Git workflows

Project overview

Use OpenTig to review changes, edit files, and prepare commits in an existing Git repository. OpenTig is early-stage software; this guide covers the current interface and its limits.

Main workflow

1. Open an existing local Git repository with Ctrl+O, or choose a recent repository.
2. In Changes, review unstaged, staged, and conflicted files.
3. Open a diff, stage the files you want to include, and write or generate an editable commit message.
4. Commit locally, or commit and push, then inspect the result in History.
5. If the repository uses GitHub, open PRs to review or create a pull request.

Features

• Organize your work: repositories and projects, branches and worktrees.
• Prepare and share changes: diffs and commits, pull and push, GitHub pull requests.
• Explore the repository: files and editing, search, history.
• Set up your workflow: AI assistance, preferences, keyboard shortcuts.

Repositories and projects

OpenTig opens repositories on the machine running its backend. The Windows app runs that backend itself; a paired browser selects folders on its host. See installation and remote access and pairing for setup.

Open a repository

Press Ctrl+O, browse to an existing repository, select it, and open it. The dialog includes recent checkouts, location shortcuts, breadcrumbs, a folder filter, hidden-folder controls, and an editable path. Desktop also offers a native folder picker.

Added repositories stay available until you remove them. Opening one preserves its position; new repositories append to their group, keeping numbered shortcuts stable. Switch between repositories, branches, and available worktrees from the selector. The toolbar shows the current branch, ahead/behind counts, and worktree insertion/deletion totals.

Organize, relocate, or remove repositories

In Manage projects, create, rename, delete, or reassign project groups without moving files on disk. Reorder projects and repositories within each group, including No project. Desktop offers drag handles, keyboard dragging, and up/down buttons; mobile uses larger up/down buttons. Repository numbers match the selector.

• Relocate repository: select an existing folder to update its saved path, even before opening fails. Desktop uses a native picker; browsers use the server folder picker. Project assignment, tabs, and expanded folders are preserved; files are not moved.
• Remove from OpenTig: confirm to forget the repository, its worktrees, recent entries, and project assignment. Folders and Git data stay on disk and can be opened again. Removing the active repository returns you to the welcome screen.

Save or close unsaved editor tabs before relocating or removing a repository.

Sync from the repository picker

Pull or push from an individual repository's row. Opening the picker fetches each listed repository to refresh its checkout and ahead/behind counts. Only pending operations appear, with their commit counts; multiple repositories can sync concurrently with separate progress and result notifications.

Choose periodic remote checks, or turn them off, in Settings → General. Manual Refresh still fetches when periodic checks are off. See remote checks and refresh.

Changes, diffs, and commits

Review and stage changes

1. Open Changes to see conflicted, staged, and unstaged files separately, as a flat list or recursive tree.
2. Open a diff in unified or split mode, with optional line wrapping.
3. Stage or unstage individual files, folders, a selection, or everything at once.

Changed Markdown files open their staged or unstaged diff; use Open file for the rendered preview. HTML, SVG, and image files open a rich preview and have a separate diff action.

To discard selected unstaged changes, review the affected paths in the confirmation dialog. Untracked files go to system Trash (the Recycle Bin on Windows).

Resolve conflicts

Use the built-in conflict editor to accept the current, incoming, or both sides, then mark resolved files for staging. Syntax highlighting matches the diff and Files editor. Accepted changes remain visible while background refreshes reconcile the saved file.

Create or undo a commit

Commit the staged files with an editable message. When an upstream exists, you can commit and push in one action. For a branch without an upstream, see publishing a branch.

You can undo the latest unpublished commit and keep its changes staged. OpenTig checks the expected commit and upstream state before rewriting history.

Split independent changes into commits

With a supported AI CLI, request a multi-commit plan for staged files that represent separate responsibilities. Review the plan, then prepare one complete-file group at a time. Applying a group does not create a commit automatically.

