Git Ranger
A visually stunning Git management extension for Visual Studio with theme-adaptive vibrant colors
✨ Features
🔍 Inline Blame Annotations
See who changed each line directly in the editor - author name, commit date, and message displayed right at the end of each line!
- 🎨 Color-coded by author - each contributor gets a unique vibrant color
- 🔥 Heat map mode - green = recent, red = old (optional)
- 👁️ Configurable opacity and display format
- 💬 Hover for full commit details
📊 Blame Gutter Margin
A visual indicator in the editor margin showing commit history at a glance.
- 📈 Age bars showing relative commit age
- 🎯 Author color indicators
- 📋 Click to copy commit SHA
- 🔎 Hover for commit details
📍 Status Bar Blame
See blame info for the current line right in the Visual Studio status bar - updates instantly as you navigate!
- ⚡ Real-time updates - blame follows your cursor
- 🎛️ Customizable format - choose what to display with
{author}, {date}, {message}, {sha} placeholders
- 📅 Relative or absolute dates - "2 days ago" or "1/21/2026"
- ✂️ Auto-truncate - configurable max length keeps your status bar tidy
🔮 What's Next?
Check out our issues list to see what features are planned and vote on what you'd like to see next!
🛠️ Installation
Visual Studio Marketplace
- Open Visual Studio 2022 or 2026
- Go to Extensions > Manage Extensions
- Search for "Git Ranger"
- Click Download and restart Visual Studio
Manual Installation
Download the latest .vsix from the Releases page and double-click to install.
⚙️ Configuration
Configure Git Ranger via Tools > Options > Git Ranger
🏷️ Blame Settings
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
| Enable Inline Blame |
Show blame at end of lines |
true |
| Enable Blame Gutter |
Show blame in margin |
true |
| Show Author Name |
Display author in inline blame |
true |
| Show Commit Date |
Display date in inline blame |
true |
| Show Commit Message |
Display message in inline blame |
true |
| Date Format |
relative or custom format string |
relative |
🎨 Color Settings
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
| Color Mode |
Author, Age, or None |
Author |
| Max Age (days) |
Maximum age for heat map |
365 |
🖥️ Display Settings
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
| Inline Blame Opacity |
Transparency (0.0 - 1.0) |
0.7 |
| Compact Mode |
Condensed display format |
false |
| Gutter Width |
Width in pixels |
40 |
| Show Age Bars |
Visual age indicators |
true |
📍 Status Bar Settings
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
| Enable Status Bar Blame |
Show blame in status bar |
true |
| Format |
Template with {author}, {date}, {message}, {sha} |
{author}, {date} • {message} |
| Use Relative Dates |
Show "2 days ago" vs absolute date |
true |
| Max Length |
Truncate long messages (0 = unlimited) |
100 |
🔧 Diagnostics
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
| Log Level |
Output pane verbosity: None, Error, Info, Verbose |
Error |
Logs are written to the "Git Ranger" output pane in Visual Studio.
📋 Requirements
- 💻 Visual Studio 2022 (17.0) or later
- 🔧 .NET Framework 4.8
🏗️ Technology Stack
| Component |
Technology |
| Git Integration |
LibGit2Sharp |
| UI Framework |
WPF |
| Graph Rendering |
SkiaSharp (planned) |
| VS Integration |
Community.VisualStudio.Toolkit |
🤝 Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Whether it's bug reports, feature requests, or pull requests - all feedback helps make this extension better.
🔧 Development Setup
- Clone the repository
- Open the solution in Visual Studio 2022 or 2026
- Ensure you have the "Visual Studio extension development" workload installed
- Press F5 to launch the experimental instance
📄 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
👥 Contributors
Made with ❤️ by Coding With Calvin
