GitUI - A Git TUI in Rust

A Terminal User Interface (TUI) for Git written in Rust, providing an intuitive way to interact with your Git repositories.

Features

• Multiple Views:

  • Files View (default): Shows working directory status with live diff preview
  • History View: Displays commit history with author, date, and messages
  • Branches View: Lists all local branches with current branch highlighted

• File Operations:

  • Stage individual files or all changes
  • View diffs for modified files
  • Commit staged changes with custom messages

• Branch Management:

  • View all local branches
  • Checkout/switch branches
  • Current branch indicator

• Remote Operations:

  • Pull from remote
  • Push to remote
  • Sync (pull + push)

Installation

cargo build --release

The binary will be available at target/release/gitui

Usage

Run from any directory within a Git repository:

cargo run

Or specify a repository path:

cargo run /path/to/repo

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global

• 1 - Switch to Files view
• 2 - Switch to History view
• 3 - Switch to Branches view
• ↑/↓ or k/j - Navigate up/down
• r - Refresh current view
• q - Quit application

Files View

• s - Stage selected file
• a - Stage all files
• d - Discard changes selected file
• 'D' - Discard changes all files
• c - Open commit dialog
• p - Pull from remote
• P - Push to remote
• S - Sync (pull + push)
• Enter - Refresh diff for selected file

Branches View

• Enter or o - Checkout selected branch

Commit Dialog

• Type to enter commit message
• Enter - Commit with message
• Esc - Cancel commit
• Backspace - Delete character

Project Structure

src/
├── main.rs          - Application entry point and main loop
├── app.rs           - Application state and data structures
├── git.rs           - Git operations wrapper (using git2-rs)
├── input.rs         - Keyboard input handling
├── ui.rs            - Main UI rendering and layout
├── ui_files.rs      - Files view rendering
├── ui_history.rs    - History view rendering
└── ui_branches.rs   - Branches view rendering

Dependencies

• ratatui - Terminal UI framework
• crossterm - Cross-platform terminal manipulation
• git2 - libgit2 bindings for Git operations
• anyhow - Error handling
• chrono - Date/time formatting

UI Layout

The application displays:

• Header: Shows application name, current branch, and view switcher
• Main Content: Dynamic content based on selected view
• Footer: Context-sensitive help and status messages

Files View Layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Files (40%)        │ Diff Preview (60%)        │
│ M  modified.rs     │ - old line                │
│ A  new.rs          │ + new line                │
│ ?? untracked.txt   │ ...                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Status Indicators

File Status

• A - Added (staged)
• M - Modified (staged)
• D - Deleted (staged)
• M - Modified (unstaged)
• D - Deleted (unstaged)
• ?? - Untracked

Diff Colors

• Green: Added lines (+)
• Red: Removed lines (-)
• Cyan: Hunk headers (@@)
• White: Context lines

Notes

• The application requires a Git repository to function
• Remote operations (push/pull/sync) assume an "origin" remote exists
• The application uses libgit2 for all Git operations
• Merge conflicts and complex Git operations are not yet supported

Future Enhancements

Potential features for future versions:

• Unstage files
• Amend commits
• Stash operations
• Remote management
• Merge conflict resolution
• Search functionality
• Commit message templates
• Custom key bindings

License

This project is available under the MIT license.