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Fork on windows, SourceGit on Linux, both have a similar UI layout to SourceTree, but are much faster/snappier.
I really like having a clear overview of the commit history, branches and current local state. I haven't figured out yet how to get such an "at a glance" overview in the CLI.
For advanced stuff the CLI is still very convenient.
Have to take a look at Fork (annoying name to Google I image). Sourcetree can be quite sluggish and downright annoying on macOS.
Ditto on the CLI having its pro's and cons
Fork is the best as far as GUI goes, but you can't use a search engine to find any support information.
I second sourcegit. When I need to I'll drop into the clu. But it's so much easier to just look at the branches in sourcegit.
It's like an open source gitkracken.
TortoiseGit.
Through settings, I move the Show Log to the top context menu level, and it's my entry point to every Git operation.
I see a history tree to see and immediately understand commit and branch relationships and states. I can commit, show changes, diff, rebase interactive or not, push, fetch, switch, create branches and tags, squash and split commits, commit chunk-wise through "restet after commit", … And everything from a repo overview.
/edit: To add; other clients I tried never reached what I want from a UI/GUI, never reached TortoiseGit. Including IDE integrations where I'm already in the IDE; I prefer the separate better TortoiseGit.
GitButler is interesting for it's different approach, but when I tried it out the git auth didn't remember my key password. (Since trying out jj I found out it may have been due to disabled OpenSSH Service.)
Seconded. I'm a .Net developer on Windows, I like the Explorer integration.
I have a love-hate relationship with it. Due to work reasons I'm more familiar than I want to be with tortoiseSVN, and the git version is similar enough to feel at home. But that's also it's biggest downfall: it does a lot of things the "SVN way" despite being a git client. The workflow can be kinda made to work, but it always feels like it's not a native git tool, because it isn't. I would go so far as to say that it encouragedrl bad habits on git, especially for those used to tortoiseSVN.
Lazygit. Used gitui for a long while but lazygit has vim key bindings which is much nicer and it also seems much more stable.
I use plain old git for the same reasons already mentioned, but magit is the gold standard.
Fugitive, the vim / neovim plugin. It does everything the CLI does, but uses vim interfaces very effectively to enhance the experience. For example it's quite good for selectively staging changes from a file. I also like the option to open a buffer with the version of a file from any specified commit.
I also tried neogit which aims to port magit to neovim. I didn't like it as much. Partly because as far as I could tell at the time it lacked features compared to fugitive. But also because it seemed to want me to do everything through UIs in its own custom windows. Fugitive is integrated more thoroughly into vim via command mode, and special buffers.
I'm a big fan of tig for visualizing the graph and looking over history (then I don't need to leave the terminal, and it's snappier, in my experience, than most full-GUI programs like Sourcetree), but for actual Git commands, I like the CLI
gitui and the plain old git cli
This is very satisfying to use and is a nice companion to the command line - I particularly use it to stage only certain lines and files from the changes.
I tried lazygit first, but there was a consistent lag that was probably only ¼ second but it ruined the experience for me.
cli and meld for mergetool
Yeah, meld is nice.
I mostly use the cli, but also Sublime Merge. It makes some things really convenient (like committing only some lines in a changed file), and looking at diffs is snappy too.
Just fyi, you can add only a few lines of a changed file on the cli too using git add -p
sourcegit, fork
CLI, gitui, SmartGit, various editor integrations when I’m there anyway (VS code, JetBrains)
The CLI is great because it works everywhere, but it’s not the best to review changes before I commit, or to inspect the log, plan merges etc. So I tend to go for more graphical tools for these tasks. Used SmartGit a lot at work. But recently learned about gitui and like its simplicity at times esp when I’m at the command line anyway.
The editor integrations I only really use to commit small changes or switch branches, see if I have changes etc.
Mostly vscode, and GitHub desktop for projects that I don’t use vscode for. I want to learn how to use the CLI, I just didn’t get around to it yet.
Vscode with the Git Graph extension.
It's what they used at my job when I started, it does the job, and I've gotten used to it. 🤷♂️
Whatever's built into pycharm or vscode for looking at diffs. Command line for push pull squash etc
I use Sourcetree for routine stuff, though I occasionally have to hit the command line when shit gets real.
I use GitHub Desktop on Mac and PC. It works fine with local repos, too.
CLI, nvimdiff 90% of the time. If I’m on a windows workstation, I might end up using git extensions GUI as it helps me visualize what’s happening a little better sometimes.
CLI for me. I do use the GitLens plugin in vs code but only so I can see commit info inline. I never commit anything from vs code.
I like Kaleidoscope (v3) for diffs but not for merging. I could probably use any graphical difftool for this purpose but it’s what I’m used to.
FYI, VSCode can now natively show commit info inline, no GitLens extension required:
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/tips-and-tricks#_git-blame
Aah good to know, thanks! 🙏
For professional use I’ve heard good things about SmartGit, unfortunately my work refused to buy me a license and the trial period wasn’t long enough for me to really form an opinion.
Work suggests to use SourceTree but it is way too sluggish.
These days I use git CLI for most things, and VSCode to review changes and submit PRs. Of course this also assumes you use a decent shell with git support, like Oh-My-Posh or similar, so it is always clear what you are working on.
Mainly the official git CLI for controlling branches and sub modules, and sometimes the GitHub CLI if quickly checking out a pull request from a forked repo.
Also use the source control tab in VSCode rather often, as it's really convenient to review and stage individual line changes from its diff view, and writing commit messages with a spell check extension.
If it's a big diff or merge conflict, I'll break out the big guns like Meld, which has better visualizations for comparing file trees and directories.
About a decade ago, I used to use SmartGit, then tried GitKraken when that came around, but never really use much of the bells and whistles and wasn't keen on subscription pricing. Especially as the UX for GitHub and other code hosting platforms online have matured.
