https://github.com/tituskirch/glimpse
Lightweight, git-native desktop Git client — branch graph & diffs with first-class WSL support.
https://github.com/tituskirch/glimpse
diff-viewer git git-client git-graph kirchdev nuxt tauri vue wsl
Last synced: 9 days ago
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Lightweight, git-native desktop Git client — branch graph & diffs with first-class WSL support.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/tituskirch/glimpse
- Owner: TitusKirch
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-05-28T23:52:42.000Z (15 days ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-05-31T23:59:55.000Z (12 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-06-01T01:19:35.705Z (12 days ago)
- Topics: diff-viewer, git, git-client, git-graph, kirchdev, nuxt, tauri, vue, wsl
- Language: Vue
- Homepage:
- Size: 1.28 MB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 8
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- Security: SECURITY.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# glimpse
**A lightweight, git-native desktop Git client — the full branch graph, diffs, and everyday git, with first-class WSL support**
[](https://github.com/TitusKirch/glimpse/releases/latest)
[](https://github.com/TitusKirch/glimpse/releases)
[](https://github.com/TitusKirch/glimpse/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[](LICENSE)
---
```bash
# glimpse drives your real git, per repo — automatically:
git -C C:\dev\repo log --graph # a Windows-path repo → Windows git
wsl.exe -d Ubuntu --cd /home/you/repo --exec git log --graph # a \\wsl$ repo → that distro's git
```
That's it. A slim, fast desktop client that shells out to your own `git` — no reimplemented engine, no Chromium, and on Windows it transparently uses WSL git for repos that live in the WSL filesystem.
## ✨ Features
- **🪶 Featherweight** — built on [Tauri](https://tauri.app/), it uses the OS-native WebView (WebView2 / WebKitGTK) instead of bundling Chromium. Small disk and RAM footprint.
- **🧬 Git-native** — never reimplements git; it shells out to your real `git` binary and parses its porcelain output. Your config, hooks, and credentials apply unchanged, and glimpse stores no secrets.
- **🪟 First-class WSL (Windows)** — a `\\wsl$` repository is driven through that distro's git automatically, while Windows-path repos use Windows git. No setup, no per-repo switch.
- **🌳 Graph & history** — the full multi-branch commit graph, searchable history, and per-commit detail (changed files + diff).
- **🔍 Rich diffs** — side-by-side, unified, or whole-file, with syntax highlighting, word-level diff, ignore-whitespace, blame, and file history.
- **✏️ Stage & commit** — stage/unstage by file **or hunk**, discard, commit, amend, and resolve merge conflicts (use ours/theirs).
- **🌿 Branches, tags & stashes** — create/switch/rename/delete branches, merge, cherry-pick, revert, reset (soft/mixed/hard), tags, and stash save/pop/apply/drop.
- **🔄 Live refresh** — a debounced filesystem watcher repaints status, diff, and graph as files change, with manual and on-window-focus refresh as fallback.
- **⌨️ Fast workflow** — command palette, keyboard shortcuts, drag-reorderable multi-repo tabs, a resizable sidebar, recent repos, and "open in editor / terminal / file manager".
- **🌓 Themed & localized** — dark/light follows the OS (manually switchable), with a localized UI.
Full feature list
- **Viewing** — multi-branch commit graph, commit search, side-by-side / unified / whole-file diffs with syntax highlighting and word-level diff, ignore-whitespace, blame, file history, list/tree file view.
- **Staging & commits** — stage / unstage by file or hunk, discard, discard all, commit, `commit --amend`, conflict resolution (use ours/theirs, mark resolved).
- **Branches & tags** — create / switch / rename / delete branches, branch from a commit, publish (set upstream), merge in either direction, create / delete / push tags, checkout a commit (detached HEAD).
- **History rewriting** — cherry-pick, revert, reset (soft / mixed / hard).
- **Stash** — save, pop, apply, drop.
- **Remotes & sync** — add / rename / remove remotes, fetch, pull (incl. rebase), push (set-upstream, `--force-with-lease`), push tags.
- **App** — command palette, keyboard shortcuts, drag-reorderable multi-repo tabs, resizable sidebar, recent repositories, open in editor / terminal / file manager, built-in auto-update.
## 📦 Stack
[Tauri](https://tauri.app/) (Rust) shell + [Nuxt 4](https://nuxt.com/) (Vue 3) SPA, [Tailwind v4](https://tailwindcss.com/) + [shadcn-vue](https://www.shadcn-vue.com/), with git accessed by shelling out to the system binary.
Full stack
| Layer | Choice |
| :-------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Desktop shell | [Tauri](https://tauri.app/) (Rust) — OS-native WebView, no Electron/Chromium |
| Frontend | [Nuxt 4](https://nuxt.com/) (Vue 3), SPA mode (`ssr: false`), code in `app/` |
| Styling / UI | [Tailwind v4](https://tailwindcss.com/) + [shadcn-vue](https://www.shadcn-vue.com/) (Reka UI) |
| State | [Pinia](https://pinia.vuejs.org/) — per-repo store, persisted to `localStorage` |
| Diff rendering | Custom side-by-side / unified / whole-file view; [highlight.js](https://highlightjs.org/) syntax highlighting + word-level diff |
| Graph rendering | SVG generated from structured `git log` data |
| i18n | [`@nuxtjs/i18n`](https://i18n.nuxtjs.org/) — localized UI |
| Git access | System `git` binary (shell-out); Windows git or WSL git resolved per repo |
| FS watcher | Rust [`notify`](https://docs.rs/notify) (debounced), best-effort (incl. `\\wsl$`) |
| Updates | [Tauri updater](https://v2.tauri.app/plugin/updater/) against GitHub Releases |
## 🚀 Setup
Download a build from the [latest release](https://github.com/TitusKirch/glimpse/releases) and install it for your OS; it self-updates from there via the built-in Tauri updater.
