A terminal-native git UI with real-time diff preview, syntax highlighting, and intelligent auto-refresh. Watch your agent's changes as they happen—no context switching required.

Traditional git workflows force you to context-switch: git status → git diff → git add → repeat. When working with AI agents, you lose visibility into what's changing in real time.

This plugin solves that with:

• Live preview: Split-pane interface shows diffs as you navigate files
• Syntax-highlighted diffs: Language-aware coloring for readable code review
• Real-time updates: Auto-refreshes when your agent commits or files change
• Zero-config: Works instantly in any git repository
• Full-featured: Stage, commit, branch, push, stash, search—everything in one view

1. Open any git repository in sidecar
2. Press 1 or click the git icon to activate
3. Navigate files with j/k, stage with s, commit with c

That's it. The diff pane updates automatically as you move.

┌─────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│ Files & Commits │ Diff Preview             │
│                 │                          │
│ • Staged (2)    │ + added line             │
│ • Modified (5)  │ - removed line           │
│ • Untracked (3) │   unchanged line         │
│                 │                          │
│ Recent Commits  │ (syntax highlighted)     │
│ • abc123 Fix    │                          │
└─────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘

• Left: Organized file tree + scrollable commit history
• Right: Live diff preview or commit details

The plugin watches .git directory and debounces updates (500ms) to prevent excessive refreshing. Updates trigger on:

• File modifications (your agent editing code)
• Git operations (commits, branch switches, merges)
• Remote operations (fetch, pull, push completion)

You always see current state without manual refresh.

Most developers use one of these git workflows:

1. CLI only: Run git status, git diff file.go, git add, repeat. Slow and breaks flow.
2. VSCode/IDE: Built-in git but separate from terminal, no agent visibility.
3. Separate GUI: Tools like GitKraken or Tower—heavy, disconnected from terminal work.

This plugin is designed for AI-assisted development:

• Agent visibility: See every change your agent makes in real time
• Terminal-native: No switching windows, stays in your tmux/terminal workflow
• Keyboard-first: Every action has a shortcut, mouse is optional
• Fast: Instant diff preview, no loading spinners or heavy UI
• Smart defaults: Stage next file, auto-cursor movement, debounced refresh

Think of it as "git status + diff + add + commit" fused into a single, live-updating view.

Files are organized into sections with status indicators:

Each file shows +/- line counts for quick impact assessment.

Stage entire folders by selecting the folder and pressing s. After staging, the cursor automatically moves to the next unstaged file.

Unlike git diff in a terminal or basic GUIs, this plugin provides:

• Syntax highlighting: Language-aware coloring (Go, Python, JavaScript, Rust, etc.)
• Two view modes: Unified (traditional) or side-by-side (comparative)
• Inline preview: See diffs without leaving the file list
• Full-screen mode: Press d for focused review of large changes
• Smart scrolling: Horizontal scroll for wide lines, vertical paging with ctrl+d/u

Press v to toggle between:

Unified (traditional):

  function calculate() {
-   return x + y;
+   return x * y;
  }

Side-by-side (comparative):

Before               │ After
─────────────────────┼──────────────────────
function calculate() │ function calculate()
  return x + y;      │   return x * y;
}                    │ }

Your preferred mode persists across sessions.

The plugin intelligently shows diffs based on file state:

• Modified files: Working directory changes (git diff)
• Staged files: Changes ready to commit (git diff --cached)
• Untracked files: Shows entire file as additions
• Commits: Select any commit to view its changes

Press c after staging files to open an intelligent commit interface:

What you see:

• Total staged files count
• Lines added/removed summary (e.g., +142 -38)
• List of all files being committed with paths
• Multi-line message textarea with focus

Workflow:

1. Type your commit message (supports multiple paragraphs)
2. Press ctrl+s to commit immediately
3. Or press Tab to focus the commit button, then Enter

Error handling: If commit fails (pre-commit hooks, linting, etc.), your message is preserved. Fix the issue, press c again, and your message is still there.

This prevents the frustration of losing commit messages when hooks fail.

The branch picker shows:

• All local branches
• Current branch highlighted
• Upstream tracking info (↑N ↓N ahead/behind)

Select a branch and press Enter to switch.

Press P to open an intelligent push menu with three options:

1. Push (p shortcut)

• Executes git push -u origin HEAD
• Sets upstream tracking automatically
• Shows progress indicator

2. Force Push (f shortcut)

• Uses --force-with-lease (safer than --force)
• Prevents overwriting others' work
• Warns if upstream has changes

3. Push with Upstream (u shortcut)

• Explicitly sets upstream tracking branch
• Useful for first push of new branches

Visual feedback:

• Push in progress: Animated indicator
• Push success: Brief confirmation message
• Push error: Error details with suggested fixes

The commit sidebar always shows your sync status:

• Ahead/behind indicators: ↑3 ↓1 (3 commits ahead, 1 behind)
• Per-commit pushed status: Icons show which commits are pushed
• Unpushed count: Badge shows how many local commits need pushing

This prevents the "Did I push that?" confusion.

