Git Branches Panel
Git Branches Panel is a Visual Studio Code extension that shows local and
remote Git branches, stashes, worktrees, and tags in a dedicated tree view with folder grouping,
sync status, current-branch context, and quick actions.
This extension lives in the vscode-extensions repository under extensions/git-branches-panel/.
Overview
The panel keeps the active branch visible at the top, groups slash-separated
branch names into folders, and separates Local, Remote, Stash, Worktree, and Tags into their own
sections so common Git navigation feels fast and tidy. The Local section opens first, while
Remote, Stash, Worktree, and Tags stay collapsed until you expand them.
Features
- 🌿 Folder grouping — branches like
feature/auth or feature/payments/stripe are nested into folders automatically
- 🧭 Local and remote sections — local branches are shown first, with remote branches listed in a separate group below them
- 🧺 Stash section — stashes are shown between remote branches and tags so parked work stays close at hand
- 🪵 Worktree section — worktrees are shown under stashes so additional checkouts are easy to find and manage
- 🏷️ Tags section — tags are shown in their own section below remote branches
- 📁 Folders first — folders are listed before branch leaves inside each section
- ⚡ Faster first paint — the tree loads Local branches first so the view opens quickly in larger repositories
- 📦 Lazy-loaded sections — Remote, Stash, Worktree, and Tags are loaded only when you expand them
- 🧭 Focused default expansion — Local starts expanded while other sections and nested folders start collapsed
- ✅ Current branch first — highlighted with a
● prefix and a green icon
- 🪄 Optional current branch banner — keep or hide the top
Current branch: ... summary from settings
- 🕐 Last commit time — shown as a relative description and in the tooltip
- 🔄 Sync state badges — incoming and outgoing commits stay visible even when branch names are long
- ☁️ Inline sync button — every branch gets a small sync button, including branches that are not currently checked out
- 🚀 Non-current branch sync — sync a branch with its upstream without checking it out first
- 🆚 Compare with current branch — compare a local or remote branch against the currently checked out branch from the context menu
- 📦 Stash actions — apply, pop, or drop a stash from the context menu
- 🪟 Worktree actions — open, reveal, copy, or remove worktrees from the context menu
- ⚡ Double-click checkout — double-click a branch to switch instantly
- 🔀 Merge into current — merge a selected branch into the current branch from the context menu
- 🧰 Context menu actions — checkout, sync, create tags, rename, merge into current, push all tags from the Tags section, copy branch name, and delete with merge-safety handling
- ➕ Toolbar quick actions — create a new branch, stash tracked and untracked changes silently, sync the current branch, fetch all remotes, fetch all with prune, and refresh from the panel title bar
- 🔄 Targeted auto-refresh — updates loaded sections when
.git/HEAD, .git/FETCH_HEAD, .git/packed-refs, .git/refs/heads/, .git/refs/remotes/, .git/refs/tags/, .git/refs/stash, .git/logs/refs/stash, .git/worktrees/, workspace folders, or settings change
Commands
| Command |
Description |
| Refresh |
Refresh the loaded branch sections and remote sync state |
| Stash Silently |
Stash all tracked and untracked files without prompting for a stash name |
| Fetch All |
Fetch all remotes and refresh the tree without pruning stale refs |
| Fetch All (Prune) |
Fetch all remotes, prune deleted refs, and refresh the tree |
| Sync Current Branch |
Sync the currently checked out branch with its upstream |
| Checkout Branch |
Switch to the selected local or remote branch |
| Checkout Tag |
Check out the selected tag in detached HEAD state |
| Sync Branch |
Pull and/or push the branch with its remote, even when it is not checked out |
| Rename Branch |
Rename the selected branch |
| Create Tag |
Create a local tag on the selected local branch |
| Compare with Current Branch |
Open a multi-file comparison between the selected branch and the checked out branch |
| Apply Stash |
Apply the selected stash without removing it |
| Pop Stash |
Apply the selected stash and remove it if successful |
| Drop Stash |
Delete the selected stash |
| Open Worktree |
Open the selected worktree in the current window |
| Open Worktree in New Window |
Open the selected worktree in a new window |
| Reveal Worktree in File Explorer |
Reveal the selected worktree in the OS file browser |
| Copy Worktree Path |
Copy the selected worktree path to the clipboard |
| Remove Worktree |
Remove the selected linked worktree |
| Push All Tags |
Push all local tags to a selected remote from the Tags section context menu |
| Merge into Current Branch |
Merge the selected branch into the current branch |
| Copy Branch Name |
Copy the branch name to the clipboard |
| Copy Tag Name |
Copy the selected tag name to the clipboard |
| Delete Branch |
Delete the selected branch with merge safety checks |
| Delete Tag |
Delete the selected local tag |
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
gitBranchesPanel.groupByFolder |
true |
Group branches by /-separated prefix |
gitBranchesPanel.sortOrder |
alphabetical |
alphabetical or recent |
gitBranchesPanel.showCurrentBranchInfo |
true |
Show the current branch summary above the tree views |
Development
Requirements
- Node.js 18+ for local development
- Node.js 20+ recommended for creating
.vsix packages
- Visual Studio Code 1.85+
Run locally
From the repository root:
npm install
npm run test:git-branches-panel
code .
Then press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host using the shared workspace launch configuration.
You can also run npm run compile, npm run lint, or npm run test from this folder; those scripts delegate to the repository root tooling.
Create a .vsix file
Quickest option from the repository root:
npm run package:git-branches-panel
Or from this extension folder directly:
npm run package
The generated file is written to this folder as git-branches-panel-<version>.vsix and can then be uploaded to the Visual Studio Marketplace.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome. See the repository-level CONTRIBUTING.md for development workflow and quality checks.
Support
For bug reports, feature requests, and usage questions, see SUPPORT.md.
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.