- **Windows** — download `glimpse__x64-setup.exe` and run it. It's unsigned for now, so SmartScreen may warn: choose **More info → Run anyway**.
- **Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)** — download `glimpse__amd64.deb` and install it (an `.AppImage` and an `.rpm` are also provided):
```bash
sudo apt install ./glimpse_*_amd64.deb
```
- **macOS (Apple Silicon)** — the build produces an unsigned `.app` bundle (no `.dmg` installer); extract it from the release assets and move **glimpse** to Applications.
> [!WARNING]
> **The macOS build is untested and unsigned.** It compiles in CI alongside Windows and Linux, but those two are the actively tested targets. Gatekeeper blocks it on first launch — right-click the app and choose **Open**. Use at your own risk.
### Manual setup (from source)
Prerequisites: Node **24+**, **pnpm 11**, the **Rust toolchain**, and the [Tauri system dependencies](https://tauri.app/start/prerequisites/) for your platform.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/TitusKirch/glimpse.git
cd glimpse
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev # desktop dev shell
```
> [!TIP]
> For fast UI iteration you can run `pnpm dev` (the Nuxt dev server) and open `http://localhost:3000` in a browser — backend IPC is mocked when not running under Tauri.
## 🧬 Git-native & WSL
glimpse never reimplements git: it shells out to your real `git` and parses machine-readable output, so behaviour, config, hooks, and **credentials** are exactly your own. It stores no secrets and ships no credential UI.
On Windows it picks the right git **per repository**:
- a **Windows path** (e.g. `C:\dev\repo`) → Windows `git`;
- a **WSL path** (`\\wsl$\\…` / `\\wsl.localhost\\…`) → that distro's git, via `wsl.exe -d --cd --exec git …`.
On Linux and macOS git is simply native — there is no WSL concept. Live refresh over the `\\wsl$` 9P share is best-effort; the manual + on-focus refresh covers the rest.
## 🧪 Development
`pnpm tauri dev` for the desktop shell, `pnpm dev` for fast browser iteration, `pnpm check` for the CI gate. Rust unit tests cover the risky backend logic — git output parsing and WSL path translation — and CI builds across a Linux + Windows + macOS matrix (`cargo fmt --check`, `clippy -D warnings`, `cargo test`, `tauri build`).
All commands
| Command | What it does |
| :----------------- | :-------------------------------------------- |
| `pnpm dev` | Nuxt dev server (browser-testable, mocked IPC) |
| `pnpm tauri dev` | Desktop dev shell |
| `pnpm tauri build` | Packaged binary |
| `pnpm test` | Frontend unit tests (Vitest) |
| `pnpm lint` | `oxlint . --deny-warnings` |
| `pnpm format` | `oxfmt --check .` |
| `pnpm cargofmt` | `cargo fmt --check` for the Rust backend |
| `pnpm cargo:update` | Refresh Rust deps within semver |
| `pnpm cargo:outdated` | Show major Rust-dep upgrades (needs `cargo-edit`) |
| `pnpm cargo:upgrade` | Apply major Rust-dep upgrades (needs `cargo-edit`) |
| `pnpm check` | `lint` + `format` + `cargofmt` — the CI gate |
| `pnpm check:fix` | Auto-fix lint, format, and Rust formatting |
## 🎨 Assets & branding
> [!NOTE]
> The logo and app icons are **placeholder artwork, currently AI-generated** with [icongeneratorai.com](https://icongeneratorai.com/) — not final, temporary stand-ins to be replaced at some point, with no fixed timeline.
- **Source logo:** `assets/logo.png` (643×643). The platform icon set in `src-tauri/icons/` is regenerated from it via `pnpm tauri icon assets/logo.png`.
- **Display variants:** `assets/logo_256x256.png` (README hero) and `public/logo.png` + `public/logo_128x128.png` (served in-app — sidebar header, About screen).
**Brand colours** — the logo is a deep indigo→violet gradient (hue ≈ 289°) with a white mark, read straight from the artwork:
| Role | Hex | OKLCH |
| :---------------- | :-------- | :------------------------ |
| Gradient (dark) | `#120A40` | `oklch(0.203 0.096 280)` |
| Gradient (base) | `#202050` | `oklch(0.274 0.086 279)` |
| Gradient (violet) | `#403090` | `oklch(0.388 0.151 285)` |
| Mark | `#FFFFFF` | `oklch(1 0 0)` |
## 🤝 Contributing
PRs welcome. Conventional Commits required (enforced via commitlint). Husky runs the project's linters/formatters on `git commit`.
> [!TIP]
> Run `pnpm check:fix` before pushing — CI will catch what husky missed.
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for the full workflow.
## 🛣️ Versioning
[Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/) via [release-please](https://github.com/googleapis/release-please) — see [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md).
## 📄 License
[MIT](LICENSE) © [Titus Kirch](https://github.com/TitusKirch/) / [IT-Dienstleistungen Titus Kirch](https://kirch.dev)