gitscope

gitscope is a read-only terminal UI for exploring git commit history: log rows, branch topology, refs, and selected-commit diffs in one local view. It exists as a focused personal/portfolio project for making history easier to scan without adding git workflow actions.

Features

• Scrollable commit log for the current branch/HEAD or all branches, including SHA, author, date, and subject.
• ASCII/Unicode branch graph gutter aligned with the log, including branch lanes and merge topology.
• Scrollable line-level diff pane that updates when the selected commit changes.
• Branch/ref sidebar for local branches, tags, and HEAD.
• Status bar showing the repository path, current HEAD, and key hints.
• Incremental history loading so startup is bounded by the first page of commits.
• Read-only by design: no staging, committing, rebasing, checkout, push, pull, or fetch operations.

Installation

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.12+
• A local git binary available on PATH
• A git repository already present on disk

Install from PyPI:

python -m pip install devaansh-gitscope

The installed command is still gitscope.

Install from source:

git clone <repo-url>
cd gitscope
python -m pip install .

For local development:

python -m pip install -e .
python -m pytest

Usage

Run gitscope from inside a git repository:

cd path/to/repo
gitscope

Current bindings:

• q: quit
• r: refresh
• m: load more commits
• a: show all local branches
• h: show HEAD
• Up / Down or j / k: move the selected commit
• PgUp / PgDn: scroll the focused pane
• Tab: switch focus
• ?: show help text

Status

gitscope is early and actively developed. The v1 path is focused on a local, read-only commit history viewer with source installation, bounded history loading, refs, graph, diff, and status panes working together.

Known v1 limitations:

• Line-level diffs only; no word-level intraline highlighting.
• No config files, custom themes, or plugin system.
• No remote/network features and no mutating git operations.