Both operations show progress indicators and error details if they fail.

Pop shows a confirmation modal with stash details before applying.

The sidebar displays recent commits with automatic loading as you scroll. This isn't a static list—it's a live, searchable view of your repository history.

Key features:

• Infinite scroll: Navigate down to automatically load more commits
• Fast search: Press / to search by subject or author (case-insensitive, regex supported)
• Multi-filter: Combine author filter (f) + path filter (p) for precise results
• Branch graph: Press v to visualize branch topology with ASCII art

Toggle with v to see branch structure:

* abc123 Latest commit
* def456 Previous commit
|\
| * ghi789 Feature branch (merged)
|/
* jkl012 Merge base

Great for understanding complex branch histories and merge patterns.

Select any commit to see full details in the right pane:

• Complete commit message (multi-line)
• Changed files with +/- stats
• Navigate files with j/k and press Enter to view specific file diffs
• Copy commit hash (Y) or full markdown (y) to clipboard

This makes code review and investigation fast—no need to git show repeatedly.

Markdown format includes subject, hash, author, date, stats, and file list.

Auto-detects repository from remote URL (SSH or HTTPS).

• Click file: Select and show diff
• Click commit: Select and show preview
• Click folder: Expand/collapse
• Drag divider: Resize panes
• Scroll: Navigate lists and diffs

The plugin uses intelligent file system watching to detect changes:

• What triggers updates: File edits, git operations, branch switches, remote syncs
• Debouncing: 500ms delay prevents refresh spam during rapid changes
• Selective updates: Only reloads affected data (diffs, status, commits)
• Visual feedback: Brief indicators show when auto-refresh occurs

This means you can watch your agent work without manually pressing r to refresh.

Press O on any file to open it in the File Browser plugin. The git plugin:

• Maintains your current selection and scroll position
• Switches focus to file browser automatically
• Allows seamless navigation between git review and file editing

This tight integration makes it easy to jump from reviewing diffs to editing files.

Your preferences persist across sessions in sidecar's state directory:

• Diff view mode: Unified or side-by-side preference
• Sidebar width: Pane divider position you've customized
• Commit graph: Whether graph visualization is enabled

This means your workspace looks the same every time you open sidecar—no reconfiguration needed.

All keyboard shortcuts by context:

Traditional workflow:

$ git status  # See what changed
$ git diff src/main.go  # Review one file
$ git add src/main.go  # Stage it
$ git status  # Check again
$ git commit -m "message"  # Commit
# Repeat for each file...

This plugin:

• See all changes at once with live diffs
• Stage with single keypress, auto-advance to next file
• Review all diffs before committing
• Visual feedback for every operation

Time saved: ~70% faster for multi-file staging.

VSCode strengths:

• Integrated with editor
• Good visual diff

This plugin advantages:

• Terminal-native: No separate window, works in tmux/SSH
• Agent visibility: Real-time updates as agent works
• Keyboard efficiency: No mouse required, Vim-style navigation
• Faster: No Electron overhead, instant startup
• Cross-editor: Works with Neovim, Emacs, any editor

GUI tools strengths:

• Visual branch graphs
• Clickable interface

This plugin advantages:

• Lightweight: No multi-GB install, instant startup
• Integrated: Lives in sidecar with other tools
• Keyboard-first: Faster than mouse-driven workflows
• Terminal workflow: No context switching from CLI
• Free: No subscription required

• AI pair programming: Watch agent changes in real time
• Terminal-based workflows: tmux, SSH, remote development
• Keyboard enthusiasts: Vim users, efficiency-focused developers
• Code reviewers: Quick commit inspection and file navigation
• Teams: Consistent workflow across editors

1. Press S to stage everything (when confident)
2. Or navigate with j/k, review each diff, press s to stage
3. Cursor auto-advances to next file after staging
4. Press u if you staged something by mistake

1. Press / to search commits by keyword
2. Navigate results with n/N
3. Select commit and review files in right pane
4. Press y to copy commit details as markdown for PRs

1. Press b to see all branches with ahead/behind counts
2. Select target branch and press Enter to switch
3. Plugin auto-refreshes to show new branch state

1. Keep git plugin open while agent works
2. Watch diffs update in real time as files change
3. Review changes, stage selectively
4. Commit with descriptive message
5. Agent context stays clean, you stay informed

• Startup: under 50ms to initialize
• Diff rendering: under 100ms for typical files (1000 lines)
• Syntax highlighting: Cached per file, instant on re-view
• Auto-refresh: Debounced to 500ms, prevents CPU spikes
• Large diffs: Horizontal scroll handles 1000+ character lines
• Commit history: Lazy-loaded, no upfront cost for 10k+ commits

Tested on repositories with 100k+ commits and 10k+ files.