago
  How do you define hunk recency when comparing a staged file vs file on disk?
treve 1y ago
The one feature I would love to see and would be an instant-install, is a command that lets me revert a hunk back. It would be nice to be able to wipe out some dangling console.log() statements as I go through the changes.
strogonoff 1y ago
I used to hate leaving Vim for Git’s interactive staging mode or some separate GUI to pick apart a hairy set of changes. As a result I usually tried to avoid these messy situations. Then I discovered Vim fugitive. It allows to go through the diff and stage chunks so intuitively, it changed the way I work. Just j/k to move around, = to expand file, s to stage selection, c to commit. The process of reviewing changes became very natural and actually enjoyable. I like the feeling of control it gives and how it makes focused commits painless while not disrupting the flow.
- kccqzy 1y ago
  And if you use magit for Emacs, it's also extremely easy to stage hunks selectively and easily: s to stage, cc to commit staged, ca to amend with staged, etc. This is the way: don't use the git CLI. Use your editor.
  - pi-rat 1y ago
    Frankly, it’s so good I use emacs just for git even when coding in other editors.
p_wood 1y ago
I like the idea of 'G' to filter hunks. The perl script does not exist since git v2.40.0 so I don't think the installation instructions work for recent versions of git as there is no way to stop 'git add -p' from running the builtin version. I see this is MIT licenced but the code is very closely based on the perl script which is licensed under the GPLv2.
- xn 1y ago
  huh. I guess this is a prototype for features that will have be submitted to the upstream version. There was a feature in development for something like `git add -G <regex>`, maybe a decade ago, that never got completed. As for licensing, I'm happy to change the license. I have no strong feelings on the subject, and don't know what restrictions GPLv2 imposes on a port to another language.
  - p_wood 1y ago
    It would be really nice to have this upstream - I don't know if the upstream implementation being in C now makes that easier or harder. As for the license I think because this is so closely based on GPL code it would be safer to use the same license.
loevborg 1y ago
This is my favorite alias: i = !git add -N . && git add -p `git i` lets you interactively add new files as well as existing ones
areusch 1y ago
the thing i really wish existed was git add -p mode that automatically segmented unstaged changes into a series of fixups based on the blame of the surrounding area that changed. this wouldn't work in all cases, but in many cases, i've made a series of 3-4 clearly-separable changes, i then go and make fixes on top of all of them, and now i want to fixup each change.
- imiric 1y ago
  Have you taken a look at git-absorb[1]? It often did the wrong thing IME, but YMMV. [1]: https://github.com/tummychow/git-absorb https://github.com/tummychow/git-absorb

75 points by xn 1y ago

Ayesh 1y ago

Congratulations on publishing this. I use `git add -p` quite a lot, and this project looks interesting! I knew that you could place a `git-xyz` executable and you can call it as `git xyz`. I didn't know you could do it with flags !?! A small video or some screenshots would help a lot. If you can record interactivity with ascii-cinema, that will be even better.

zacharytamas 1y ago
Since the OP is familiar with the Go ecosystem, they could probably use vhs[1] easily to programmatically create an interactive demo GIF. That has worked very well for me in the past. [1]: https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs
- xn 1y ago
  Good thinking. I added a vhs tape: https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/blob/main/README.md https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/blob/main/RE...
xn 1y ago
Good idea. I'll try to throw something together.

sevg 1y ago

This looks neat! I think it’ll fit nicely alongside scmpuff which I’ve been using for years (and at this point refuse to ever give it up): https://github.com/mroth/scmpuff https://github.com/mroth/scmpuff

wapeoifjaweofji 1y ago

I've used `tig` for this sort of thing for well over a decade. `tig status` lets you see all files, interactively add things, whatever.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
foobarbaz33 1y ago
Another tig user! Proof there are 1's of us out there.
29athrowaway 1y ago
I have been using tig for years. Great software

zacharytamas 1y ago

I always love to see these little git extensions. For anyone else interested in this stuff, here are some others I like: lazygit (of course): https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit git-machete: https://github.com/VirtusLab/git-machete https://github.com/VirtusLab/git-machete rebase-editor: https://github.com/sjurba/rebase-editor https://github.com/sjurba/rebase-editor

G1N 1y ago
Been looking for something like git machete for the longest time, thanks for sharing!
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

lucasoshiro 1y ago

Question: why not send this to the Git mailing list, and hopefully get this in upstream?

