F-GitGraph
High-performance Git history visualization for VS Code, powered by an F# Native AOT core.
About
F-GitGraph is a next-generation Git history visualizer built for large repositories, originally forked from the MIT-licensed Git Graph extension (via the Neo-Git-Graph fork). It combines a lightweight Preact webview with a native F# Native AOT core engine (f-gitgraph-core.exe) that reads Git data directly and computes the graph layout in parallel — no dependency on a .NET runtime, and dramatically faster than previous single-threaded TypeScript implementations.
Maintained and published by LMO-LAB.
Key Highlights
- Dual-core architecture — a lightweight Preact UI drives a self-contained F# Native AOT engine that runs directly on the metal.
- Direct Git access — reads the binary
commit-graph through memory-mapped files and the in-process LibGit2 C binding, 30–50× faster than shelling out to the Git CLI.
- Parallel DAG layout — sorts commits and allocates graph lanes across multiple CPU threads, pre-computing SVG geometry before the UI renders.
- Streaming IPC — a stdio RPC daemon with a binary MessagePack protocol answers windowed queries in under 5 ms for silky virtual scrolling.
- Signature-safe writes — every mutating operation (commit, branch, merge, rebase, cherry-pick, tag, push, pull) is delegated to the native
git.exe, preserving GPG/SSH signing and Git Credential Manager.
- Modern neon UI — hexagon SVG commit nodes, ambient neon glow, 5× avatar zoom preview, and a full commit-message panel.
Features
- Graph view — branches, tags, and uncommitted changes in a single hexagonal graph.
- Commit details — click a commit to inspect the message, changed files, and diffs.
- Branch actions — create, checkout, rename, delete, and merge.
- Tag actions — create, delete, and push tags.
- Commit actions — checkout, cherry-pick, revert, and reset.
- Avatar preview — hover-to-zoom avatar preview (fetching avatars is deprecated in v0.6.0).
- Multi-repo — work with several repositories in one workspace.
Architecture
Traditional implementations (including the upstream Git Graph and Neo-Git-Graph codebases) parsed git log output with regular expressions and computed the graph layout in a single JavaScript thread — creating severe performance bottlenecks on large repositories.
F-GitGraph decouples the system into a hybrid architecture: a responsive TypeScript/Preact shell, a high-performance F# Native AOT core engine for read-heavy graph computation, and native Git CLI delegation for 100% signature-safe mutating operations.
| Concern |
Before (TypeScript) |
After (F# Native AOT) |
| Read commits / refs |
git log + regex parsing (spawn) |
Memory-mapped commit-graph + LibGit2 in-process |
| Topological sort |
Single-threaded JS |
Parallel Kahn sort with priority queue |
| Lane allocation |
Single-threaded JS |
Left-compact lane pool, multi-threaded |
| Geometry generation |
JS at render time |
Pre-computed SVG in Parallel.For |
| Transport |
JSON postMessage |
Binary MessagePack over stdio RPC daemon |
Mutating operations intentionally remain on the Git CLI to guarantee signature and credential safety.
Roadmap
The engine ships platform-by-platform, starting on Windows and expanding to a universal release:
- Phase 1 — Windows (in progress): F# Native AOT core, domain model, fast Git reader, parallel layout solver, stdio IPC, benchmarking, and VSIX packaging.
- Phase 2 — Linux: port the core to Ubuntu/Fedora/Debian, resolve
glibc compatibility, and stress-test against the Linux kernel repository.
- Phase 3 — macOS: Apple Silicon (M-series ARM64) and Intel x64, Gatekeeper handling, and Retina display verification.
- Phase 4 — Release: multi-platform CI/CD and a universal VSIX bundling all native binaries.
Installation
Search for f-gitgraph in the Extensions view, or install from:
Configuration
All settings use the f-gitgraph prefix.
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
autoCenterCommitDetailsView |
true |
Center commit details when opened |
dateFormat |
"Date & Time" |
"Date & Time", "Date Only", or "Relative" |
dateType |
"Author Date" |
"Author Date" or "Commit Date" |
fetchAvatars |
false |
Fetch avatars (sends email to external services); deprecated in v0.6.0 |
graphColours |
12 defaults |
Colors for graph lines |
graphStyle |
"rounded" |
"rounded" or "angular" |
initialLoadCommits |
300 |
Commits to load on open |
loadMoreCommits |
100 |
Commits to load on demand |
maxDepthOfRepoSearch |
0 |
Folder depth for repo search |
showCurrentBranchByDefault |
false |
Show only current branch on open |
showUncommittedChanges |
true |
Show uncommitted changes node |
tabIconColourTheme |
"colour" |
"colour" or "grey" |
Contributing
Please use Issues for bug reports, feature requests, and discussion. See the Roadmap for the current direction.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
F-GitGraph builds upon the MIT-licensed Git Graph extension by mhutchie and the Neo-Git-Graph fork (asispts/neo-git-graph). It is maintained and published by LMO-LAB.
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