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, 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.
• 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, Commit & Push, and Amend actions.
• Optional AI commit-message generation via the VS Code Language Model API (GitHub Copilot).
• Commit message pre-filled automatically with Merge branch 'X' into 'Y' when merge conflicts are detected.

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.
• Undo the HEAD commit (with confirmation) directly from the push list.
• 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).

Shelve & Stash

• Shelve with patch-based shelves: create, apply (full or partial), delete, and inspect per-file diffs.
• Binary-file handling and conflict detection on unshelve.
• Native stash support: list, apply, pop, drop, and file diff preview.

Git Log Panel

• Commit graph with branch visualization.
• Branch sidebar: local branches, remote branches, tags; single-repo workspaces hide the repository list.
• Filters by text, author, branch, date, and repository.
• Commit detail with changed-file list and per-file diffs.
• 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.
• Branch operations from the sidebar: checkout, fetch, pull, push, merge, rebase, delete, rename, compare, and create new branch.
• Hides origin/HEAD from the remote branches list.

Branch Status Bar

• Shows the current branch name (truncated with ellipsis if long) with dirty, ahead, behind, and diverged states.
• Branch menu with quick access to: update project, push, commit, branch operations, and log.
• 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.

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.

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-0.2.5.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

Keybindings

Settings

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, and Merge Editor
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/mergeEditor/  React 3-way merge editor
src/webview/shared/       Shared webview components, hooks, and message types
media/                    Extension icons, codicons, and assets
out/                      Built extension and webview bundles

Development Scripts

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.

License

This project is distributed under the MIT license.