GitCharm

JetBrains-like Git management for VS Code.

GitCharm brings a JetBrains-like Git workflow to Visual Studio Code: a focused Commit panel, a Git Log panel with graph and branch operations, multi-repository awareness, shelving/stashing tools, push helpers, multi-provider Pull Request management (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket Cloud, Gitea/Forgejo), and a 3-way merge editor for conflict resolution.

It activates automatically when the opened workspace contains a Git repository.

✨ Features

📝 Commit Panel

• Staged/unstaged file list with tree and flat views (persisted across reloads).
• Per-file diff preview directly in the panel.
• Per-file actions: open, rollback, delete, add to .gitignore.
• Commit selected files only, or all staged changes.
• Commit and Commit & Push unified dropdown button; Amend and Amend & Push via the dropdown.
• AI commit-message generation with multi-provider support: Anthropic API, OpenAI API, Claude CLI, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Gemini API, Ollama, and LM Studio. API keys and models configurable per provider.
• Commit message pre-filled automatically with Merge branch 'X' into 'Y' when merge conflicts are detected.
• New and modified files are not automatically selected — only files that were already selected before the change are preserved.

View Modes

On first install, a QuickPick lets you choose your preferred view mode. You can change it at any time via gitcharm.changesViewMode in Settings.

Mode	Description
Simplified	Staged and Unstaged sections grouped per repository (default)
Changelists	PhpStorm-style named changelists; files can be moved between lists
VS Code	Native-style Staged Changes / Changes sections with inline stage/unstage buttons

Changelists

• Create, rename, and delete named changelists from the context menu.
• Drag files between changelists or use the context menu to reassign them.
• Default changelist and Unversioned Files list are always present.

Repository pills & commit targeting

• The commit message area shows a pill for each repository with staged/selected files.
• Click the × on a pill to quickly deselect that repository from the commit.
• In VS Code mode, a per-repository checkbox in the Staged Changes section controls which repositories are included.

Adaptive commit button

When there is nothing left to commit, the primary button turns into the remote action the branch actually needs — no switching to the Push tab:

Branch state	Button
Uncommitted changes	Commit (or Commit & Push)
No upstream yet	Publish Branch
Ahead and/or behind the upstream	Sync Changes with the commit counts and ↑ / ↓ arrows

Sync Changes pushes, pulls, or does both, depending on what the branch needs. When your branch and the remote have diverged — after an amend, rebase, or squash — a QuickPick asks how to reconcile: Pull, then Push, Pull (Rebase), then Push, or Force Push (--force-with-lease). If the local history looks rewritten, the force option is listed first. The same prompt appears if a push is rejected because the remote moved. The dropdown always exposes Push, Pull, and Force Push directly.

🚀 Push Tab

• Lists unpushed commits for every repository, including branches without an upstream tracking branch.
• Commit count badge on the tab label, auto-updated after each commit, undo, or push.
• File count badge on the Changes tab label showing the total number of modified files.
• Branch info header with sync state: "Up to date", "N commits to pull from <upstream>", or "Local branch — not published" with matching badges (↑ ahead, ↓ behind, Unpublished).
• Per-commit stats showing files changed, additions, and deletions.
• Push button adapts to context: when the repo is both ahead and behind, it becomes a Sync & Push split-button; the dropdown exposes Push and Force Push options.
• Push button label adapts to context: "Push", "Publish Branch", "Publish Branches", or "Push & Publish" for mixed upstream/no-upstream selections.
• Undo the HEAD commit (with confirmation) directly from the push list.
• Explain with AI context menu action on commits: opens the detail panel with an auto-generated explanation of the changes.
• Open Full Detail context menu action on commits.
• Click any row to jump to that commit in the Git Log panel.
• Publish button for branches that have never been pushed.
• Silent refresh: existing commits stay visible while reloading (no flicker).

