explaingit

mukiwu/gitlanes

16TypeScriptAudience · vibe coderComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A macOS desktop Git GUI for Apple Silicon that shows your project history as a visual lane map, with a built-in terminal and optional AI-powered commit message suggestions and diff explanations.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((gitlanes))
    Layout
      Commit graph
      Staging workspace
      Built-in terminal
    Git actions
      Checkout
      Cherry-pick
      Revert and reset
    AI features
      Commit message draft
      Diff explanation
      Multiple providers
    Platform
      macOS only
      Apple Silicon
    Language support
      English
      Traditional Chinese
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Browse your project's commit graph visually and right-click any branch to check out, cherry-pick, or revert without typing Git commands.

USE CASE 2

Connect an Anthropic API key to get plain-language summaries of what changed in any commit directly inside the app.

USE CASE 3

Stage and review file changes in the middle workspace pane before the AI drafts a commit message based on your staged changes.

USE CASE 4

Use the built-in terminal to run Git commands while the graphical history updates in real time around you.

Tech stack

TypeScriptmacOS

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Apple Silicon Macs only (M-series chips), Intel Macs are not supported.

In plain English

GitLanes is a desktop application for macOS that gives you a visual interface for working with Git, the version control system that developers use to track changes to code. Instead of typing commands in a terminal, you interact with a graphical display of your project history, branches, and staged changes. The app runs only on Apple Silicon Macs (the M-series chips) and requires macOS 11 or later. The main screen shows a commit graph: a visual map of your project history organized into lanes for each branch. You can right-click on any commit or branch in the graph to take actions like checking out, cherry-picking, reverting, resetting, creating tags, or copying identifiers. Destructive actions show a plain-language description of what will happen before you confirm, which is helpful if you are not deeply familiar with Git. GitLanes has a three-row layout: the graph at the top, a workspace area in the middle for staging and reviewing changes, and a built-in terminal at the bottom. The terminal runs your regular shell (zsh, bash, or fish) with full support for interactive tools. Switching to a different repository automatically moves the terminal to that directory. There is also built-in AI assistance. You can connect it to Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, or a locally running Ollama model by entering your API key, which the app stores in the system keychain rather than saving it to a file. The AI can explain what changed in a commit or suggest a commit message based on your staged changes. The app includes automatic update checking on launch, with updates verified using a signing key so they cannot be tampered with. The interface supports both English and Traditional Chinese. Known current limitations include no Intel Mac support, no persistent AI conversation history, and a single terminal session with no tabs.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I'm using GitLanes on my Mac. Walk me through how to cherry-pick a commit from a feature branch onto main using the right-click menu.
Prompt 2
I want to connect GitLanes to my Anthropic API key. What data does GitLanes send to Anthropic and how is the key stored?
Prompt 3
I'm new to Git. Explain what the lane diagram in GitLanes is showing me and what the different colored branches mean.
Prompt 4
GitLanes shows a diverged branch. Explain the difference between merging and rebasing in plain English so I can choose the right action.
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