1 # git-cola: The highly caffeinated Git GUI
3 Git Cola is a powerful Git GUI with a slick and intuitive user interface.
5 git clone https://github.com/git-cola/git-cola.git
7 [![License](https://img.shields.io/:license-GPL-green.svg)](LICENSE)
8 [![Build status](https://github.com/git-cola/git-cola/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/git-cola/git-cola/actions/workflows/main.yml)
9 [![OpenSSF Best Practices](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/251/badge)](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/251)
10 [![pre-commit.ci](https://results.pre-commit.ci/badge/github/git-cola/git-cola/main.svg)](https://results.pre-commit.ci/latest/github/git-cola/git-cola/main)
12 * [Screenshots](https://git-cola.github.io/screenshots.html)
14 * [Downloads](https://git-cola.github.io/downloads.html)
19 * [Keyboard shortcuts](https://git-cola.github.io/share/doc/git-cola/hotkeys.html)
21 * [HTML documentation](https://git-cola.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
23 * [Git Cola documentation](docs/git-cola.rst)
25 * [Git DAG documentation](docs/git-dag.rst)
27 * [Contributing guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md)
34 * [Sphinx](http://sphinx-doc.org/) is used to generate the documentation.
38 * [Git](https://git-scm.com/) 2.2.0 or newer.
40 * [Python](https://python.org/) 3.6 or newer.
42 * [QtPy](https://github.com/spyder-ide/qtpy) 1.1.0 or newer.
44 Git Cola uses QtPy, so you can choose between PyQt6, PyQt5 and PySide2 by setting
45 the `QT_API` environment variable to `pyqt6`, `pyqt5` or `pyside2` as desired.
46 `qtpy` defaults to `pyqt5` and falls back to `pyqt6` and `pyside2` if `pyqt5`
49 Any of the following Python Qt libraries must be installed:
51 * [PyQt5 / PyQt6](https://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/pyqt/download5)
52 5.6 or newer is required. Qt 6.0 is also supported via QtPy.
54 * [PySide2](https://github.com/PySide/PySide)
60 Git Cola enables additional features when the following
61 Python modules are installed.
63 [Send2Trash](https://pypi.org/project/Send2Trash/)
64 enables cross-platform "Send to Trash" functionality.
65 ([source](https://github.com/hsoft/send2trash))
67 [pyobjc](https://pypi.org/project/pyobjc/)
68 enables macOS-specific application themes on macOS.
69 ([source](https://github.com/ronaldoussoren/pyobjc))
74 **IMPORTANT**: never run `pip install` or `garden install` outside of a
75 Python virtualenv or as root!
77 There are several ways to install Git Cola.
81 Linux is it! Your distro has probably already packaged `git-cola`.
82 If not, please file a bug against your distribution ;-)
86 Available in the [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/git-cola/).
102 zypper install git-cola
106 Available in [SlackBuilds.org](http://slackbuilds.org/result/?search=git-cola).
110 [See here](https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=git-cola) for the
111 versions that are available in Ubuntu's repositories.
113 There was a [PPA by @pavreh](https://launchpad.net/~pavreh/+archive/ubuntu/git-cola)
114 but it has not been updated for a while.
119 # Install from official binary packages
120 pkg install -r FreeBSD devel/git-cola
123 cd /usr/ports/devel/git-cola && make clean install
126 ## Install into a Python Virtualenv from PyPI using pip
128 **IMPORTANT**: never run `pip install` or `garden install` outside of a
129 Python virtualenv or as root!
131 One way to install the latest released version is to use `venv` (virtualenv) and `pip`.
132 This installs [git-cola from pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/git-cola/).
134 If you already have `PyQt5` installed from your distribution's package manager
135 then you should skip the `pip install PyQt` steps.
137 If you already have the `qt5-devel` package installed then you can lookup its version so
138 that your virtualenv can install a compatible version of PyQt using `qmake`:
140 QT_VERSION=$(qmake -query QT_VERSION)
141 QT_VERSION_MAJOR=$(qmake -query QT_VERSION | head -c 1)
142 echo PyQt${QT_VERSION_MAJOR}==${QT_VERSION}
144 Take note of the `PyQtX==A.B.C` value so that you can specify it when installing
145 PyQt below if, and only if, you have `qmake` installed and want to interoperate
146 with its corresponding Qt installation.
