Git Light

Free, open-source desktop Git client — commit graph, branches, staging and real local Git operations. No account required.

ftuyama.github.io/git-light · MIT License · Built with Tauri 2, Vue 3, TypeScript, Rust

Git Light is a lightweight app for browsing history, managing branches, staging changes and running fetch/pull/push — using real Git commands on your local repos. Open a folder, clone a URL, or init a new repo.

Features

• Commit graph with lanes, refs, search + keyboard navigation
• Branch sidebar: favorites, tags, stashes, worktrees, drag-and-drop merge/rebase
• Working tree with hunk staging, conflict editor, sign-off / GPG commits
• Diff viewer: unified/split, syntax highlighting, blame + file history, image diffs
• Merge / rebase / interactive rebase / cherry-pick / bisect
• Undo / redo, stash, force-push with lease
• Fetch / pull / push / sync + auto-fetch
• Multi-repo tabs, command palette (⌘K), custom shortcuts
• Git output log for every command
• Clone / init / folder discovery, terminal at repo root (⌘T)
• Themes, Basic/Advanced UI mode, resizable layout + auto-refresh
• LFS support, auto-update check, Open on GitHub

Why Git Light?

	Git Light	GitKraken	GitHub Desktop	Sourcetree
Free + open-source (MIT)	✅	❌	✅*	✅ free, ❌ closed
No account required	✅	❌	✅	❌
Commit graph + branches + staging	✅	✅	✅	✅
Hunk staging + conflict editor	✅	✅	partial	✅
Merge / rebase / cherry-pick	✅	✅	partial	✅
Interactive rebase	✅	✅	❌	✅
Undo / redo + stash	✅	✅	partial	partial
Image diffs + blame + file history	✅	✅	partial	partial
Multi-repo tabs	✅	✅	❌	✅
Command palette + custom shortcuts	✅	partial	❌	❌
macOS / Windows / Linux	✅	✅	✅ / ✅ / ❌**	✅ / ✅ / ❌
Lightweight, offline-first	✅	❌ heavy	✅	❌ heavy

* GitHub Desktop is open-source but GitHub-centric. ** No official Linux build.

Download

macOS (recommended, no Gatekeeper prompts):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ftuyama/git-light/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Installs to /Applications from GitHub Releases, checksum-verified. Re-running it installs the latest version (acts as updater). Browsers flag .dmg downloads with a quarantine notice; this doesn't.

Native installers — from GitHub Releases:

Platform	File	Install
macOS	.dmg	Drag to Applications; if macOS blocks it, see the note below
Windows	.exe	Run the installer
Linux	.AppImage or .deb	Make executable and run / sudo dpkg -i git-light_*.deb

macOS Gatekeeper note

Builds are ad-hoc signed, so macOS 15+ may refuse a browser-downloaded app ("move to the Trash"). Nothing is wrong with the download. Either use the curl | sh install above, or run once:

codesign --force --deep --sign - "/Applications/Git Light.app"
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Git Light.app"

Updates: Git Light → Check for Updates… in the app menu (macOS installs and restarts in place).

Sponsor

Useful? Sponsor on Ko-fi

For developers

Build instructions in DEVELOPER.md · architecture in ARCHITECTURE.md.

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Git Light is independent and not affiliated with GitKraken, GitHub, or Atlassian. Names mentioned for comparison only.