[HN Gopher] Tig - Text-mode interface for Git
___________________________________________________________________
Tig - Text-mode interface for Git
Author : lemonspat
Score : 238 points
Date : 2020-12-16 14:00 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (jonas.github.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (jonas.github.io)
| bxrxdx wrote:
| I love tig.
| dionian wrote:
| I use this quite a bit for ad-hoc git log viewing in bash. Thanks
| to the developers!
| smitty1e wrote:
| Mandatory plug: https://magit.vc/
| chipotle_coyote wrote:
| And for Vim nerds: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
|
| (I tend to be using different editors most of the time, but
| haven't found a text editor Git integration better than either
| Magit or Fugitive.)
| falkd wrote:
| There is also Vimagit, which is inspired by Magit:
| https://github.com/jreybert/vimagit
| RMPR wrote:
| That's the first thing that drove me initially to Emacs. I
| never found a Git client that well-crafted.
| globular-toast wrote:
| That's because most aren't designed as git porcelains. Magit
| enhances and, in some cases, replaces git's abstractions with
| its own. If a git frontend starts by taking git's own built-
| in porcelain as a given then it's already doomed to failure.
| ajarmst wrote:
| I've been using Magit for years, but I've never seen the
| use of "porcelain" as a jargon term to describe anything
| but Magit. Can you point me to a 'splaner on the use of
| that term? Googling hasn't gotten me anything but an
| insight to just how many people take porcelain (the
| pottery) very, very seriously.
| simias wrote:
| It's silly git nomenclature for "human readable output".
| Except it's not even used consistently within git.
|
| What the parent mean is that some tool rely on the human-
| oriented, potentially unstable output of git commands
| instead of using lower level layers.
| lapinot wrote:
| https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-
| and-Po...
|
| tldr: git low-level commands are considered API and
| called "plumbing" (eg `git cat-file`, `git upload-pack`),
| otoh stuff like `git push` is porcelain: it's an ui
| layer.
| globular-toast wrote:
| It's a git specific terminology. The plumbing is low
| level stuff like creating objects etc (ie. DAG
| operations). The porcelain is high level stuff like
| "rebase" which is (supposedly) designed for human use.
| ktzar wrote:
| Using it for years. Pretty good and it's even included in the
| latest versions of git for windows (if you can't use something
| else, as it was my case for a while)
| GordonS wrote:
| Thanks, I was just trying to find out where to download Windows
| binaries, and had no idea I already had it!
| evnix wrote:
| a simple video demo/gif would be really cool to see what it does
| in one glance
| skocznymroczny wrote:
| In Poland in the 90s there was a spreadsheet application for DOS
| named TIG. It was a companion to word editor named TAG.
| dag11 wrote:
| I'd like to just say that Tig has been deeply integrated into my
| terminal git workflow for so many years, it's one of the first
| things I install on any new system. I've found that practically
| all GUIs for git only serve to be a shell for the same commands
| you'd be quicker typing out in the first place, and their only
| unique value is a visual representation your branching and the
| ability to quickly stage/unstage chunks of code within a file.
| Tig brings these two tasks beautifully into any command line
| workflow, loading instantly and having good keyboard shortcuts <3
| tcoff91 wrote:
| I'll have to try it and see how it compares to Magit. Magit is
| by far my favorite way to interact with git. I do work on a
| repo currently however that brings Magit to its knees
| performance-wise, so I'll have to see if Tig performs better
| with it.
| knubie wrote:
| Been using tig for years and couldn't imagine going back. I love
| how closely it maps to the standard git CLI.
| randylahey wrote:
| I've been using tig a lot recently; I've always just used git
| from the command line, but if you're working with a number of
| files, tig is hard to beat when you learn a few of the hotkeys.
| nathias wrote:
| tig really is great, I've been using it for years now
| kissgyorgy wrote:
| My favorite is lazygit: https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit
|
| It has better layouts and shortcuts. I used Magit before, but
| hated to install Emacs only for such a small feature set. Lazygit
| is perfect when you want to manipulate a git repo quickly, but
| very similarly to Magit.