148 python3 -m venv --system-site-packages env3
150 # Skip this command if you already have PyQt installed or if you do not have qmake
151 ./env3/bin/pip install PyQt${QT_VERSION_MAJOR}==${QT_VERSION}
153 ./env3/bin/pip install git-cola
156 Add the `env3/bin` directory to your `PATH` or symlink to `bin/git-cola` from
157 somewhere in your `PATH` such as `~/.local/bin/git-cola`, and you can launch
158 Git Cola like any other built-in `git` command:
164 ## Install into a Python Virtualenv from Source
166 If you don't have PyQt installed then the easiest way to get it is to use a Python
167 virtualenv and install Git Cola into it in "editable" mode. This install method
168 lets you upgrade Git Cola by running `git pull`.
170 # Create a virtualenv called "env3" and activate it.
171 python3 -m venv --system-site-packages env3
172 source env3/bin/activate
174 # One-time setup: install dev and optional runtime requirements
175 garden requirements/dev
176 garden requirements/opt
178 # Install git-cola in "editable" mode so that it uses the source tree.
181 # Run Git Cola via the "git-cola" Git subcommand.
185 If you add `env3/bin` (or symlink to `bin/git-cola` ) to your `$PATH` then you can
186 run `git cola` as if it were a builtin `git` command from outside of the virtualenv
187 (eg. after running "deactivate" or when opening a new shell).
190 ## Standalone Installation from Source
192 Running `garden -D prefix=$HOME/.local install` will install Git Cola in your
193 `$HOME/.local` directory (`$HOME/.local/bin/git-cola`, `$HOME/.local/lib`, etc).
195 This installation method assumes that the `qtpy` and `PyQt*` dependencies have
198 The Garden recipe also supports `DESTDIR` to support creating packages for Linux package
201 garden -D DESTDIR=/tmp/stage -D prefix=/usr/local install
206 For most end-users we recommend using either Homebrew or installing into
207 a Python virtualenv as described above.
209 You can install Git Cola from source using the same steps as above.
213 An easy way to install Git Cola is to use [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) .
214 Use Homebrew to install the git-cola recipe:
216 brew install git-cola
218 If you install using Homebrew you can stop at this step.
219 You don't need to clone the repo or anything.
223 If you have all of the dependencies installed, either via `pip` or `brew` then
224 you can build a shell `git-cola.app` app bundle wrapper for use in `/Applications`.
226 If you'd like to build a `git-cola.app` bundle for `/Applications` run this command:
230 You will need to periodically rebuild the app wrapper whenever Python is upgraded.
232 ### Updating macOS and Homebrew
234 Updating macOS can often break Homebrew-managed software.
236 If you upgrade your macOS version and Git Cola no longer runs then then it is
237 recommended that you re-install Git Cola's dependencies after upgrading.
239 A quick fix when upgrading to newer versions of XCode or macOS is to
242 brew reinstall pyqt@5
244 You may also need to relink your pyqt installation:
248 This is required when upgrading to a modern (post-10.11 El Capitan) Mac OS X.
249 Homebrew now bundles its own Python3 installation instead of using the
250 system-provided default Python.
252 If the "brew reinstall" command above does not work then re-installing from
253 scratch using the instructions below should get things back in shape.
258 # uninstall git-cola and its dependencies
259 brew uninstall git-cola
263 # re-install git-cola and its dependencies
264 brew install git-cola
269 IMPORTANT If you have a 64-bit machine, install the 64-bit versions only.
270 Do not mix 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
272 Download and install the following:
274 * [Git for Windows](https://git-for-windows.github.io/)
276 * [Git Cola](https://github.com/git-cola/git-cola/releases)
278 Once these are installed you can run Git Cola from the Start menu.
280 See "Windows (Continued)" below for more details.
282 If you'd like to install Git Cola with
283 [winget](https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli) run the following command:
285 winget install git-cola.git-cola
287 As there is no dependency resolution yet you have to install Git as well with:
289 winget install Git.Git
293 Git Cola ships with an interactive rebase editor called `git-cola-sequence-editor`.
294 `git-cola-sequence-editor` is used to reorder and choose commits when rebasing.
