Monitor all your repos at a glance. See branch, dirty state, ahead/behind, active worktrees, changed files, and commit history without leaving the terminal.
Install
That's it. No cloning, no building from source. Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Don't have Rust? Download a prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases. It is a single static binary with zero dependencies.
# macOS (Apple Silicon) && # macOS (Intel) && # Linux (x86_64, statically linked) && # Linux (ARM64) &&
On NetBSD? gitpane is available as a community-maintained pkgsrc package in
devel/gitpane, thanks to @0323pin:&&
Then run:
Update
If you installed with cargo, gitpane can update itself:
If you installed from a GitHub Release, download the latest binary for your platform using the same commands from the install section above.
On NetBSD, update through pkgsrc instead of gitpane update, which shells out to cargo install and would replace the package-managed binary with a cargo-built one.
Why gitpane?
If you work across multiple repositories, such as microservices, monorepos with submodules, or a mix of projects, you know the pain of checking status one directory at a time. Existing TUI tools focus on one repo at a time:
| Tool | Multi repo | Auto refresh | Worktrees | Mouse | Commit graph | Split diffs | Push/Pull |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gitpane | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| lazygit | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| gitui | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| tig | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| git-delta | No | No | No | No | No | Yes (pager) | No |
| grv | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| git-summary | Yes (list only) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| mgitstatus | Yes (list only) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| gita | Yes (CLI only) | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| gitbatch | Yes (TUI) | No | No | No | No | No | Yes (batch) |
| gwq | Yes (CLI) | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Canopy | Yes (CLI) | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
lazygit and gitui are excellent for deep single repo work like staging hunks, interactive rebase, and conflict resolution. gitpane is the workspace level dashboard. It shows every repo at once, lets you drill into anything, and keeps you in the terminal. They complement each other.
A newer category of worktree dashboards has grown up around parallel AI agents, such as gwq (worktree status list with tmux integration), Canopy, and git-worktree-manager. gitpane overlaps here, it expands each repo into its per worktree branch, ahead/behind, dirty, and submodule state, but pairs that with a full commit graph, split diffs, and remote ops the dashboard-only tools lack. With o to open any repo or worktree in a new tmux pane (or your editor), it is both the overview and the launchpad.
Screenshots
Three panel overview
Repos on the left show branch, dirty state (*), ahead/behind arrows (↑↓), worktree count (⎇), dirty submodules (◈), unpushed submodule pointer (⇡), stash count ($), and file count. Changes in the middle. Commit graph on the right.
Split diff view
Click a changed file (or press Enter) to see its diff side by side. File list stays navigable on the left.
Commit detail drill down
Click a commit in the graph to see its files. Click a file to see the commit diff. Layered Esc dismissal: diff → files → graph.
Features
- Multi repo overview: Scans
~/Code(configurable) for git repos. It shows branch, dirty indicator (*), ahead/behind arrows (↑↓), worktree count (⎇), dirty submodule (◈), unpushed submodule pointer (⇡), stash count ($), and change count. - Worktree awareness: Shows the number of linked git worktrees per repo (
⎇2). In the agentic AI era, tools like Claude Code create worktrees for parallel development. gitpane lets you see which repos have active parallel work. - Open / jump in: Press
o(or theOpencontext menu item) to drop into the selected repo or worktree, a new tmux pane at its directory by default, or any[open]command you configure (cursor {path},code {path}, ...). Turns the overview into a launchpad instead of a dead end. - Agent liveness: A
◉marks any repo or worktree that has a live tmux pane open inside it, so at a glance you can see which parallel agents are actively working where. tmux only; toggle with[ui] show_liveness. - Filesystem awareness: Watches repo roots and Git metadata for commits, checkouts, and new repos. Local polling catches nested worktree file changes without overwhelming Linux inotify.
- Commit graph: Lane based graph with colored box drawing characters, up to 200 commits.
- Split diff views: Click a file to see its diff side by side. Click a commit to see its files and per file diffs.
- Full mouse support: Click to select, right click for context menu, scroll wheel everywhere.
- Push / Pull / Rebase: Right click context menu with git operations that account for ahead and behind state. Explicit
origin <branch>is used for reliability. - Add and remove repos: Press
ato add any repo with tab completing path input. Pressdto remove. PressRto rescan. - Sort repos: Cycle between alphabetical and dirty first with
s. - Copy to clipboard: Press
yto copy selected item from any panel (OSC 52). - Configurable: TOML config for root dirs, scan depth, pinned repos, exclusions, frame rate.