🔀 Pull Requests

• Dedicated Pull Requests tab in the Commit Panel, with multi-provider support: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket Cloud, and Gitea/Forgejo — auto-detected from the repository's remote URL, with a manual override per host for self-hosted instances that can't be auto-detected.
• Per-repository list with state icons (open, draft, merged, closed), author avatar, source → target branch, and total/loaded count; filter by state, author, assigned-to-me, review-requested-to-me, and mentions, plus free-text/PR-number search.
• Account picker: connect a new account (GitHub via VS Code's built-in authentication, or a Personal Access Token for GitLab/Bitbucket/Gitea) or switch between already-saved accounts per repository — no more silent auto-selection of a single saved account.
• Manage Pull Request Credentials command: a single account list grouped by provider, with rename and remove actions, and an entry to add a new account.
• Avatars (GitHub username avatar, or Gravatar when an account email is known) shown next to accounts in the account pickers, falling back to a generic icon when no avatar can be resolved.
• Create Pull Request: two-column layout with native branch QuickPickers, a Markdown (TipTap) description editor, and a live commit/file diff preview against the selected branches.
• Pull Request detail panel: description, rich Activity timeline (renames, label changes, close/reopen/merge, base-branch changes, assign/review-request) with a connecting thread line and author avatars, reviewers/assignees/labels, CI checks, changed files with a full diff view, and commits.
• Comments: add, edit, hide/delete (with per-provider permission checks), inline Markdown editing, and minimize/unminimize on GitHub; comment-count badge on the Overview tab.
• Merge (with strategy choice) and Checkout actions with confirmation, directly from the detail header.
• Open Full Detail opens the same rich detail view as a persistent editor tab, restored automatically across VS Code restarts.

🗄️ Shelve & Stash

• Shelve with patch-based shelves: create, apply (full or partial), delete, rename, and inspect per-file diffs.
• Binary-file handling and conflict detection on unshelve.
• Native stash support: list, apply, pop, drop, rename, and file diff preview.
• Stashes are shown as native nodes directly in the Git Log commit list.
• Row selection is maintained when the context menu is open, matching the behavior of other tabs.

🪟 Undocked Panel

• Undock… in the Git Log burger menu (or GitCharm: Undock in the Command Palette) opens a native QuickPick with four options:
  • Undock in Editor Tab (Log & Commit) — opens a resizable editor tab with Commit Panel on the left and Git Log on the right.
  • Undock in New Window (Log & Commit) — same layout in a separate VS Code window.
  • Undock in Editor Tab — editor tab with the Git Log only.
  • Undock in New Window — separate window with the Git Log only.
• Default Location… in the same burger menu (or GitCharm: Set Default Git Log Location in the Command Palette) does the same thing, but remembers the choice: Bottom Panel, Editor Tab (Log & Commit / Only Log), or New Window (Log & Commit / Only Log). The picked location applies immediately and is written to gitcharm.gitLogDefaultLocation / gitcharm.gitLogDefaultLayout, so GitCharm: Focus Git Log and its keyboard shortcut (Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+L) reopen the Log there — even after you close the editor tab or restart VS Code.
  • Undock… is session-only and never changes the setting; Default Location… is the persistent counterpart.
  • Picking anything other than Bottom Panel also removes the GitCharm Log view from the bottom panel, so you never end up with two Log surfaces. Switching back restores it.
• State is fully synchronised with the sidebar panels: commits, branches, and status update in real time in both views.
• The undocked tab shows the same toolbar actions as the Commit Panel (Fetch All, Pull All, Push All, Sync All, Branch Menu, Settings).

📜 Git Log Panel

• Commit graph with branch visualization.
• Branch sidebar: local branches, remote branches, tags; single-repo workspaces hide the repository list; sidebar is collapsible.
• Filters by text, author, branch, date, and repository; filter bar redesigned with compact controls.
• Commit detail with changed-file list and per-file diffs.
• Smart diff resolution for added, deleted, renamed, copied, merge, and root commits.
• Show Combined Diff context menu entry in the commit file list.
• Cherry-Pick Selected Changes from a file in a commit directly into the current working tree.
• Close button in the commit detail panel; clicking any commit re-opens it.
• Bold commit message for the HEAD commit in the list.
• Author name shown in commit rows when panel width > 500 px.
• Click a commit title to expand/collapse the message; if the commit has a body, it opens as a Markdown document in a VS Code tab.
• Author avatars in commit rows and commit detail: resolves GitHub noreply emails to GitHub avatars, other emails to Gravatar, with a colored-initials fallback. Initials correctly handle names with parenthesized suffixes (e.g. "Name Surname (Tag)").
• Fetch and Refresh button in the filters bar fetches all remotes before refreshing the log.
• Explain with AI and Open Full Detail context menu actions; AI actions hidden when AI is disabled.
• Branch operations from the sidebar: checkout, fetch, pull, push, merge, rebase, delete, rename, compare, and create new branch.
• Tags section in the sidebar: collapsible list with multi-repo dot indicators; tags with the same name across repos are merged into a single row; active tag highlighted when in detached HEAD state.
• Tag context menu: checkout, merge into current, push to remote, and delete (local, remote, or both).
• Commit context menu: New Tag… when the commit has no tags; Manage Tags… (QuickPick with merge/delete actions) when it does.
• Checkout… in the commit context menu: QuickPick lets you choose between checking out the branch or the revision (detached HEAD); works for remote-only branches too.
• Branch options… in the commit context menu: opens the Git Menu focused on that branch.
• Log Panel auto-refreshes in the background after a commit or push, with a loading skeleton during the fetch.
• Hides origin/HEAD from the remote branches list.
• Repository tabs above the commit list let you filter the log to a single repository at a time in multi-repo workspaces; per-repo color dots in the Branch/Tag filter dropdown group branches and tags by name across repositories.
• Compare with… context-menu action on files and folders (Commit Panel, Explorer/editor context menu, and commit detail) diffs the picked path against a chosen branch, tag, or commit.

