git-smartmv - A tool that can decide whether to use git mv or mv

The git-smartmv command-line tool intelligently moves files and directories by selecting either git mv or mv based on the source and destination paths.

• When both the source and destination are within the same Git repository, git-smartmv uses git mv.
• When moving files between a Git repository and a non-Git directory, or between different Git repositories, it defaults to mv.

Installation

To install git-smartmv executable locally in ~/.local/bin/pathaction using pip, run:

sudo pip install --user git-smartmv

(Omitting the --user flag will install git-smartmv system-wide in /usr/local/bin/git-smartmv.)

Shell alias

To install the git-smartmv executable locally in ~/.local/bin/git-smartmv using pip, run:

alias mv="git-smartmv"

(Omitting the --user flag will install git-smartmv system-wide in /usr/local/bin/git-smartmv.)

Usage

The git-smartmv command-line tool accepts similar arguments as the mv command, including the source file or directory to be moved, and the destination file or directory.

usage: git-smartmv [--option] <SOURCE>... <DEST>

options:
  -w WARNING_THRESHOLD, --warning-threshold WARNING_THRESHOLD
                        This will raise a warning if the number of files or directories being moved
                        exceeds the specified amount
  -v, --verbose         Report the names of the files and/or directories as they are being moved.
  -f, --force           Force renaming or moving of files and/or directories even if the destination
                        exists.
  -p, --non-interactive
                        Do not prompt the user to confirm before executing 'mv' and/or 'git mv'
                        commands.

First example:

git smartmv file1 file2

Second example:

git smartmv file1 dir1/ file2 file3 directory/

Third example (non-interactive):

git smartmv --non-interactive dir1/ dir2/

License

Copyright (C) 2023-2025 James Cherti

Distributed under terms of the GNU General Public License version 3.

Links

• Git-smartmv @PyPI
• Git-smartmv @GitHub