- Responsive layout: Three horizontal panels on wide terminals, vertical stack on narrow ones.
- Cross platform: Linux, macOS, Windows.
Keybindings
Global
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
? |
Toggle keybindings help overlay |
Tab / Shift+Tab |
Cycle focus between panels |
r |
Refresh all repo statuses |
R |
Rescan directories for repos (clears exclusions) |
g |
Reload git graph for selected repo |
o |
Open selected repo/worktree (new tmux pane, or [open] command) |
v |
Review selected repo/worktree's diff vs its base branch (new tmux window) |
G |
Attach the live tmux session(s) for the selected repo/worktree |
a |
Add a repo (opens path input with tab completion) |
d |
Remove selected repo, or worktree if a worktree row is selected (with confirmation) |
s |
Cycle sort order (Alphabetical / Dirty first) |
w |
Toggle worktree subtree for the selected repo |
S |
Toggle stash subtree for the selected repo |
t |
Open the theme picker (live preview, Enter to persist) |
y |
Copy selected item to clipboard |
q |
Quit (or close diff if one is open) |
Esc |
Navigate back through panels, then quit |
Repos panel
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ |
Next repo |
k / ↑ |
Previous repo |
Changes panel
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ |
Next file |
k / ↑ |
Previous file |
Enter |
Open split diff view |
Esc / h / ← |
Close diff view |
Graph panel
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ |
Next commit / file |
k / ↑ |
Previous commit / file |
h / l |
Scroll graph left / right |
Enter |
Open commit files / file diff |
Esc |
Close diff → close files → back |
/ |
Search commits (message, author, short ID) |
n / N |
Next / previous search match |
f |
Toggle first parent mode |
c |
Collapse / expand branch |
H |
Expand all collapsed branches |
Mouse
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Left click | Select item, switch panel focus |
| Click selected row | Open diff / commit detail |
| Right click (repo list) | Context menu (push, pull, copy path) |
| Scroll wheel | Navigate lists or scroll diffs |
Path input (a)
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Tab |
Autocomplete directory path (cycles matches) |
Enter |
Add the repo |
Esc |
Cancel |
Ctrl+A / Home |
Cursor to start |
Ctrl+E / End |
Cursor to end |
Ctrl+U |
Clear line before cursor |
Configuration
gitpane resolves its config file in this order (first existing file wins):
$GITPANE_CONFIG(if set, treated as the full path; this overrides everything below and is also the save target)$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gitpane/config.toml(if$XDG_CONFIG_HOMEis set and absolute)~/.config/gitpane/config.toml(the XDG default, on every platform)- The platform native location:
| Platform | Path |
|---|---|
| Linux | ~/.config/gitpane/config.toml (same as 3) |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/gitpane/config.toml |
| Windows | %APPDATA%\gitpane\config\config.toml |
If no file is found at any candidate path, gitpane uses the built in defaults (root_dirs = ["~/Code"], scan_depth = 2). When saving after loading a file, gitpane writes back to the loaded path. When saving from defaults, it writes to $GITPANE_CONFIG, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gitpane/config.toml, ~/.config/gitpane/config.toml, or the platform native location, in that order.
gitpane logs the resolved path at startup (tracing info level on stderr).
# Directories to scan for git repositories
= ["~/Code", "~/work"]
# Maximum directory depth for repo discovery
= 2
# Always show these repos at the top
= ["~/Code/important-project"]
# Skip repos matching these directory names
= ["node_modules", ".cargo", "target"]
[]
= 500 # Filesystem change debounce (ms)
= 5000 # Min ms between watcher triggered status refreshes per repo
= false # Opt in to nested worktree watches; polling still catches changes
= 5 # Local status poll interval (catches missed watcher events)
= 30 # Remote fetch poll interval (updates ahead/behind from origin)
= 5 # Min seconds between automatic rescans on root dir changes (new clones)
[]
= 10 # Terminal refresh rate (fps)
= true # Check for new versions on startup
= "top-right" # Update notification position ("top-right" or "top-left")
[]
= "all" # Branch filter: "all", "local", "remote", or "none"
= 24 # Max length for branch/tag labels
= true # Show +N/-M diff stats per commit
[]
# Command run by `o` to open the selected repo/worktree. `{path}` is replaced
# with its directory. Unset: open a new tmux pane when running inside tmux.
= "cursor {path}"
See examples/config.toml for a fully annotated example.
