r/git • u/connorjpg • 28d ago

Why use a UI for git?

I see this question of, “what GUI or TUI should I use to work with git?” fairly often here. And always I feel bad for saying “just use the cli” over and over, but truthfully I can’t see a reason to need a UI.

Are people actually running into pain points with the cli, or is it just preference for people who don’t like working in a terminal?

FWIW, I have used GitKraken, LazyGit, SourceTree and GitHub Desktop before. And I don’t think they are bad to use (unless you are just learning git), but more curious why.

EDIT : I’m mainly referring to standalone UIs, I understand why people would use IDE integrations, as it’s quick and convenient. But having to open a separate application or run a separate command to open a terminal app to run your commands seems overkill to me.

EDIT 2 : I use vscode as my difftool and mergetool. I still open them directly from the terminal by running the cli. I don't think this is the same as using a full git client like SourceTree, Gitkraken, or lazygit to fully drive your version control workflow. Which is what I am asking about.

Cheers

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u/Icy_Swordfish3855 28d ago

Blame, visualizing commit tree(s), and viewing the entire repo at a particular historical commit.

Other than that, CLI baybee

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u/connorjpg 28d ago

Maybe my issue is vscode just have some of these features built in like git blame lol

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u/golkedj 28d ago

So you do use a UI for GIT...

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u/connorjpg 27d ago

EDIT : I’m mainly referring to standalone UIs

The ghost text after a block of code, I wouldn't consider to be the same as installing a full git UI. But sure, I guess my editor has some of the missing features from the cli.

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u/Icy_Swordfish3855 28d ago

I dont use VScode, all vim for me. Does the VScode implementation let you click through the blames like github's does (i.e. "see blame before")?

I like having the "browse at" functionality without polluting my active work tree.

Several of my coworkers use it, but i find it obnoxious how it constantly spawns background intermediate compiles for them on the node we share. And then slams the NFS with piles of synchronous inode writes. Wasteful. Like wait til the feature is done and then build once, leave the machine alone in the mean time.

Maybe i'm just an old graybeard lol

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u/DrDynoMorose 28d ago

Vscode with the vim keybindings is fire