| tcoff91 wrote:
| Excited to try this. I work in this one massive repo that Magit
| just can't handle. Pulling up the Magit status window takes
| 15-25 seconds on a 2019 15" MBP with an 8-core i9. It's torture
| because I'm so used to Magit that I hate having to change my
| workflow for one repo. I hope lazygit is faster than Magit.
| pengaru wrote:
| As a longtime vim user it feels like if I actually wanted a TUI
| veneer over the git CLI I'm already quite familiar with, I'd
| prefer it be done within vim as an extension/plugin or something.
|
| Having some vim-like keybindings in non-vim tools is nice, but
| it's always a far cry from being _vim_. And personally I find it
| incredibly annoying when I 'm in something vim-like enough to
| establish "I'm in vim" expectations and not meet them once I
| start trying to use the thing like vim without restraint. I'm
| then put into this constant second guessing mode of "if this
| _really_ were vim I 'd do so and so, but should I just try it?
| maybe it'll do something really unexpected, time to RTFM? sigh."
| which is really unproductive and psychologically awful.
|
| Especially when we're talking about dev tools like git
| integration, where the mental state is already going to be
| steeped well into text editor land, all the familiar vimisms are
| going to be hot in the habitual cache.
|
| Does anyone know of anything tig-like that's implemented as a vim
| plugin one interacts with through regular vim windows? I wouldn't
| mind having an interactive list interface for tagging files to
| include in a `git commit -p` for instance, without leaving the
| editor.
| wrboyce wrote:
| I'm a big fan of tpope's fugitive:
| https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
| xyproto wrote:
| Tig is and has been my favorite utility for browsing git logs for
| years now. Thanks tig developers and contributors!
|
| It's handy to know that the arrow keys are used for browsing the
| log messages, while return followed by either pgup/pgdn or j/k
| are used for scrolling the contents of a log message. And it's
| easy to search logs with /.
|
| Tig is also theme-able. For instance with:
|
| curl -so ~/.tigrc
| 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/dotfiles/master/...'
|
| Note that this may overwrite your ~/.tigrc, if you already have
| one. Colors are subjective, but I like how it looks in my
| terminal emulator.
|
| Tig is highly recommended. It just works and is one less thing to
| worry about.
| mkhnews wrote:
| I will also say tig is awesome. I use it all the time and have
| submitted a few PRs to it for my particular idiosyncrasies.
| Vim's gv plugin is also good.
| al3ssapa wrote:
| +1 Tig is awesome!
| ausjke wrote:
| same here also it's much faster to open when you have a really
| large repository
| CoolGuySteve wrote:
| tig along with htop, tmux, ag, and vim are always the first
| packages I install on any new host. They're indispensable.
| simlevesque wrote:
| curl -so ~/.tigrc 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cbertoldi/
| dotfiles/master/tigrc.symlink'
| cphoover wrote:
| Ahhh one of my fave command line utilities, super useful git
| tool.
| tnorthcutt wrote:
| _text-mode interface for Git_
|
| Based on the comments here saying they love Tig, I know I'm
| missing something, but: doesn't Git provide a text interface (the
| `git` command) to Git?
|
| I'm not trying to be obtuse; I genuinely don't know what Tig
| provides that Git doesn't already do, but would love to know!
| masklinn wrote:
| tig is a curses program, it's an interactive terminal GUI (a
| TUI), as opposed to a CLI e.g. you can browse and interact with
| your log rather than dump it in a pager and need a separate
| terminal to dive into a commit or whatever.
|
| magit is a good alternative, it's not exactly a TUI because it
| works entirely inside emacs and uses emacs concepts, but it's
| entirely text-based.
| tnorthcutt wrote:
| Interesting, thank you! I think I need go learn more about
| what "curses" means
| httpsterio wrote:
| Curses is just a library for writing command line
| interfaces. Normally a CLI just deals with the text buffer
| pushing content and the user inputting textual commands,
| curses allows for a bit more control like with panes,
| dynamic areas and giving the user more control on how to
| input commands.