Opening a repo or worktree
Press o (or pick Open from the right click menu) to launch the highlighted repo, or worktree if a worktree row is selected, in its own directory.
- Default (no config): when gitpane is running inside tmux,
oopens a new tmux pane (tmux split-window) at the target directory. Outside tmux it shows a hint to configure[open] command(acommandlaunches directly, with no tmux needed). - Custom: set
[open] commandto any launcher, with{path}standing in for the directory:
[]
= "tmux new-window -c {path}" # new tmux window instead of a pane
# command = "cursor {path}" # or your editor: code, zed, nvim wrapper, ...
The template is split on whitespace and run directly (no shell), so {path} is safe even with spaces, but other template arguments cannot contain spaces. Need a pipe or quoting? Wrap it: command = "sh -c 'code {path}'".
Example launchers (set as [open] command):
| You want to... | command |
|---|---|
| Drop a shell into the worktree (default inside tmux) | (unset) |
| Start an AI agent in the selected worktree | tmux new-window -c {path} claude |
| Open a side by side pane next to gitpane | tmux split-window -h -c {path} |
| Edit the repo in Cursor / VS Code / Zed | cursor {path} (or code {path}, zed {path}) |
| Open a fresh tmux window to work in | tmux new-window -c {path} |
Placement ([open] placement, default command) controls where the command runs. With the default command, the command above is the launcher (run directly), which is why those recipes embed their own tmux …. Alternatively, let gitpane place a plain command for you, so you can direct it to a named window or pane:
[]
= "lazygit"
= "split-window -h -t agents" # right of the 'agents' window
# placement = "split-window -v -t agents" # below it
# placement = "new-window -t work:" # a new window in session 'work'
So "right of <named>" is split-window -h -t <named> and "below" is split-window -v -t <named>. The path is supplied safely by gitpane (-c <dir>), so the placement string only carries tmux flags.
Prefer to choose per launch? Set placement = "ask" and gitpane pops a small picker listing your tmux windows ("Right of …", "Below …", or "New window") each time you press o/v. The fast path stays a fixed config string; ask is there when you want it. (inline runs the command in the current terminal by suspending gitpane — handy outside tmux.)
The selection drives the target: highlight a repo row and o opens the repo root; expand it with w and highlight a worktree row, and o opens that worktree instead. This is the parallel agents workflow, glance at the dashboard, press o on the worktree an agent is using, and you are in it.
Reviewing changes
Press v (or pick Review changes from the right click menu) to review the highlighted repo or worktree's diff against its base branch, in a new tmux window. This is the "what did the agent actually do" view: select a worktree, press v, read the diff, close the window.
By default it runs git diff {base}...HEAD, where {base} is the resolved default branch (origin/HEAD, falling back to origin/main / origin/master). Point it at a nicer viewer with [review] command:
[]
= "git diff {base}...HEAD | delta --side-by-side"
# base = "origin/develop" # optional; default = the repo's resolved default branch
# placement = "split-window -h" # beside gitpane instead of a new window (default)
The command runs via sh -c in the target directory, so pipes work; {base} and {path} are shell-quoted before substitution. [review] placement uses the same vocabulary as [open] placement (default new-window), so the same split-window -h -t <named> recipes direct the review window wherever you like. Viewers worth a look:
| Tool | What it gives |
|---|---|
| delta | Side by side, syntax highlighted, line numbers |
difftastic (difft) |
Structural diff, shows logic changes not whitespace noise |
| diffnav | delta plus a GitHub style file tree |
| hunk | Review first viewer built for agentic coders |
Outside tmux the review runs inline: gitpane suspends, runs the viewer in your terminal (e.g. git diff through its pager), and restores when you quit it. Force this anywhere with placement = "inline". (Only the no-command tmux-pane case still needs tmux.)
Creating and removing worktrees
gitpane manages the worktree lifecycle for the parallel-agents workflow, so you can spin up and tear down task worktrees without leaving the dashboard.
- Create: right click a repo row and pick
New worktree…, type a branch name, press Enter. gitpane runsgit worktree add <dir> -b <branch>and the new worktree appears under the repo. - Remove: select a worktree row (expand with
w) and pressd, or right click it and pickRemove worktree. After confirming, gitpane runsgit worktree remove. A worktree with uncommitted changes is refused by git; commit or discard first.