xn 1y ago
After banging on it a bit more, yes, it would be nice to replace the upstream version.
- lucasoshiro 1y ago
  Nice!
williamdclt 1y ago
I don’t think the Git maintainers will consider adding Go as a dependency and having commands in a new language. Or at least, it would require first a massive effort to align the maintainers on the idea of a new language, like Rust in the Linux kernel
- xn 1y ago
  I updated my calendar to revisit in 2045.
- lucasoshiro 1y ago
  > I don’t think the Git maintainers will consider adding Go as a dependency Just re-write in C
  - williamdclt 1y ago
    This "just" carries a lot of weight. And that's probably not enough: for example likely you'd need to reuse whatever Git uses to generates patch formats. It's not necessarily _hard_, but it's not "just" a language translation.
  - derintegrative 1y ago
    "Just"

halpow 1y ago

[dead]

jdlyga 1y ago

It would be nice if this had the same interface for `git add -i` allowing you to type in numbers or letters. ** Commands ** 1: status 2: update 3: revert 4: add untracked 5: patch 6: diff 7: quit 8: help What now> This allows you to either type in (p) or (5) to go into patch mode.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
xn 1y ago
Thanks for the feedback. The latest version improves compatiblity with the perl version: https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/releases/tag/v0.3.0 https://github.com/cwarden/git-add--interactive/releases/tag...

jasonjmcghee 1y ago

I'm a serial "git add -p" user. (Micro-review before every commit is super healthy imo). I made an alias a while ago I use frequently: af => !f() { git add -p $(git diff --name-only | fzf); }; f When you have a large diff, it's get unruly quickly to "add -p". This just prompts you with a fuzzy find of the files that have changed and you can just pick one to go through the "add -p" process for that file. For the terminal averse, IDEs usually have "jump to next change" and a tab for the changed files that can achieve the same.

Night_Thastus 1y ago
I used to do patch operations and hunk-editing for everything and really enjoyed it. It definitely helps to put a fresh view on the code and see anything missed. Eventually I moved on to going line-by-line with a GUI tool. In my case Git-cola, but I'm not positive I'd recommend it because it's quite slow on Windows.
h1fra 1y ago
same I just wish it would split things even more by default
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

RadiozRadioz 1y ago

[flagged]

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

muxxa 1y ago

My 2c: I'd like to see git add interactive go through the hunks in order of most recent first!

yencabulator 1y ago
How do you define hunk recency when comparing a staged file vs file on disk?

treve 1y ago

The one feature I would love to see and would be an instant-install, is a command that lets me revert a hunk back. It would be nice to be able to wipe out some dangling console.log() statements as I go through the changes.

strogonoff 1y ago

I used to hate leaving Vim for Git’s interactive staging mode or some separate GUI to pick apart a hairy set of changes. As a result I usually tried to avoid these messy situations. Then I discovered Vim fugitive. It allows to go through the diff and stage chunks so intuitively, it changed the way I work. Just j/k to move around, = to expand file, s to stage selection, c to commit. The process of reviewing changes became very natural and actually enjoyable. I like the feeling of control it gives and how it makes focused commits painless while not disrupting the flow.

kccqzy 1y ago
And if you use magit for Emacs, it's also extremely easy to stage hunks selectively and easily: s to stage, cc to commit staged, ca to amend with staged, etc. This is the way: don't use the git CLI. Use your editor.
- pi-rat 1y ago
  Frankly, it’s so good I use emacs just for git even when coding in other editors.

p_wood 1y ago

I like the idea of 'G' to filter hunks. The perl script does not exist since git v2.40.0 so I don't think the installation instructions work for recent versions of git as there is no way to stop 'git add -p' from running the builtin version. I see this is MIT licenced but the code is very closely based on the perl script which is licensed under the GPLv2.

xn 1y ago
huh. I guess this is a prototype for features that will have be submitted to the upstream version. There was a feature in development for something like `git add -G <regex>`, maybe a decade ago, that never got completed. As for licensing, I'm happy to change the license. I have no strong feelings on the subject, and don't know what restrictions GPLv2 imposes on a port to another language.
- p_wood 1y ago
  It would be really nice to have this upstream - I don't know if the upstream implementation being in C now makes that easier or harder. As for the license I think because this is so closely based on GPL code it would be safer to use the same license.

loevborg 1y ago

This is my favorite alias: i = !git add -N . && git add -p `git i` lets you interactively add new files as well as existing ones

areusch 1y ago

the thing i really wish existed was git add -p mode that automatically segmented unstaged changes into a series of fixups based on the blame of the surrounding area that changed. this wouldn't work in all cases, but in many cases, i've made a series of 3-4 clearly-separable changes, i then go and make fixes on top of all of them, and now i want to fixup each change.

imiric 1y ago
Have you taken a look at git-absorb[1]? It often did the wrong thing IME, but YMMV. [1]: https://github.com/tummychow/git-absorb https://github.com/tummychow/git-absorb