TheEgit

Daily Git Workflow

Open your project, review working tree changes, stage files, and commit — all without leaving the GNOME desktop. Push to remote with SSH or HTTPS credentials.

Code Review

Browse commit history with the colored graph, select a commit, and review its diffs with syntax highlighting. Use blame to trace line origins.

Branch Management

Create, rename, merge, and delete branches from context menus. View ahead/behind counts relative to upstream. Force-push with protected branch warnings.

Multi-Repository Workspace

Drag a workspace folder to discover all Git repositories inside it. Open any repo from the discovery tree view.

History Investigation

Use file history to see all commits that touched a specific file. Check the reflog to recover lost commits. Inspect blame annotations for line-by-line authorship.

Quick Start

1. Launch TheEgit from GNOME Activities or terminal (the-egit)
2. Click the Open button (folder icon) or press Ctrl+O
3. Select a folder containing a Git repository
4. Browse branches in the sidebar, commits in the history, and diffs in the viewer
5. Select "Working Tree Changes" to see uncommitted modifications

Opening a Repository

There are four ways to open a repository:

• Open button: Click the folder icon or press Ctrl+O — a custom folder browser with git repo indicators and recursive "Explore" search
• Drag and drop: Drop a git repo folder to open it directly. Drop a non-repo folder to discover all git repos inside it
• Clone: Clone a remote repository with the Clone button — supports SSH and HTTPS with credential dialogs
• Recent repositories: On the welcome page, click any repo in the recent list (up to 50 entries, auto-pruned)

Click the Back button to return to the welcome screen from an open repository.

Window Layout

┌──────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┐
│          │   Commit History (colored graph)       │
│ Branches ├───────────────────────────────────────┤
│  & Tags  │   Commit Details + Ref Decorations    │
│ (resize) ├──────────┬────────────────────────────┤
│          │File Tree │   Diff Viewer              │
│          ├──────────┴────────────────────────────┤
│          │   Action Bar (staging / commit)        │
└──────────┴───────────────────────────────────────┘

Left sidebar — Resizable pane with branches and tags. Right-click for context menus (checkout, rename, merge, delete, push/fetch tags).

Top-right — Commit history with colored graph lanes, 10-character SHA, ref decoration badges (branches with ↑N ↓M ahead/behind, tags with local/remote indicators), and relative dates.

Bottom-right — Collapsible file tree (toggle Changes/Files tabs) and syntax-highlighted diff viewer. Resizable commit detail pane with draggable separator.

Commit Details

Select a commit to see:

• SHA: Full 40-character hash (selectable for copying)
• Author: Name and email
• Date: Formatted as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
• Message: Full commit message (URLs are clickable)
• Parents: Parent commit OIDs
• Ref decorations: Colored badges for branches, tags, and HEAD

The commit history table shows:

Working with Changes

Select "Working Tree Changes" (first row in commit list) to see uncommitted modifications.

Staging files:

• Per-file: Click the stage/unstage button next to each file
• Stage All / Unstage All: Buttons in the action bar
• Context menu: Right-click a file for stage/unstage options

Committing:

1. Select "Working Tree Changes"
2. Stage the files you want
3. Type a commit message in the text field
4. Click Commit

Amend: Edit the previous commit message and contents.

Discarding changes: Right-click a file → Discard Changes to revert to HEAD. This cannot be undone.

Remote Operations

All remote operations support SSH agent, SSH key file, and username/password authentication via credential dialogs.

Remotes management: Add, remove, and rename remotes from the Remotes dialog.

Context Menus

Branch context menu (right-click in sidebar):

Commit context menu (right-click in history):

File context menu (right-click in file list):

Keyboard Shortcuts

Configuration

Recent repositories stored in:

~/.config/the-egit/recent-repos.conf

• Up to 50 repositories remembered
• Most recently opened first
• Non-existent repositories removed automatically
• Remove entries from the welcome page with the x button

Tips

• Quick navigation: Use the sidebar to jump between branches — history updates instantly
• Copy SHA: Click the full SHA in commit details to select it, then Ctrl+C
• External diff: Use "Compare with Meld" from the context menu
• Files tab: Click any file in the Files tab to view its content (blob viewer) at that specific commit
• Large repositories: Commit log limited to 500 entries per branch for performance
• Refresh: Press F5 after making changes outside TheEgit (e.g., from the command line)
• Protected branches: Force-push to main/master shows a confirmation warning