A JetBrains-grade Git experience for VS Code & Cursor — the whole workflow, not just one piece.
VS Code's built-in Git is functional but flat. GitLens is great at information (blame, history, lenses) but doesn't own the interaction (merging, staging, resolving). JetBrains IDEs nail the interaction — three-pane merges, a real commit graph, hunk-level staging, inline blame that feels native — but you only get them if you live in IntelliJ.
GitStudio brings the JetBrains-grade Git workflow into VS Code and Cursor, and adds an intelligence layer on top. Think "GitLens on steroids" meets "GitBrain": the polish of a native IDE, the depth of a power-user tool, and AI that actually understands your history.
It ships as a family of focused tools under one brand, starting with the one that's already live.
| Brand / publisher | gitstudio (display "GitStudio") — live on the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX |
| Domain | gitstudio.dev (owned — for the verified-publisher badge + landing page) |
| First product | ✅ Merge Studio — gitstudio.merge-studio, a JetBrains-style 3-pane merge + diff editor. Shipped, in active use. |
| Release pipeline | Token-free GitHub Actions: tag vX.Y.Z → auto-publishes to both registries (see vscode-extension-starter) |
| This repo | Vision + scaffold for the broader suite. See HANDOFF.md to start building. |
Merge Studio proved the model (custom webview editors, JetBrains-faithful ribbons, a pure tested diff/merge engine). GitStudio extends that into the full workflow:
- Merge & Diff — shipped as Merge Studio. Three-pane merge with ribbons, precise side-by-side diff, optional hand-off to a real JetBrains IDE. The seed engine for everything else.
- Blame & authorship lens — inline, native-feeling blame; hover for the commit, author, message, and PR; "who last touched this line and why."
- History & timeline — per-file and per-line history, a repo timeline, "step through how this file evolved."
- Commit graph — a real branch/commit graph (JetBrains Log-style), not a flat list.
- Staging that respects intent — hunk- and line-level staging, partial commits, an interactive-rebase UI that isn't terrifying.
- GitBrain (the intelligence layer) — AI commit messages, PR/changeset summaries, "explain this diff," and conflict-resolution suggestions in the merge editor. This is the "but better" — context-aware help grounded in the actual repo.
The pillars are a starting map, not a contract. The next builder should sequence them by leverage — blame + history are the highest-value, lowest-risk next steps after merge.
- One flagship extension (
gitstudio.gitstudio) that grows feature-by-feature — the GitLens model — rather than many tiny extensions. Merge Studio stays its own focused product; GitStudio is the suite. They share an engine, not a listing. - Reuse Merge Studio's core. Its
src/engine/(pure, unit-tested diff/merge model) and the Monaco webview ribbon/decoration layer are the reusable heart. The cleanest path is to extract that engine into a shared package (@gitstudio/engine) consumed by both extensions. - Webview custom editors for rich UI (merge, graph, history), providers + decorations for the ambient stuff (blame, lenses), a thin git service over the built-in
vscode.gitAPI plus direct.gitreads where speed matters (Merge Studio already does this for conflict detection). - GitBrain calls the Anthropic Claude API. Default to the latest models (Opus 4.8 / Sonnet 4.6 / Haiku 4.5; Fable 5) — see the
claude-apireference. Keep AI optional and bring-your-own-key friendly.
- Distribution already exists. GitStudio is a live, verified-ish publisher with a shipped product pulling real installs. The suite launches to a warm audience, not from zero.
- Cursor is the wedge. Cursor users live on Open VSX and want power tooling — GitStudio is already there.
- The hard part is done once. Merge Studio solved the "render a JetBrains-grade Git UI inside a webview" problem. Every pillar reuses that muscle.
../merge-studio— the shipped flagship; source of the reusable engine.../vscode-extension-starter— the token-free publish pipeline + the full "zero → published" guide, distilled from shipping Merge Studio. Fork it to bootstrap.- this repo — vision + where the suite gets built.
TBD (Merge Studio is MIT). Pick before first publish.