A terminal-based Git interface written in Rust, designed for streamlined dotfile management. Inspired by the speed and keyboard-centric nature of tools like lazygit and lazyvim.

About The Project

dotatui was built to solve a common problem: managing version-controled configuration files (dotfiles) across multiple systems without leaving the terminal. The goal was to create a fast, and intuitive TUI application that provides the most common Git operations at your fingertips.

Core features

• Dual-Panel Layout: View staged/unstaged files and the diff for the selected file simultaneously.
• Full Staging Control: Stage and unstage entire files, including additions, modifications, and deletions.
• Git Workflow: Browse the commit log to see a history of changes.
• Intuitive Navigation:
  • Vim Keybindings: Navigate lists (j/k) and switch between panels (h/k)
  • Mouse Support: Click to select files/panels and scroll lists with the mouse wheel.
• Responsive, Asynchronous UI: Built on async event loop to handle slow network operations (like git push) without freezing the interface.

Tech Stack

This project is entirely built using Rust:

• Core Language: Rust
• TUI Framework: Ratatui for robust widget-based terminal rendering.
• Terminal Backend: Crossterm for cross-platform terminal manipulation.
• Git Backend: git2-rs, the official Rust bindings for libgit2, providing a safe and fast alternative to shelling out to the git command.
• Asynchronous Runtime: Tokio for handling slow network operations (like git push) without freezing the UI.
• Error Handling: thiserror for idiomatic, boilerplate-free error types.
• Logging: simplelog for file-based debugging that doesn’t corrupt the TUI.

Getting Started

To get a local copy up and running, follow these simple steps.

Prerequisites

• Rust toolchain (via rustup)
• libgit2 and its dependencies (often handled automatically by the git2-rs build script)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/sarang-kernel/dotatui.git
   

2. Navigate into the project directory:

   cd dotatui
   

3. Build and run the application:

   cargo run
   

   The application must be run from withing a Git repository

Keybindings

Project Roadmap

dotatui is under active development. Future enhancements include:

• Interactive Hunk Staging: Stage/unstage individual lines or blocks of code.
• Branch Management: A UI for viewing, creating, and switching branches.
• Interactive Log: View commit diffs and checkout commits directly from the log.