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# Git Now
> https://gitnow.kjuulh.io/
Git Now is a utility for easily navigating git projects from common upstream providers. Search, Download, and Enter projects as quickly as you can type.
![example gif](./assets/gifs/example.gif)
## Installation
```bash
cargo (b)install gitnow
# You can either use gitnow directly (and use spawned shell sessions)
gitnow
# Or install gitnow scripts (in your .bashrc, .zshrc) this will use native shell commands to move you around
eval $(gitnow init zsh)
git-now # Long
gn # Short alias
```
## Reasoning
How many steps do you normally do to download a project?
1. Navigate to github.com
2. Search in your org for the project
3. Find the clone url
4. Navigate to your local github repositories path
5. Git clone `<project>`
6. Enter new project directory
A power user can of course use `gh repo clone` to skip a few steps.
With gitnow
1. `git now`
2. Enter parts of the project name and press enter
3. Your project is automatically downloaded if it doesn't exist in an opinionated path dir, and move you there.
## Configuration
Configuration lives at `~/.config/gitnow/gitnow.toml` (override with `$GITNOW_CONFIG`).
### Custom clone command
By default gitnow uses `git clone`. You can override this with any command using a [minijinja](https://docs.rs/minijinja) template:
```toml
[settings]
# Use jj (Jujutsu) instead of git
clone_command = "jj git clone {{ ssh_url }} {{ path }}"
```
Available template variables: `ssh_url`, `path`.
### Worktrees
gitnow supports git worktrees (or jj workspaces) via the `worktree` subcommand. This uses bare repositories so each branch gets its own directory as a sibling:
```
~/git/github.com/owner/repo/
├── .bare/ # bare clone (git clone --bare)
├── main/ # worktree for main branch
├── feature-login/ # worktree for feature/login branch
└── fix-typo/ # worktree for fix/typo branch
```
Usage:
```bash
# Interactive: pick repo, then pick branch
gitnow worktree
# Pre-filter repo
gitnow worktree myproject
# Specify branch directly
gitnow worktree myproject -b feature/login
# Print worktree path instead of entering a shell
gitnow worktree myproject -b main --no-shell
```
All worktree commands are configurable via minijinja templates:
```toml
[settings.worktree]
# Default: "git clone --bare {{ ssh_url }} {{ bare_path }}"
clone_command = "git clone --bare {{ ssh_url }} {{ bare_path }}"
# Default: "git -C {{ bare_path }} worktree add {{ worktree_path }} {{ branch }}"
add_command = "git -C {{ bare_path }} worktree add {{ worktree_path }} {{ branch }}"
# Default: "git -C {{ bare_path }} branch --format=%(refname:short)"
list_branches_command = "git -C {{ bare_path }} branch --format=%(refname:short)"
```
For jj, you might use:
```toml
[settings]
clone_command = "jj git clone {{ ssh_url }} {{ path }}"
[settings.worktree]
clone_command = "jj git clone {{ ssh_url }} {{ bare_path }}"
add_command = "jj -R {{ bare_path }} workspace add --name {{ branch }} {{ worktree_path }}"
list_branches_command = "jj -R {{ bare_path }} bookmark list -T 'name ++ \"\\n\"'"
```
Available template variables for worktree commands: `bare_path`, `worktree_path`, `branch`, `ssh_url`.
### Projects
gitnow supports scratch-pad projects that group multiple repositories into a single directory. This is useful when working on features that span several repos.
```bash
# Create a new project (interactive repo selection)
gitnow project create my-feature
# Create from a template
gitnow project create my-feature -t default
# Open an existing project (interactive selection)
gitnow project
# Open by name
gitnow project my-feature
# Add more repos to a project
gitnow project add my-feature
# Delete a project
gitnow project delete my-feature
```
Project directories live at `~/.gitnow/projects/` by default. Templates live at `~/.gitnow/templates/`. Both are configurable:
```toml
[settings.project]
directory = "~/.gitnow/projects"
templates_directory = "~/.gitnow/templates"
```
Commands that navigate to a directory (`gitnow`, `gitnow project`, `gitnow project create`, `gitnow worktree`) will `cd` you there when using the shell integration. Commands that don't produce a path (`project add`, `project delete`, `update`) run normally without changing your directory.
### Shell integration
The recommended way to use gitnow is with shell integration, which uses a **chooser file** to communicate the selected path back to your shell:
```bash
eval $(gitnow init zsh)
git-now # or gn
```
When you run `git-now`, the shell wrapper:
1. Creates a temporary chooser file
2. Runs `gitnow` with the `GITNOW_CHOOSER_FILE` env var pointing to it
3. If gitnow writes a path to the file, the wrapper `cd`s there
4. If the file is empty (e.g. after `git-now project delete`), no `cd` happens
This works uniformly for all subcommands:
```bash
git-now # pick a repo and cd there
git-now project # pick a project and cd there
git-now project create foo # create project and cd there
git-now project delete foo # deletes project, no cd
git-now worktree # pick repo+branch worktree, cd there
```
You can also set the chooser file manually for scripting:
```bash
GITNOW_CHOOSER_FILE=/tmp/choice gitnow project
# or
gitnow --chooser-file /tmp/choice project
```