Multi-repo Git workspace dashboard for the terminal
Monitor all your repos at a glance — branch, dirty state, ahead/behind, active worktrees, changed files, and commit history — without leaving the terminal.
cargo install gitpaneThat's it. No cloning, no building from source. Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Don't have Rust? Download a pre-built binary from GitHub Releases — single static binary, zero dependencies.
# macOS (Apple Silicon) curl -LO https://github.com/affromero/gitpane/releases/latest/download/gitpane-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz tar xzf gitpane-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz && sudo mv gitpane /usr/local/bin/ # macOS (Intel) curl -LO https://github.com/affromero/gitpane/releases/latest/download/gitpane-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz tar xzf gitpane-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz && sudo mv gitpane /usr/local/bin/ # Linux (x86_64, statically linked) curl -LO https://github.com/affromero/gitpane/releases/latest/download/gitpane-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz tar xzf gitpane-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz && sudo mv gitpane /usr/local/bin/ # Linux (ARM64) curl -LO https://github.com/affromero/gitpane/releases/latest/download/gitpane-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz tar xzf gitpane-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz && sudo mv gitpane /usr/local/bin/
Then run:
gitpane # Scans ~/Code by default
gitpane --root ~/projects # Scan a specific directorycargo install gitpane # Same command — overwrites the old binaryIf you installed from a GitHub Release, re-download the latest binary for your platform using the same commands from the install section above.
If you work across multiple repositories — microservices, monorepos with submodules, a mix of projects — you know the pain of cd-ing into each one to check status. Existing TUI tools focus on one repo at a time:
| Tool | Multi-repo | Real-time watch | Worktrees | Mouse | Commit graph | Split diffs | Push/Pull |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gitpane | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| lazygit | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| gitui | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| tig | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| git-delta | No | No | No | No | No | Yes (pager) | No |
| grv | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| git-summary | Yes (list only) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| mgitstatus | Yes (list only) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| gita | Yes (CLI only) | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
lazygit and gitui are excellent for deep single-repo work — staging hunks, interactive rebase, conflict resolution. gitpane is the workspace-level dashboard — see everything across all repos, drill into anything, never leave the terminal. They complement each other.
Repos on the left show branch, dirty state (*), ahead/behind arrows (↑↓), worktree count (⎇), dirty submodules (◈), unpushed submodule pointer (⇡), and file count. Changes in the middle. Commit graph on the right.
Click a changed file (or press Enter) to see its diff side-by-side. File list stays navigable on the left.
Click a commit in the graph to see its files. Click a file to see the commit diff. Layered Esc dismissal: diff → files → graph.
- Multi-repo overview — Scans
~/Code(configurable) for git repos; shows branch, dirty indicator (*), ahead/behind arrows (↑↓), worktree count (⎇), dirty submodule (◈), unpushed submodule pointer (⇡), and change count - Worktree awareness — Shows the number of linked git worktrees per repo (
⎇2). In the agentic AI era, tools like Claude Code create worktrees for parallel development — gitpane lets you see at a glance which repos have active parallel work - Real-time filesystem watching — Status updates within ~500ms of any file change via
notify - Commit graph — Lane-based graph with colored box-drawing characters, up to 200 commits
- Split diff views — Click a file to see its diff side-by-side; click a commit to see its files and per-file diffs
- Full mouse support — Click to select, right-click for context menu, scroll wheel everywhere
- Push / Pull / Rebase — Right-click context menu with ahead/behind-aware git operations (explicit
origin <branch>for reliability) - Add & remove repos — Press
ato add any repo with tab-completing path input;dto remove;Rto rescan - Sort repos — Cycle between alphabetical and dirty-first with
s - Copy to clipboard — Press
yto copy selected item from any panel (OSC 52) - Configurable — TOML config for root dirs, scan depth, pinned repos, exclusions, frame rate
