lazyfossil

Project goals

lazyfossil helps you work with Fossil SCM from the terminal in a simpler way: browse files, see history, preview changes, and commit or sync without extra friction.

• Provide a fast terminal workflow for Fossil checkouts
• Combine working-tree and history browsing in a single UI
• Commit subsets of files without a staging area
• Start with a small, practical MVP and refine it over time
• Show a clear "not in a checkout" state when launched outside Fossil

Quick start

1. Install it with cargo install lazyfossil
2. Go to your project checkout
3. Type lazyfossil
4. Browse changes and history
5. Press q to quit

Installation

From crates.io

This is the preferred way to install and update lazyfossil.

cargo install lazyfossil

Follow instructions in https://rust-lang.org/tools/install/ to install rust.

Pre-built binaries

Download pre-built binaries from the latest GitHub releases:

• Linux
• MacOS
• Windows

Source code

The lazyfossil source code is distributed under MIT license, and is maintained via Fossil SCM.

There are mirror repositories at GitHub and crates.io.

Screenshots and demos

lazyfossil is currently in alpha, but it is already usable. There is still plenty to polish.

Features

Repository browsing

• Fossil checkout detection
• Full project file list plus extra files
• Diff/details pane with binary-safe preview
• Timeline/history view
• File-history timeline for the selected path
• Hidden-file listing (extras --dotfiles)
• Keyboard and mouse navigation

Commit and sync flow

• Temporary file selection for commit with Space
• Commit selected files, the current file, or all files
• Automatic add extra-files before commit
• Ignore-file editing via .fossil-settings/ignore-glob
• Sync with the remote via p (pull) / P (push)
• Binary-file handling before commit via binary-glob
• Confirmation dialogs for ignore and discard actions

Preview and UI polish

• Binary preview fallback with a friendly notice
• o to open binaries externally
• H hex dump toggle for binary files
• Tab-expanded text previews (for example, Makefiles)
• Compact shortcut status line
• Footer and input UX improvements
• Reusable ASCII logo text asset

Commit flow

Fossil does not use a staging area like git does. Instead, lazyfossil builds commit commands like:

fossil commit -m "commit message" file1 file2 file3

Extra files are added automatically before commit when needed.

Binary files are handled by setting:

fossil settings binary-glob "*.png,*.jpg,*.jpeg,*.gif,*.ico"

Keybinds

Navigation

• Up / Down: move between files
• Tab: switch between Working tree and History
• Mouse click: select a file
• Mouse wheel: scroll the diff/details pane

File actions

• Space: toggle the selected file for commit
• e: open the current file in $EDITOR
• o: open the current file in the default program for its file type
• d: discard the current file
• i: add the current file to .fossil-settings/ignore-glob

Commit and sync

• c: commit selected files
• f: commit the current file
• a: commit all files
• p / P: sync with the remote

General

• r: refresh
• q: quit

Roadmap

Done

• Working-tree MVP
• History timeline basics
• Temporary selection-based commit flow
• Inline commit message prompt
• Ignore-file support
• Sync support
• Binary preview fallback

Next

• Commit details and file history in the history pane
• Footer and status layout polish
• Better mouse interactions and scrolling

Versioning

This project follows semantic versioning: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

Current version: 0.7.0.

Star History

Credits

pi.dev

Pi provides the agent harness used to develop and refine this project. Its tooling made it easier to iterate quickly, validate changes, and improve the TUI with confidence.

crates.io/crates/lazyfossil

The crates.io listing is the distribution channel for the Rust application, helping make lazyfossil available to the broader Rust ecosystem and simplifying installation and release management.

emojicombos.com/lazyfossil

This source provided the project logo artwork used in the README and assets, giving lazyfossil a recognizable visual identity.

Other fossil companion tools

• fnc - https://fnc.sh
• diesel - https://github.com/AnotherFoxGuy/diesel-scm
• fuel - https://fuel-scm.org/