New worktrees are created as a sibling of the repo (<repo>-<branch>). Put them somewhere else with [worktree] dir:
[]
= "~/worktrees" # each new worktree becomes <dir>/<repo>-<branch>
Going to a live session
A ◉ marker on a repo/worktree means a tmux pane is cwd'd inside it (a session has work parked there). Press G to open it — one session opens directly, several open a picker. Right click to see the session names: Open <session> active tmux (new tab) / (new window), depending on your terminal.
gitpane auto-detects your terminal and opens the session in a new tab (or window) — your current view never gets replaced. It never does an in-place tmux switch-client, which would strand you away from gitpane. Detected terminals:
| Terminal | Opens a… |
|---|---|
| WezTerm, kitty, GNOME Terminal, Konsole | new tab |
| Ghostty, Alacritty | new window (their CLI can't run a command in a tab) |
For an unsupported terminal (e.g. Windows Terminal under WSL, which needs a distro-aware cmd.exe /c wt.exe … wsl.exe -e … form), set [goto] command (it's run as argv, {session} = the session name):
[]
= "wezterm cli spawn -- tmux attach -t {session}"
Adding a terminal: append a row to the TERMINAL_GOTOS table in src/config.rs — the env var(s) that identify the terminal plus its new-tab/window command. The doc comment there explains the rules (prefer a tab, pass the tmux command as trailing argv, never switch-client).
Theming
gitpane ships two built in themes:
default, the original palette (used whenthemeis unset).muted, softer 256 color indices for dark terminals where the defaultLight*colors feel too bright.
# In config.toml
= "muted"
To define a custom theme, drop a TOML file at <config_dir>/gitpane/themes/<name>.toml and set theme = "<name>". Any field you don't list falls back to the corresponding default slot, so a custom theme can be as small as one override:
# ~/.config/gitpane/themes/mine.toml
[]
= "Magenta"
[]
= "143" # 256 color index
= ["Red", "#5fafd7", "Cyan", "67", "Magenta", "Yellow"]
Color values accept ratatui's standard names ("Yellow", "LightMagenta", ...), 8 bit indices as bare integers ("67"), or 24 bit hex ("#5fafd7"). If $GITPANE_CONFIG points to a non XDG location, the themes/ directory next to that file is searched first.
Switching themes:
- From inside the app: press
tto open the picker. Up/Down (orj/k) cycles through themes with live preview,Entersaves the choice toconfig.toml,Esccancels and restores. - From the shell:
gitpane --theme mutedoverrides the active theme for one run without modifyingconfig.toml. - List available themes:
gitpane themesprints every built in and custom theme, with a marker on the currently resolved one.
Troubleshooting
For a copyable snapshot of the active config, scan roots, watcher settings, repo count, and CPU pressure warnings, run:
gitpane shows no repositories
Run through these in order:
1. Check that gitpane is reading your config file.
gitpane prints the resolved config path at startup. Run gitpane with stderr captured:
RUST_LOG=gitpane=info
You should see loaded config path=... or no config file found, using defaults. If gitpane is not loading the file you expected, check the candidate paths in Configuration. On macOS, ~/.config/gitpane/config.toml works as well as the native ~/Library/Application Support/gitpane/config.toml.
To force a specific file:
GITPANE_CONFIG=/path/to/config.toml
You can also bypass the config entirely to confirm repo discovery:
If --root finds your repos but the config does not, the file path or config contents are the likely issue.
2. Check that scan_depth is large enough.
scan_depth is the maximum directory depth from each entry in root_dirs at which gitpane will look for a .git directory. For a layout like ~/src/github.com/<owner>/<repo>/.git, the .git lives at depth 4, so you need scan_depth = 4 (or higher). Counting from the root:
~/src depth 0
~/src/github.com depth 1
~/src/github.com/<owner> depth 2
~/src/github.com/<owner>/<repo> depth 3
~/src/github.com/<owner>/<repo>/.git depth 4
3. Check for symlinks in your tree.
The scanner does not follow symlinks. If any directory along the path to a repo is a symlink (for example ~/src/github.com pointing at /mnt/code/github.com), repos under it will be skipped.
If the second command finds repos and the first doesn't, that's the cause. Workarounds: point root_dirs at the symlink target directly, or list specific repos in pinned_repos.
4. Check whether .git is a directory or a file.
Linked git worktrees and some submodule layouts store .git as a file containing a gitdir: pointer, not a directory. The scanner only matches .git directories. To check one repo:
&& || &&
If it prints file, add the repo via pinned_repos instead, or open it explicitly with gitpane --root /path/to/parent.