- Responsive layout — Three horizontal panels on wide terminals, vertical stack on narrow ones
- Cross-platform — Linux, macOS, Windows
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
? |
Toggle keybindings help overlay |
Tab / Shift+Tab |
Cycle focus between panels |
r |
Refresh all repo statuses |
R |
Rescan directories for repos (clears exclusions) |
g |
Reload git graph for selected repo |
a |
Add a repo (opens path input with tab completion) |
d |
Remove selected repo (with confirmation) |
s |
Cycle sort order (Alphabetical / Dirty-first) |
y |
Copy selected item to clipboard |
q |
Quit (or close diff if one is open) |
Esc |
Navigate back through panels, then quit |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ |
Next repo |
k / ↑ |
Previous repo |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ |
Next file |
k / ↑ |
Previous file |
Enter |
Open split diff view |
Esc / h / ← |
Close diff view |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
j / ↓ |
Next commit / file |
k / ↑ |
Previous commit / file |
h / l |
Scroll graph left / right |
Enter |
Open commit files / file diff |
Esc |
Close diff → close files → back |
/ |
Search commits (message, author, short ID) |
n / N |
Next / previous search match |
f |
Toggle first-parent mode |
c |
Collapse / expand branch |
H |
Expand all collapsed branches |
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Left click | Select item, switch panel focus |
| Click selected row | Open diff / commit detail |
| Right click (repo list) | Context menu (push, pull, copy path) |
| Scroll wheel | Navigate lists or scroll diffs |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Tab |
Autocomplete directory path (cycles matches) |
Enter |
Add the repo |
Esc |
Cancel |
Ctrl+A / Home |
Cursor to start |
Ctrl+E / End |
Cursor to end |
Ctrl+U |
Clear line before cursor |
gitpane resolves its config file in this order (first existing file wins):
$GITPANE_CONFIG(if set, treated as the full path; this overrides everything below and is also the save target)$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gitpane/config.toml(if$XDG_CONFIG_HOMEis set and absolute)~/.config/gitpane/config.toml(the XDG default, on every platform)- The platform-native location:
| Platform | Path |
|---|---|
| Linux | ~/.config/gitpane/config.toml (same as 3) |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/gitpane/config.toml |
| Windows | %APPDATA%\gitpane\config\config.toml |
If no file is found at any candidate path, gitpane uses the built-in defaults (root_dirs = ["~/Code"], scan_depth = 2). When saving after loading a file, gitpane writes back to the loaded path. When saving from defaults, it writes to $GITPANE_CONFIG, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gitpane/config.toml, ~/.config/gitpane/config.toml, or the platform-native location, in that order.
gitpane logs the resolved path at startup (tracing info level on stderr).
# Directories to scan for git repositories
root_dirs = ["~/Code", "~/work"]
# Maximum directory depth for repo discovery
scan_depth = 2
# Always show these repos at the top
pinned_repos = ["~/Code/important-project"]
# Skip repos matching these directory names
excluded_repos = ["node_modules", ".cargo", "target"]
[watch]
debounce_ms = 500 # Filesystem change debounce (ms)
poll_local_secs = 5 # Local status poll interval (catches missed watcher events)
poll_fetch_secs = 30 # Remote fetch poll interval (updates ahead/behind from origin)
[ui]
frame_rate = 10 # Terminal refresh rate (fps)
check_for_updates = true # Check for new versions on startup
update_position = "top-right" # Update notification position ("top-right" or "top-left")
[graph]
branches = "all" # Branch filter: "all", "local", "remote", or "none"
label_max_len = 24 # Max length for branch/tag labels
show_stats = true # Show +N/-M diff stats per commitSee examples/config.toml for a fully annotated example.
Run through these in order:
1. Check that gitpane is reading your config file.
gitpane prints the resolved config path at startup. Run gitpane with stderr captured:
RUST_LOG=gitpane=info gitpane 2>/tmp/gitpane.log
cat /tmp/gitpane.logYou should see loaded config path=... or no config file found, using defaults. If gitpane is not loading the file you expected, check the candidate paths in Configuration. On macOS, ~/.config/gitpane/config.toml works as well as the native ~/Library/Application Support/gitpane/config.toml.
To force a specific file:
GITPANE_CONFIG=/path/to/config.toml gitpaneYou can also bypass the config entirely to confirm repo discovery:
gitpane --root "$HOME/src"If --root finds your repos but the config does not, the file path or config contents are the likely issue.
