Git Tree

A Git graph for Visual Studio Code that understands worktrees. See every branch, tag, stash and worktree in one graph, see each worktree's uncommitted changes, and run Git actions from a right-click.

Why Git Tree?

Worktrees let you keep several branches checked out at once, each in its own folder. Most Git graphs don't know they exist: a branch checked out in another worktree looks like any other branch, and changes waiting in that worktree are invisible. Git Tree puts worktrees in the graph.

Features

• 🌳 Worktrees in the graph. A Worktree column labels every worktree on the commit it's on, and each worktree's uncommitted changes get their own row.
• 🔎 A worktree filter. Show one worktree's history and changes, the main worktree's, or everything at once.
• 🛠️ Worktree actions. Create a worktree from a commit or a branch, open it in a new window, remove it, or copy its path. Ctrl+click a worktree to open it.
• 🗂️ One tab per repository. Keep several repositories open side by side.
• ⚡ Fast and light. A Rust engine reads the repository without starting git, and the graph draws only the rows on screen. The view opens up to 3× faster than Git Graph, and drawing 5,000 commits takes 24 ms instead of 400.
• 🎨 Follows your theme. Rows, labels, dialogs and the graph's colours are tuned for light and dark themes.
• 🔒 No telemetry. Git Tree sends no usage data.

And everything you expect from a Git graph: branches, merges, tags, stashes and remote branches; checkout, merge, rebase, cherry-pick, reset, push and pull from a right-click; commit details with diffs; and comparing any two commits.

Git Tree compared with Git Graph

Git Tree started from Git Graph 1.30.0, and keeps all of its features. Git Tree 0.3 is written in TypeScript and reads the repository by running git, as Git Graph does. Git Tree 0.4 reads it with a Rust engine, and draws only the rows on screen.

Performance

How these were measured, on Linux x64 with Git 2.55:

• Opening the view is the time to read the repository's branches, remotes, stashes, worktrees and refs, and the first 300 commits, through each version's own code. It's the median of 25 runs, with the three versions taking turns. git status runs in all three and is left out. The 6,750-commit repository is a copy of a real project.
• Drawing is the time from the commits reaching the view to the painted frame, in Chromium, as the median of several runs. Git Graph and Git Tree 0.3 share the same drawing code.
• View memory is the memory of the view's page; an empty page takes about 135 MB. Extension memory is the extension's own memory, not counting the git processes it starts.
• The download size is the Linux x64 package. Git Tree 0.4 ships one package per platform, because the Rust engine is native code.

Starting a git process costs about 2 ms on Linux, and 40–70 ms on Windows. Git Tree 0.4 starts none to open the view, so it gains the most on Windows and macOS. Those gains haven't been measured yet.

Git writes the commit-graph file during git gc, so many long-lived repositories already have one. Git Tree writes it for repositories that don't.

Features

Getting started

1. Install Git Tree from the Extensions view (search for "Git Tree"), or install a .vsix with Extensions: Install from VSIX....
2. Open a folder that is a Git repository.
3. Open the graph in any of these ways:
   • click Git Tree in the status bar
   • run Git Tree: View Git Tree from the Command Palette
   • click the Git Tree button on a repository in the Source Control view

Worktrees

See every worktree

The Worktree column shows which worktree has each commit checked out. A branch that's checked out in a worktree keeps its branch label in the description, and the worktree's label sits in the Worktree column on the same row. The column appears when a repository has more than one worktree, and git-tree.defaultColumnVisibility can hide it.

Each worktree with uncommitted changes gets its own Uncommitted Changes row, drawn from the commit it's on and labelled with the worktree's name. Git Tree watches every worktree, including those outside the repository's folder, so the rows stay up to date.

Filter by worktree

The Worktree dropdown in the top bar filters the graph, the way the Branches dropdown does:

Git actions, such as checkout, commit details and opening files, run in the worktree you pick. Branches you pick in the Branches dropdown are shown as well. The dropdown appears when a repository has more than one worktree.

Create, open and remove worktrees

Right-click to work with worktrees:

• A commit: Create Worktree.... Enter a new branch name to create that branch at the commit and check it out in the worktree, or leave it blank for a detached HEAD.
• A branch that isn't checked out: Create Worktree... checks the branch out in a new worktree.
• A branch checked out in another worktree: Open Worktree in New Window. Git won't check out or delete such a branch, so those actions are hidden.
• A worktree label: show the worktree, open it in a new window or this one, remove it, or copy its path.

Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on macOS) or double-click a worktree label to open that worktree in a new VS Code window.

Where new worktrees go

New worktrees go in the .worktrees folder of the main worktree by default, for example .worktrees/feature-login. Type another folder in the dialog, or change the default with git-tree.worktree.defaultLocation. Both accept:

{repo} becomes the repository's folder name, which keeps each repository's worktrees apart. When the folder is inside the repository, Git Tree adds it to .git/info/exclude, so the worktrees don't show up as untracked files.

File paths in worktrees

A file has a different absolute path in each worktree. In Commit Details, Open File and Copy Absolute File Path use the worktree you're viewing. To copy the path in another worktree, right-click the file and choose Copy Absolute File Path in Another Worktree....

Everyday use

Commit details and comparisons

Click a commit to see its details and changed files. Click a file to see its diff, or right-click it to open the file, view it at that commit, or copy its path. Ctrl+click (Cmd+click) a second commit to compare the two.

Tabs

Each Git Tree tab shows one repository, and its title names the repository and the worktree. Opening a repository switches to the tab that already shows it, or opens a new one. Run Git Tree: View Git Tree in New Tab..., or click + in a Git Tree tab's title bar, to open another tab.

More

• Branches dropdown: show all branches, pick some, or use your own glob patterns (git-tree.customBranchGlobPatterns).
• Find (Ctrl/Cmd+F): find commits by message, date, author, hash, branch or tag.
• Code review: keep track of the files you've reviewed in a commit or a comparison. Reviews last across sessions.
• Repository settings: manage remotes, link issue numbers in commit messages to your tracker, and set up pull request creation for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or your own provider.
• Columns: resize them, and show or hide Date, Author, Commit and Worktree.

Keyboard shortcuts

Settings

All settings start with git-tree.. Search for "Git Tree" in the Settings editor to see each one. Settings that are new in Git Tree:

If git-tree.graph.colours isn't set, the graph uses a darker palette on light themes. A repository's shared Git Tree configuration lives in .vscode/vscode-git-tree.json.

Commands

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.82 or later
• Git 2.31 or later. With an older Git, Git Tree shows a message that asks you to upgrade Git, or to point git.path at a newer Git.

Known limitations

• Git Tree draws every loaded commit. Very long histories take longer to draw; Load More Commits loads them in steps.
• Each worktree adds one git status to every refresh, so a repository with many worktrees refreshes more slowly.

Support

• Report a bug or ask for a feature in GitHub Issues.
• The changelog lists what changed in each version.
• To work on Git Tree itself, see the developer guide.

License

Git Tree is under the MIT License in LICENSE. Some code and icons come from other projects, under the licenses in the licenses folder.

Some of the icons are from the following sources:

• GitHub Octicons (License)
• Icons8 (License)