🌿 Branch Status Bar & Git Menu

• Shows the current branch name (truncated with ellipsis if long) with dirty, ahead, behind, and diverged states; shows the short commit hash when in detached HEAD state without a tag, or the tag name when checked out on a tag.
• Branch menu with quick access to: Fetch All, Pull, Push All, Force Push All, Sync All (pull then push, stops on conflicts), branch operations, and log.
• Same operations available per-repository in the sub-menu, without redundant repo name prefixes in labels.
• Tags section in the per-repository menu: checkout, merge, push to remote, and delete tags; delete dialog offers three options (local, remote, or both).
• Per-repository sub-menu with full remote management: add, rename, change URL, and remove remotes.
• Tracks the active editor to reflect the correct repository in multi-repo workspaces.

👤 Git Profiles

• Named identity profiles (display name, git user.name, git user.email) stored in workspace settings.
• Status bar item showing the active profile; click to switch, create, edit, delete, or set a default.
• Fallback chain: active GitCharm profile → Local (repo .git/config) → Global (git config --global).
• Set Local or Global as the default source per workspace without creating a named profile.
• Reserved names Local and Global are displayed as implicit entries with source tooltip.
• Active profile applied automatically to the local repo config before every commit.
• Each workspace/repository can use a different identity.
• Avatars in the profile picker: resolves each profile's email to a GitHub or Gravatar avatar, falling back to a generic icon when none can be resolved.

🔍 Git Annotations (Blame)

• Inline blame columns in the editor showing commit author, relative date, and summary.
• Ghost text with the same information rendered at the end of the current line.
• Hover actions link directly to the commit in the Git Log panel.
• Accessible via editor context menu and Command Palette; toggled with dedicated commands.
• Layout adapts around edits, tabs, CodeLens, and editor alignment.

🗂️ Multi-Repository Workspaces

• Per-project colors in the commit graph and commit panel.
• Grouped changes and a shared commit flow across repositories.
• Common branch actions applied across all repositories in one step.
• Activity bar badge showing the total number of changed files across all repositories.
• Nested repository scanning: automatically discovers Git repositories inside workspace subfolders up to a configurable depth, skipping ignored folders (e.g. node_modules). Files belonging to nested repos are filtered out from their parent repository's change list, matching VS Code's built-in behavior.
• Repository context menu in the Commit Panel header (all view modes and all tabs): quick access to branch operations, fetch, push, settings, Reveal in Explorer, Open in New Window, and Open in File Manager for each repository.
• Hide/show individual repositories from the Commit Panel and Log Panel via the context menu or the Commit Panel's ··· title menu; hidden repos are persisted per workspace.
• Sort repositories by discovery time, name, or path from the Commit Panel's ··· title menu; the choice is persisted across reloads.

🌳 Worktrees

• Dedicated Worktrees tab in the Commit Panel listing all worktrees for each repository.
• Per-worktree actions: open in Explorer, open in new window, open in File Manager, add to workspace, lock/unlock, remove, and force-remove.
• Create new worktrees and prune stale ones directly from the tab.
• Primary worktree clearly labeled with a primary badge.

⚔️ Merge Editor

• 3-way conflict editor for files containing Git conflict markers.
• Side-by-side conflict panes with editable result.
• Conflict navigation, save, and automatic staging on completion.

📋 Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or newer.
• Git installed and available in the workspace.
• Node.js 18 or newer and npm for development or packaging.

GitCharm uses VS Code's built-in Git extension when available and falls back to direct Git operations through simple-git.

📦 Installation

From a VSIX

Build and package the extension:

npm install
npm run build
npm run package

Then install the generated .vsix:

code --install-extension gitcharm-0.3.5.vsix

Development Host

Install dependencies, build once, then launch the extension host from VS Code:

npm install
npm run build

Open this repository in VS Code and run Run Extension from the Debug panel.

For iterative development:

npm run watch

🛠️ Usage

Open a workspace that contains one or more Git repositories. GitCharm adds:

• GitCharm Commit in the Activity Bar.
• GitCharm Log in the bottom Panel.
• A branch item and a profile item in the Status Bar.
• Commands in the Command Palette.