2. Check that scan_depth is large enough.
scan_depth is the maximum directory depth from each entry in root_dirs at which gitpane will look for a .git directory. For a layout like ~/src/github.com/<owner>/<repo>/.git, the .git lives at depth 4, so you need scan_depth = 4 (or higher). Counting from the root:
~/src depth 0
~/src/github.com depth 1
~/src/github.com/<owner> depth 2
~/src/github.com/<owner>/<repo> depth 3
~/src/github.com/<owner>/<repo>/.git depth 4
3. Check for symlinks in your tree.
The scanner does not follow symlinks. If any directory along the path to a repo is a symlink (for example ~/src/github.com pointing at /mnt/code/github.com), repos under it will be skipped.
find "$HOME/src" -maxdepth 4 -name .git -type d -print
echo '... with -L (follows symlinks):'
find -L "$HOME/src" -maxdepth 4 -name .git -type d -printIf the second command finds repos and the first doesn't, that's the cause. Workarounds: point root_dirs at the symlink target directly, or list specific repos in pinned_repos.
4. Check whether .git is a directory or a file.
Linked git worktrees and some submodule layouts store .git as a file containing a gitdir: pointer, not a directory. The scanner only matches .git directories. To check one repo:
test -d "$HOME/src/github.com/affromero/gitpane/.git" && echo dir \
|| test -f "$HOME/src/github.com/affromero/gitpane/.git" && echo fileIf it prints file, add the repo via pinned_repos instead, or open it explicitly with gitpane --root /path/to/parent.
5. Verbose logging.
RUST_LOG=gitpane=debug gitpane 2>/tmp/gitpane.logThen inspect /tmp/gitpane.log for any errors during config load or repo scanning.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ tokio runtime │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Event │→ │ Action │→ │ Components │ │
│ │ Loop │ │ Dispatch │ │ RepoList │ │
│ │ (tui.rs) │ │ (app.rs) │ │ FileList (split diff)│ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │ GitGraph (drill-down)│ │
│ ↑ │ ContextMenu │ │
│ ┌──────────┐ │ PathInput │ │
│ │ notify │ │ StatusBar │ │
│ │ watcher │ └──────────────────────┘ │
│ └──────────┘ │
│ ↑ ┌───────────────────────┐ │
│ filesystem │ git2 (spawn_blocking) │ │
│ changes │ status · graph │ │
│ │ commit_files · fetch │ │
│ └───────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- ratatui + crossterm — TUI rendering with full mouse support
- git2 (libgit2) — Branch, status, ahead/behind, graph, commit diffs
- notify — Filesystem watching with configurable debounce
- tokio — Async runtime; git queries run in
spawn_blockingto keep the UI responsive
Message-passing architecture: terminal events → actions → component updates → render. Each component implements a Component trait with draw, handle_key_event, handle_mouse_event, and update.
just run # Build and run
just test # Run test suite (90 tests)
just fmt # Format code
just lint # Run clippy
just ci # fmt + lint + test (mirrors CI pipeline)src/
├── main.rs # Entry point, CLI parsing
├── app.rs # Main loop, action dispatch, layout
├── action.rs # Action enum (message passing)
├── event.rs # Terminal event types
├── tui.rs # Terminal setup, event loop
├── config.rs # TOML config load/save
├── watcher.rs # Filesystem watcher → repo index mapping
├── components/
│ ├── mod.rs # Component trait
│ ├── repo_list.rs # Left panel: repo list with status
│ ├── file_list.rs # Middle panel: changed files + split diff
│ ├── git_graph.rs # Right panel: commit graph + drill-down
│ ├── context_menu.rs # Right-click overlay
│ ├── path_input.rs # Add-repo input overlay
│ └── status_bar.rs # Bottom bar with keybinding hints
└── git/
├── mod.rs
├── scanner.rs # Repo discovery via walkdir
├── status.rs # Branch, files, ahead/behind, fetch
├── graph.rs # Lane-based commit graph builder
├── graph_render.rs # Box-drawing character rendering
└── commit_files.rs # Commit file list and per-file diffs
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| Fairtrail | Flight price evolution tracker with natural language search |
| PriceToken | Real-time LLM pricing API, npm/PyPI packages, and live dashboard |
| kin3o | AI-powered Lottie animation generator CLI |