5. Verbose logging.
RUST_LOG=gitpane=debug
Then inspect /tmp/gitpane.log for any errors during config load or repo scanning.
Architecture
flowchart TD
subgraph rt["tokio runtime"]
tui["Event loop<br/>(tui.rs)"]
watcher["notify watcher<br/>(watcher.rs)"]
app["Action dispatch<br/>(app/ handle_action)"]
git["git2 via spawn_blocking<br/>(status · graph · commit_files · fetch)"]
session["session/<br/>launcher (tmux/terminal) · liveness"]
subgraph comps["Components"]
repolist["RepoList"]
filelist["FileList (split diff)"]
gitgraph["GitGraph (drill down)"]
overlays["ContextMenu · PathInput<br/>Picker · StatusBar"]
end
end
kbd["Keyboard & mouse"]
fs[("Filesystem")]
cfg[("config.toml")]
ui["Rendered UI"]
kbd -->|crossterm events| tui
fs -->|change events| watcher
cfg -.->|load| app
tui -->|Event| app
watcher -->|Event| app
app -->|Action| comps
app <-->|spawn_blocking / results| git
app -->|launch & attach| session
comps -->|draw| ui
- ratatui + crossterm: TUI rendering with full mouse support.
- git2 (libgit2): Branch, status, ahead/behind, graph, commit diffs.
- notify: Filesystem watching with configurable debounce.
- tokio: Async runtime. Git queries run in
spawn_blockingto keep the UI responsive.
Message passing architecture: terminal events → actions → component updates → render. Each component implements a Component trait with draw, handle_key_event, handle_mouse_event, and update.
Development
CI runs formatting, clippy, MSRV checks, docs, tests, and release builds across Linux, macOS, and Windows. Security and coverage run as separate workflows so their README badges map to real checks.
Install the local hooks before contributing:
The pre-commit hook handles file hygiene, TOML/YAML validation, formatting, and clippy. The pre-push hook runs tests, audit, docs, and coverage.
Optional tooling for the full local suite:
Project structure
src/
├── main.rs # Entry point, CLI parsing
├── lib.rs # Crate and module wiring
├── action.rs # Action enum (message passing)
├── event.rs # Terminal event types (incl. paste)
├── tui.rs # Terminal setup, event loop
├── repo_id.rs # Repo identity (path newtype)
├── watcher.rs # Filesystem watcher to repo index mapping
├── diagnostic.rs # Startup environment diagnostics
├── update_checker.rs # GitHub release update check
├── app/ # Main loop and action dispatch, split by concern
│ ├── mod.rs # App state, run() event loop, helpers
│ ├── actions.rs # handle_action (dispatch, first half)
│ ├── actions_extra.rs # handle_action_rest (dispatch, second half)
│ ├── launch.rs # open/review/goto launching, git op spawning
│ ├── input.rs # Key and mouse handling
│ └── render.rs # Layout and drawing
├── config/ # TOML config load/save
│ ├── mod.rs # Config structs, load/save
│ ├── defaults.rs # serde defaults and Default impls
│ ├── terminal.rs # Terminal auto-detect table for goto
│ └── load.rs # Config path resolution
├── session/ # tmux and terminal session integration
│ ├── launcher.rs # Placement planning, tmux/terminal launch
│ └── liveness.rs # Live tmux pane detection per repo
├── components/
│ ├── mod.rs # Component trait
│ ├── repo_list/ # Left panel: repos, status, ◉ live marker
│ ├── file_list.rs # Middle panel: changed files + split diff
│ ├── git_graph/ # Right panel: commit graph and drill down
│ ├── context_menu.rs # Right click overlay (grouped by topic)
│ ├── path_input.rs # Add repo / new worktree input overlay
│ ├── picker.rs # Generic selection overlay (placement, session)
│ ├── confirm_dialog.rs # Confirmation overlay
│ ├── theme_picker.rs # Theme selection overlay
│ └── status_bar.rs # Bottom bar with keybinding hints
└── git/
├── mod.rs
├── scanner.rs # Repo discovery via walkdir
├── status/ # Branch, files, ahead/behind, submodules, worktrees
├── graph/ # Lane based commit graph builder
├── graph_render.rs # Box drawing character rendering
└── commit_files.rs # Commit file list and per file diffs
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