Use the Commit panel to select files, inspect diffs, write a commit message, commit, commit and push, shelve changes, manage stashes, or review unpushed commits.

Use the Log panel to browse history, filter commits, inspect changed files, open diffs, and run branch or commit operations.

Use the Status Bar branch menu for fast project-wide actions such as updating all repositories, pushing, creating branches, switching branches, managing remotes, or handling merge/rebase states.

⌨️ Commands

Command	Description
GitCharm: Focus Git Log	Focuses the Git Log panel.
GitCharm: Fetch All	Fetches all remotes across all repositories.
GitCharm: Pull	Pulls all repositories (prompts for merge or rebase strategy).
GitCharm: Push	Pushes all repositories.
GitCharm: Sync All	Pulls then pushes all repositories; stops if any pull fails.
GitCharm: Refresh	Re-discovers repositories and refreshes both the Commit Panel and the Git Log panel.
GitCharm: Open Merge Editor	Opens the merge editor for the active file when conflict markers are present.
GitCharm: Branch Menu	Opens the Status Bar branch menu.
GitCharm: Settings	Opens GitCharm settings.
GitCharm: Manage Hidden Repositories	Reopens repositories previously hidden from the Commit Panel and Log Panel.
GitCharm: Manage Git Profiles	Opens the Git profile manager.
GitCharm: Switch Git Profile	Switches the active Git profile for the current workspace.
GitCharm: Open Git Annotations	Shows inline blame annotations in the active editor.
GitCharm: Close Git Annotations	Hides inline blame annotations in the active editor.
GitCharm: Undock	Opens a QuickPick to undock the Git Log (with or without the Commit Panel) into an editor tab or a new window.
GitCharm: Set Default Git Log Location	Opens a QuickPick to choose — and persist — where the Git Log opens: bottom panel, editor tab, or a new window.
GitCharm: Select AI Provider	Opens a QuickPick to choose and configure the AI provider and model.
GitCharm: Generate Commit Message	Generates an AI commit message from the current staged diff.
GitCharm: Explain Commit	Opens the commit detail panel with an AI-generated explanation of the selected commit.
GitCharm: Manage Pull Request Credentials	Opens the Pull Request account manager (add, rename, remove accounts).
GitCharm: Refresh Pull Requests	Refreshes the Pull Requests tab, bypassing the cache.

⌨️ Keybindings

Keybinding	macOS	Command
Ctrl+Alt+L	Cmd+Alt+L	GitCharm: Focus Git Log
Ctrl+Alt+K	Cmd+Alt+K	GitCharm: Commit

⚙️ Settings

Setting	Default	Description
gitcharm.graphMaxCommits	1000	Maximum number of commits loaded into the Git Log graph.
gitcharm.fetchOnStartup	true	Fetches all remotes once when GitCharm activates.
gitcharm.projectColors	{}	Maps workspace folder/repository names to hex colors for multi-repo views.
gitcharm.repositoryScanMaxDepth	1	Maximum depth of workspace subfolders to scan for Git repositories. 0 only checks workspace folders.
gitcharm.repositoryScanIgnoredFolders	["node_modules"]	Folder names or workspace-relative paths skipped while scanning for nested Git repositories.
gitcharm.autoRefreshInterval	0	Auto-refresh interval in seconds. 0 disables interval refresh and uses file watchers only.
gitcharm.gitLogDefaultLocation	"panel"	Where GitCharm: Focus Git Log opens the Log: panel, editorTab, or newWindow. Anything but panel also hides the Log view from the bottom panel.
gitcharm.gitLogDefaultLayout	"logAndCommit"	What the Log shows outside the bottom panel: logAndCommit or logOnly. Ignored when the location is panel.
gitcharm.changesViewMode	"simplified"	How to display changed files: simplified, changelists, or vscode. Chosen via QuickPick on first install.
gitcharm.gitAnnotations.enabled	true	Enable inline Git blame annotations in the editor.
gitcharm.gitGhostText.enabled	true	Enable inline Git ghost text in the editor.
gitcharm.gitProfiles	[]	Named Git identity profiles (name, email) managed by GitCharm.
gitcharm.activeGitProfileId	""	ID of the currently active Git profile for this workspace.
gitcharm.suppressDivergedWarning	false	Suppress the "diverged" warning in the status bar when local and remote have diverged.
gitcharm.ai.enabled	false	Enable AI-powered features (commit message generation, commit explanation).
gitcharm.ai.provider	"copilot"	AI provider: copilot, anthropic, openai, claude-cli, codex-cli, gemini-cli, gemini-api, ollama, or lmstudio.
gitcharm.ai.model	""	Model identifier for the selected provider (leave empty to use the provider default).
gitcharm.ai.language	""	Language for AI-generated text (e.g. en, it). Defaults to English when empty.
gitcharm.ai.anthropicApiKey	""	API key for the Anthropic provider.
gitcharm.ai.openaiApiKey	""	API key for the OpenAI provider.
gitcharm.ai.geminiApiKey	""	API key for the Gemini API provider.
gitcharm.pullRequests.hostProviderOverrides	{}	Manual forge-type override per Git host for self-hosted instances that can't be auto-detected, e.g. { "git.mycompany.com": "gitea" }. Valid values: github, gitlab, bitbucket, gitea.
gitcharm.pullRequests.defaultTargetBranch	""	Default target branch for new pull requests when the repo's default branch can't be determined from the forge API (leave empty to auto-detect main/master).
gitcharm.pullRequests.defaultMergeStrategy	"merge"	Default strategy pre-selected on the "Merge pull request" button in the Pull Request detail panel: merge, squash, rebase, or fastForward. Falls back to the first strategy the forge/provider supports if this one isn't available for a given PR.
gitcharm.pullRequests.defaultCheckoutAction	"pr"	Default action for the main "Checkout" button in the Pull Request detail panel: pr (Checkout Pull Request) or branch (Checkout Branch). The other option is still available from its dropdown.

