gitkit 0.4.0

Standalone CLI for configuring git repos — hooks, .gitignore, and .gitattributes
gitkit-0.4.0 is not a library. 
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Set up a git repo the way you actually work — one guided flow for hooks, .gitignore, .gitattributes, and git config. One binary, no Node.js, no Python, no runtime dependencies.

Demo

Demo

Features

  • 🪄 Guided repo setup — Configure hooks, .gitignore, .gitattributes, and git config in one interactive flow.
  • 📊 Status overview — See what's currently configured with gitkit status.
  • 🔁 Clone and bootstrap — Clone a repo and drop straight into the setup wizard.
  • 🧰 Hook management — Install, list, show, or remove built-in hooks, or wire up your own command.
  • 🧩 Ignore and attribute presets — Browse built-in and gitignore.io templates, then apply line-ending or binary presets.
  • ⚙️ Curated git config — Apply practical presets with --global or --local scope, with idempotency detection.
  • 💾 Save & reuse builds — Save configurations and apply them to any project with one command.
  • 📦 Single binary — No Node.js, no Python, no extra runtime.

Installation

Quick install (recommended)

Linux / macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/UniverLab/gitkit/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/UniverLab/gitkit/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Via cargo

cargo install gitkit

Available on crates.io.

GitHub Releases

Check the Releases page for precompiled binaries (Linux x86_64, macOS x86_64/ARM64, Windows x86_64).

Uninstall

Linux / macOS:

rm -f ~/.local/bin/gitkit

Windows (PowerShell):

Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\gitkit\gitkit.exe" -Force

Quick Start

Run the wizard (no arguments needed):

gitkit

Or explicitly:

gitkit init

Clone and configure a repo in one command:

gitkit clone https://github.com/user/repo

Or use commands directly:

gitkit hooks add conventional-commits
gitkit ignore add rust,vscode,agentic
gitkit attributes init
gitkit config apply defaults

Documentation

Full documentation lives in docs/: installation, quick start, hooks, ignore & attributes, config presets, builds and the complete CLI reference.

gitkit status

Show what's currently configured in your repo and globally.

gitkit status

Output example:

Hooks:
  ✓ conventional-commits (commit-msg)
  ✓ custom: pre-push → "cargo test"

.gitignore:
  ✓ 14 patterns

.gitattributes:
  ✓ line-endings (eol=lf)

Git config (local):
  (none)

Git config (global):
  ✓ push.autoSetupRemote = true
  ✓ help.autocorrect = prompt
  ✓ diff.algorithm = histogram

gitkit init

Interactive wizard that guides you through configuring a repo step by step. Shows what's already configured and allows removal.

  • Hooks — shows installed hooks, pre-selects them, allows removal
  • .gitignore — filterable search across all gitignore.io templates + built-ins
  • .gitattributes — line endings and binary file presets
  • Git config — shows current values, allows removal
  • Custom hooks — interactive picker for hook type selection

Run without arguments or explicitly:

gitkit
# or
gitkit init

Automatically initializes a git repository if one doesn't exist.

gitkit clone

Clone a repository and automatically run gitkit init to configure it.

Usage:

gitkit clone [OPTIONS] <REPOSITORY> [DIRECTORY]

Arguments:

  • <REPOSITORY> — Repository URL or path to clone
  • [DIRECTORY] — Target directory (defaults to repository name)

Options:

  • -b, --branch <BRANCH> — Clone specific branch (defaults to repository default)
  • -h, --help — Print help

Examples:

# Clone and auto-configure
gitkit clone https://github.com/user/repo

# Clone specific branch
gitkit clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo

# Clone to custom directory
gitkit clone https://github.com/user/repo my-project

The wizard runs automatically after cloning, allowing you to configure hooks, .gitignore, .gitattributes, and git config in one workflow.

Commands

Hooks

Command Description
gitkit hooks add <builtin> Install a built-in hook (hook name inferred)
gitkit hooks add <hook> <command> Install a custom shell command as a hook
gitkit hooks list List installed hooks
gitkit hooks list --available Show all built-in hooks with descriptions
gitkit hooks remove <hook> Remove an installed hook
gitkit hooks show <hook> Print hook content

Ignore

Command Description
gitkit ignore add <templates> Generate/merge .gitignore via gitignore.io
gitkit ignore list [filter] List available templates

Attributes

Command Description
gitkit attributes init Apply line endings preset to .gitattributes

Config

Command Description
gitkit config apply defaults push.autoSetupRemote, help.autocorrect, diff.algorithm
gitkit config apply advanced merge.conflictstyle zdiff3, rerere.enabled
gitkit config apply delta core.pager delta (requires cargo)
gitkit config show Show current git config values

Scope options:

  • --global — Apply to global git config (all repos)
  • --local — Apply to local repo config only
  • Default: --local if in a repo, --global otherwise

Idempotency:

Configs already set with the same value show (already set) and are skipped.

$ gitkit config apply defaults --global
✓ push.autoSetupRemote = true (already set)
✓ help.autocorrect = prompt (already set)
✓ diff.algorithm = histogram (already set)

All configs already applied.

Build

Save and reuse configurations across projects.

Command Description
gitkit build list List saved builds
gitkit build save <name> Save current repo config as a build
gitkit build apply <name> Apply a saved build
gitkit build delete <name> Delete a saved build

Example:

# Save current configuration
gitkit build save rust-dev --description "Rust development setup"

# Apply to another project
cd /path/to/other/project
gitkit build apply rust-dev

Builds are saved to ~/.gitkit/builds/ as TOML files.

Built-in Hooks

Run gitkit hooks list --available to see these without leaving the terminal.

Name Hook Description
conventional-commits commit-msg Validates Conventional Commits format
no-secrets pre-commit Detects common secret patterns in staged changes
branch-naming pre-commit Validates branch name matches convention

Built-ins are embedded in the binary — no network required.

Global Flags

Flag Description
--yes, -y Skip confirmation prompts
--force, -f Overwrite existing files
--dry-run Preview changes without applying

License

MIT

An experiment of UniverLab — an open computational laboratory. Made with ❤️ by JheisonMB