| acoard wrote:
| "Curses" is a library for writing, well, TUIs[0]. I get
| that's a bit circular, so let me explain.
|
| With a normal CLI program, you essentially just output to
| STDOUT line by line. You type `git status`, and the git
| program basically does `print(status)`. Then you're back to
| your terminal and you type another command, git or
| otherwise.
|
| A "curses" program renders fundamentally different. It's
| much more like how video games render. Every time it
| renders, it'll draw to the entire screen. You're not in an
| empty command line where you can type any command, rather
| you are "in" the application. Take a look at this
| screenshot [1]. You can imagine how pressing up/down keys
| might move which input is selected. If you want to get back
| to the normal terminal you have to quit the TUI
| application.
|
| While not commonly thought of TUIs, generally
| vi/emacs/lynx/etc would all technically qualify (tho people
| might give you a strange look if you called them TUIs). To
| be clear, these do _not_ use curses. They kind of predate
| curses and just wrote it manually. Curses is not a
| requirement ffor a TUI, but is by far the most common
| library to use when writing TUIs now-a-days.
|
| [0]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_(programming_library)
|
| [1] https://i.stack.imgur.com/oD7mJ.png
| ephimetheus wrote:
| Actually, curses uses two buffers and diffs them so that
| only the delta is sent ,,over the wire". In graphics,
| everything is redrawn every frame usually.
| tgvaughan wrote:
| It provides a curses-based TUI, while generally git just
| provides a CLI.
| bkane521 wrote:
| Tig provides a GUI that is text-based, i.e. runs right in your
| terminal. It's essentially a shell friendly version of
| sourcetree/tortoisegit etc. A great tool on its own, but
| particularly useful for headless servers/remote machines.
| tnorthcutt wrote:
| Interesting, thank you!
| metaodi wrote:
| tig is great, it's my go-to git client on all my machines.
|
| Only since I use tig I understand how to commit hunks. It's super
| easy to split the changes of a file into different commits that
| make sense. With most other clients this is either cumbersome or
| not possible. So your forced to always commit all changes of a
| file in one commit.
|
| I guess it just really works great for my workflow and the way I
| think about my repositories/commits.
| timidger wrote:
| Out of curiosity what's wrong with git add -i? That's what I
| use to stage parts of a file.
| robenkleene wrote:
| `git add -i` is linear, you have to address files and chunks
| in order (there are workarounds for this, but they're
| clumsy). `git add -i` is a bit like using a typewriter,
| whereas `tig`, which lets you address files and chunks non-
| linearly, is like using a word processor by comparison. Edit
| to your hearts content.
| petepete wrote:
| Tig is just faster, staging and unstaging take a fraction of
| a second.
|
| I've used Tig daily for years (about ten) and basically use
| it for for quickly browsing the log and changing what's
| staged - probably less than 5% of its features.
|
| Everything else I do via the command line with ZSH's
| excellent git completion.
| hibbelig wrote:
| Lazygit is an alternative that I like.
| talkingtab wrote:
| Second lazygit. My personal favorite at
| https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit
| [deleted]
| sli wrote:
| Started using lazygit a couple months ago and never looked
| back.
| rplnt wrote:
| I've been using it for I think well over a year now. Started
| with using it just to add/remove files from staging. Used git
| for everything else. Slowly added committing, pushing, creating
| patches, seeing history, ...
|
| It's quite fast and is easy to add it to your regular git
| flows.
| chrisweekly wrote:
| tig seems like it could be a cool tool, but trying to view
| screenshots (on ios latest safari) left me stuck on a flickr
| login screen. ):
| aszen wrote:
| See the video here
|
| https://youtu.be/z0mb0NteYjg
| Timothee wrote:
| For what it's worth, I don't think the screenshots do it any
| favor.
|
| The main thing is that it's a terminal-based git client with
| Vim bindings, and customization. It's hard to represent that in
| screenshots :)
|
| But I've also been using it for years and it's working
| perfectly for me.
| spicybright wrote:
| Why no pictures, I'd like to see it first without installing it
| to my machine.
