dirtygit

What does this do?

• Scans a whole bunch of directories looking for git repos
• Shows you only the ones that seem to be somehow dirty, i.e. one of:
  • It has uncommitted changes in the working tree and/or index (after your config’s extra ignores)
  • It has local branches whose tips do not match every configured remote (or other branch-pane rules)

Why is this useful?

You're busy. You probably context-swapped a while back and forgot to commit/push a thing.

There's a whole bunch of tools that are very good at managing a single git repo, but I've not found many that look at the bigger picture. dirtygit helps you to know whether you care about the things that are only on your local system, so that you can ensure they get pushed to your git server.

Source-mode installation

go install github.com/boyvinall/dirtygit@latest

From a clone of this repository:

go install .

Building from source needs a recent Go toolchain (see go version in go.mod).

Configuration

If ~/.dirtygit.yml (or the path you pass with --config / -c) does not exist, the binary loads an embedded default (the same shape as .dirtygit.yml in this repo). Copy that file to your home directory and edit it to customize; environment variables in paths are expanded.

Options include:

Area	Purpose
scandirs	include / exclude roots for the walk – YOU SHOULD CONFIGURE AT LEAST THIS
gitignore	Extra fileglob / dirglob ignores on top of each repo’s .gitignore
followsymlinks	Whether to descend symlinked directories
branches.hidelocalonly.regex	Regexes (full string match per pattern) for local-only branches to omit from the branch pane
branches.default	Short branch names (e.g. main) to always show when they exist locally, even when every remote tip matches
edit.command	Program and arguments for opening a repo from the UI (e); see below

Opening a repo (edit.command)

edit.command is a YAML list of argv pieces passed to exec (no shell). Put the literal {repo} in any argument to substitute the absolute repository path. If no argument contains {repo}, the path is appended as the last argument. Environment variables in each argument are expanded. If edit.command is omitted or empty, the default is code with the repo path (VS Code on PATH).

Running

dirtygit [ <directories...> ]

If you pass one or more <directories>, they replace scandirs.include from your config for that run (paths are still expanded from the environment).

Flag	Meaning
--config, -c	Config file path (default: ~/.dirtygit.yml)

UI

The layout needs a terminal height of at least 22 rows and width of at least 20 columns. While a scan runs, a modal shows how many repositories were found, how many have been checked, and the path currently being processed.

Focus moves across five panes in order: Repositories, Status, Branches, Diff, and Log. Status and Branches share one row (side by side); Diff sits below them. The mouse is enabled: click a pane to focus it, or a row in Repositories / Status to move the selection. Drag a pane border to resize splits (unavailable when zoomed, scanning, on error, or with an overlay open). The Status table lists dirty files with Worktree and Staged columns (same left-to-right order as the Diff pane). The Diff pane runs git diff with basic colorization; use ← / → in Status or Diff to switch between Worktree and Staged views. With a file row selected, a runs git add and r runs git reset (unstage) on that path (from the Status or Diff pane), then the current repo is refreshed. C asks for confirmation, then runs git checkout HEAD -- <path> to restore that path to the last commit (discards unstaged work for tracked files).

With Repositories focused, w opens a short explanation of why the current repo is listed. D asks to recursively delete either the whole selected repository directory (repo list, Repositories pane) or the selected file path under the repo (Status or Diff with a file row selected), each with confirmation.

The Branches pane lists local branches that need attention: tips that do not match every configured remote, missing same-named remote refs, or branches listed under branches.default. Local-only branches can be hidden when they match branches.hidelocalonly.regex (unless they are defaults). The Remotes column compresses each remote into a short status (ok, missing, differs, or +N / -M style counts when histories are comparable).

Key	Action
Mouse	Click to focus a pane; in Repositories or Status (when focused), select a row. Drag a border to resize splits (unavailable when zoomed, scanning, on error, or with an overlay open)
Tab / Shift+Tab	Next / previous pane; when zoomed, cycle which pane is fullscreen
Enter	Zoom the focused pane; Enter again restores the split layout
Esc	Exit zoom, or clear the Status file selection
↑ / ↓	Move repo selection, or scroll Status / Diff / Log
Shift+↑ / Shift+↓	Same, in steps of 10 lines
← / →	In Status or Diff: Worktree vs Staged diff
a / r	With a status file row selected (Status or Diff): git add / git reset that path
C	With a status file row selected (Status or Diff): confirm, then git checkout HEAD -- that path (restore to last commit)
s	Scan or rescan
e	Open the selected repo using edit.command from config
w	With Repositories focused: why this repository is in the list
D	Repositories: delete that repo directory; Status or Diff with a file row: delete that path under the repo (each confirms)
q / Ctrl+C	Quit
? / h	Show help (Esc, ?, or h closes the overlay; q / Ctrl+C still quit)

Development

make lint   # requires golangci-lint on PATH
make test
make build  # writes ./dirtygit

Future

Ideas that fit the “many repos at a glance” goal; none of this is promised or scheduled.

• Machine-readable output — JSON or similar (flag or subcommand) for scripting and CI (e.g. exit non-zero if anything is dirty).
• Filter / jump in the repo list — type-ahead or substring match on paths.
• Copy repo path — send the selected repository path to the OS clipboard where supported.
• Richer “why dirty” signals — stash count, unpushed commits, or upstream ahead/behind in the UI or in the “why listed” overlay.
• Submodules and worktrees — scan or label linked worktrees and submodules explicitly instead of treating them only as nested .git dirs.
• Parallel scan — configurable worker count for status/branch checks, plus clearer cancel behaviour while a scan is running.
• Configurable diff — options such as ignore whitespace or word diff, driven from config, for the Diff pane.
• Safer delete housekeeping — dry-run delete, or move to Trash on macOS instead of only recursive delete.