295 Start an interactive rebase through the "Rebase" menu, or through the
296 `git cola rebase` sub-command to use the `git-cola-sequence-editor`:
298 git cola rebase @{upstream}
300 `git-cola-sequence-editor` can be launched independently of git cola by telling
301 `git rebase` to use it as its editor through the `GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR`
302 environment variable:
304 export GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR="$HOME/git-cola/bin/git-cola-sequence-editor"
305 git rebase -i @{upstream}
309 Shell completion scripts are available for bash and zsh.
310 Each script contains instructions on how to install and activate the completions.
312 * [bash completion script](contrib/git-cola-completion.bash)
314 * [zsh completion script](contrib/_git-cola)
317 # Git Cola Sub-commands
319 The `git-cola` command exposes various sub-commands that allow you to quickly
320 launch tools that are available from within the git-cola interface.
321 For example, `git cola find` launches the file finder,
322 and `git cola grep` launches the grep tool.
324 See `git cola --help-commands` for the full list of commands.
326 $ git cola --help-commands
329 {cola,am,archive,branch,browse,config,
330 dag,diff,fetch,find,grep,merge,pull,push,
331 rebase,remote,search,stash,tag,version}
335 {cola,am,archive,branch,browse,config,
336 dag,diff,fetch,find,grep,merge,pull,push,
337 rebase,remote,search,stash,tag,version}
340 am apply patches using "git am"
341 archive save an archive
342 branch create a branch
343 browse browse repository
344 config edit configuration
351 pull pull remote branches
352 push push remote branches
353 rebase interactive rebase
355 search search commits
356 stash stash and unstash changes
358 version print the version
362 If you already have Git Cola's dependencies installed then you can
363 start `cola` as a Python module if you have the source code available.
369 The following commands should be run during development:
374 # Run tests and longer-running pylint checks
377 # Run tests against multiple python interpreters using tox
380 The test suite can be found in the [test](test) directory.
382 Commits and pull requests are automatically tested for code quality
383 using [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/git-cola/git-cola/actions/workflows/main.yml).
385 Auto-format `cola/i18n/*.po` files before committing when updating translations:
389 When submitting patches, consult the
390 [contributing guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md).
395 Git Cola installs its modules into the default Python site-packages directory
396 (eg. `lib/python3.7/site-packages`) using setuptools.
398 While end-users can use `pip install git-cola` to install Git Cola, distribution
399 packagers should use the `garden -D prefix=/usr install` process. Git Cola's Garden
400 recipe wraps `pip install --prefix=<prefix>` to provide a packaging-friendly
401 `garden install` target.
404 # Windows (Continued)
406 ## Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable
408 Earlier versions of Git Cola may have shipped without `vcruntime140.dll` and may
409 not run on machines that are missing this DLL.
411 To fix this, download the
412 [Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=52685)
415 Git Cola v4.0.0 and newer include this DLL and do not require this to be installed
420 In order to develop Git Cola on Windows you will need to install
421 Python3 and pip. Install PyQt5 using `pip install PyQt5`
422 to make the PyQt5 bindings available to Python.
424 Once these are installed you can use `python.exe` to run
425 directly from the source tree. For example, from a Git Bash terminal:
427 /c/Python39/python.exe ./bin/git-cola
429 ## Multiple Python versions
431 If you have multiple versions of Python installed, the `contrib/win32/cola`
432 launcher script might choose the newer version instead of the python
433 that has PyQt installed. In order to resolve this, you can set the
434 `cola.pythonlocation` git configuration variable to tell cola where to
435 find python. For example:
437 git config --global cola.pythonlocation /c/Python39
439 ## Building Windows Installers
441 Windows installers are built using
443 * [Pynsist](https://pynsist.readthedocs.io/en/latest/).
445 * [NSIS](http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page) is also needed.
447 To build the installer using Pynsist run:
449 ./contrib/win32/run-pynsist.sh
451 This will generate an installer in `build/nsis/`.
453 ## Windows "History Browser" Configuration Upgrade
455 You may need to configure your history browser if you are upgrading from an
456 older version of Git Cola on Windows.
458 `gitk` was originally the default history browser, but `gitk` cannot be
459 launched as-is on Windows because `gitk` is a shell script.
461 If you are configured to use `gitk`, then change your configuration to
462 go through Git's `sh.exe` on Windows. Similarly, we must go through
463 `python.exe` if we want to use `git-dag`.
465 If you want to use gitk as your history browser open the
466 Preferences screen and change the history browser command to:
468 "C:/Program Files/Git/bin/sh.exe" --login -i C:/Git/bin/gitk
470 `git-dag` became the default history browser on Windows in `v2.3`, so new
471 users do not need to configure anything.