Example:

{
  "gitcharm.fetchOnStartup": true,
  "gitcharm.graphMaxCommits": 2000,
  "gitcharm.projectColors": {
    "api": "#ff6b6b",
    "web": "#4ec9b0"
  },
  "gitcharm.gitAnnotations.enabled": true
}

🏗️ Project Structure

src/host/                 VS Code extension host code
src/host/git/             Git, diff, conflict, blame, workspace, and shelve services
src/host/panels/          Webview providers for Commit, Log, Merge Editor, Undocked Panel, and Pull Requests
src/host/pullRequests/    Multi-provider Pull Request manager, per-provider API clients, and credential storage
src/host/ui/              Status bar controllers, badge controller, and annotation controller
src/webview/commitPanel/  React Commit panel
src/webview/gitLog/       React Git Log panel
src/webview/commitFullDetail/ React commit "Full Detail" editor-tab panel
src/webview/mergeEditor/  React 3-way merge editor
src/webview/undockedPanel/ React undocked panel (Commit + Log side by side)
src/webview/pullRequestCreate/ React Create Pull Request panel
src/webview/pullRequestDetail/ React Pull Request detail panel
src/webview/shared/       Shared webview components, hooks, and message types
media/                    Extension icons, codicons, and assets
out/                      Built extension and webview bundles

🔧 Development Scripts

Script	Description
npm run build	Builds both extension host and webview bundles.
npm run build:host	Builds the extension host bundle with esbuild.
npm run build:webview	Builds all React webview bundles.
npm run watch	Watches host and webview sources in parallel.
npm run lint	Runs ESLint on TypeScript and TSX sources.
npm run typecheck	Type-checks the main TypeScript project.
npm run typecheck:webview	Type-checks the webview TypeScript project.
npm run package	Creates a VSIX package with vsce.
npm run publish	Publishes the extension with vsce publish.

📌 Notes

• GitCharm is designed for Git workspaces and multi-root workspaces where each folder may be its own repository.
• Destructive operations (rollback, delete, branch delete, reset, stash drop, shelve drop, commit undo) ask for confirmation.
• AI commit-message generation requires an available VS Code language model such as GitHub Copilot.
• The merge editor works on files that contain Git conflict markers.
• Git Annotations require the file to be tracked in a Git repository with at least one commit.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions, the development workflow, and how to report bugs or request features.

🙏 Acknowledgements

GitCharm is built on top of the excellent work of the open-source community. It wouldn't function without:

Package	Role
simple-git	Direct Git operations fallback when the VS Code Git API is unavailable.
Monaco Editor / @monaco-editor/react	Diff and 3-way merge editor views.
React	Renders every webview panel (Commit, Log, Merge Editor, Undocked Panel).
Zustand	State management across all webview panels.
@tanstack/react-virtual	Virtualized rendering of large commit and file lists.
Prism.js	Syntax highlighting in diff and file previews.
@vscode/codicons	Icons throughout the panels, matching VS Code's native look.
material-icon-theme	File-type icons in the Commit panel's file tree.

Thanks also to everyone who opens issues, submits pull requests, and provides feedback.

📄 License

This project is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.