| inetknght wrote:
| I've used `tig` for years and it's wonderful.
| mlang23 wrote:
| Git already has a text-mode interface, its called Git!
| SomeHacker44 wrote:
| I did not find any obvious screenshots in action when clicking
| around on the site. So, I won't bother investigating further.
| Maybe others would also like some prominent screenshots that show
| off why we may want to use/try this.
| pmcollins wrote:
| ditto but i downloaded it anyway and am very glad i did.
|
| btw on mobile, the screenshots are hidden behind the hamburger
| menu at the top of the page.
| mrapogee wrote:
| Uhm, you didn't see the featured "Screenshots" item in the main
| navigation?
| donarb wrote:
| He did say "prominent". I agree, inline screenshots on the
| site are preferable to a Flickr gallery.
| jdubb wrote:
| For those like me who still couldn't find it: there's a small
| menu button on the top left.
|
| Maybe it's because I'm on mobile, but it's a bit hard to see.
| sli wrote:
| That's why. The sidebar is open by default on desktop.
| corytheboyd wrote:
| A timeless classic, have for years and will continue to use it
| daily
| skibz wrote:
| Not only is the name just three letters long, it's git backwards,
| and the acronym text-mode interface for git. Simply perfect.
| keyle wrote:
| I like tig, then I discovered lazygit, a samish idea in Go which
| as far as I can tell is more powerful and easier to use. (I have
| no affiliation to any).
| ninetax wrote:
| I use tig every day! Love it!
|
| My one wish is that when you go to edit a file from the interface
| (by hitting e) is that it would keep you in the directory you're
| in rather than editing the file as if you're in git root. Linters
| and other things break when I edit files from the root directory
| in our mono repo
| felixr wrote:
| Are there any good TUIs for mercurial?
|
| I have only found https://github.com/matheuslessarodrigues/verco
| which not as good as tig or lazygit
| samuell wrote:
| Tig is one of the most valuable hidden gems out there.
|
| I use it both for simple things like a good looking commit log
| (the default view), but like especially how I can navigate into
| an old commit, hit t (for tree), and navigate and peek into the
| files available in that specific commit, hit b (for blame) to
| view which commit changed a particular row etc.
|
| I like how all the different views play together into such useful
| workflows, and how, just like in vim, everything is available one
| mnemonic keystroke away. Hit h (for help) inside it to explore
| ... you will be surprised at the power of using these different
| views together in practice.
| pacificat0r wrote:
| Gitui is a better alternative
|
| https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui
| ocardoso wrote:
| > gitui currently lacks essential features in git like push,
| pull, and checkout. The priorities are the basics (add,
| commit), and on features that are making me mad when done on
| the git shell, like stashes and hunks.
|
| Hardly a better alternative if it doesn't have all the basic
| features.
| knubie wrote:
| I've been using tig for years and never did a push / pull /
| checkout with it. The git CLI works fine for that, so I
| understand the authors priority here.
| yoz-y wrote:
| What is the main feature that makes Gutui better than Tig?
| bsg75 wrote:
| That is subjective. I have not warmed up to curses UIs that
| have window frames. YMMV.
| vr46 wrote:
| Love Tig, it's an instant go-to everyday for Getting Things
| Done(tm)
| qwertywert_ wrote:
| Really, do you have to link screenshots separately to a flickr
| page?
|
| Screenshots are super important for projects imo to quickly
| understand how something is actually useful. Should always make
| the small effort to add an example GIF or image (if applicable to
| the project).
| ninetax wrote:
| Do folks have .tigrc shortcuts they'd recommend?
| desireco42 wrote:
| I've been using Tig for years. It works, it works well, it is
| fast and mostly intuitive.
|
| Usually people like it and want to use it after they see me using
| it.
| topher200 wrote:
| I'm a huge fan of tig. It maps really well to my way of thinking
| about git repos and it is super quick way to see the graph of
| everything that's going on. In the Top 5 of command line tools
| for me.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2020-12-16 23:00 UTC)