Groups retain their original numbers as you commit them and show progress. Open any listed file's diff before applying its group. Each group is rechecked against its files, so it cannot be applied after those files change. Partially staged or renamed files can prevent splitting; OpenTig explains why a plan cannot be offered.

Settings includes AI run metadata and failed-operation diagnostics, and lets you clear either history. These histories do not store prompts or file contents. See usage history and problems and AI privacy.

Safe pull and push

Pull requires an upstream. Pull and push refuse unsafe states such as unresolved conflicts or an active Git operation. OpenTig never force-pushes existing remote history.

Publish a branch without an upstream

Publish from the toolbar, History, repository selector, Commit & Push, or pull-request dialog. A checked-out branch with at least one commit and a configured remote is required; you can publish even when there are no new commits.

OpenTig uses the configured push remote or the only available remote. If several exist without a preference, choose one. Publishing sets upstream tracking and leaves uncommitted files untouched.

Read progress and errors

Each pull or push has its own progress and result notification. Remote rejections, branch protection, authentication, configuration errors, pending conflicts, and other one-shot failures appear there. Changes remains the place to inspect unresolved work.

Files and editing

Open and keep files in tabs

Browse the Files tree, then click a file to preview it. The next preview replaces that tab. To keep a file open, edit it, double-click it, or Ctrl-click it.

Only working-tree files become tabs. Diffs, conflicts, commits, and pull requests remain transient. Each worktree keeps up to 50 tabs; opening another closes the least recently used clean tab.

Edit and save

Open text files in the syntax-aware editor. A floating Save button appears when the file has unsaved changes; saving checks for external changes and preserves your scroll position. Press Ctrl+F for the integrated find-and-replace panel, including single or global replacement, case, whole-word, regular-expression, and undo support.

Unsaved edits stay in memory while the app runs. Closing a modified tab offers Save, Discard, or Cancel. Open tab paths, order, and the active file are restored per worktree between sessions; unsaved text is never written to disk automatically.

If a file moves or is renamed, its tab follows the new path. If it disappears, a dirty tab stays open and is marked unavailable so you can recover the text; a clean tab closes.

Preview documents and images

• Markdown, HTML, and SVG: switch between Preview and Code with mouse or keyboard. HTML runs its own scripts in a sandbox that cannot access OpenTig.
• Markdown: render GitHub-flavoured Markdown, syntax-highlighted code with copy buttons, alerts, footnotes, KaTeX formulas, Mermaid diagrams, and repository-relative images, including PNG and SVG.
• Raster images: use fit, 1:1, keyboard or wheel zoom, and view dimensions and file size.

Preview/Code switches restore roughly the same scroll position in the destination tab. That position is held while diagrams, formulas, and highlighting finish loading, until you scroll yourself.

Manage files and folders

Select one or more entries to copy, cut, paste, rename, create, or delete. Dragging moves selected entries to a folder or repository root, with a lifted preview, count badge, and destination feedback. Copy paths or contents, and reveal entries in Windows File Explorer on desktop. Turn on ignored-file visibility to include Git-ignored files.

Desktop Paste imports file paths copied in a native file manager or saves a clipboard image as PNG, only when you press Ctrl+V or choose Paste. Runtimes without native file-clipboard support hide that action.

Deletion requires confirmation listing the affected paths. Supported file operations can be undone and redone. Large or directory deletions fall back to system Trash when an in-app snapshot is impractical; a backend inside WSL uses Linux Trash.

Quick open and repository search

Find a file by path

Press Ctrl+P, type part of a path, use the arrow keys to navigate the accessible result list, and press Enter to open the highlighted file.

Find or replace text across the repository

1. Open Search and enter a query. Enable case-sensitive, whole-word, or regular-expression matching as needed.
2. Review matches grouped by file with line numbers. Open a result to jump into the editor.
3. Replace one match, all matches in a file, or all displayed matches. Replacements check for conflicts and can be undone as one Files operation.

Git-ignored files are excluded unless the ignored-files toggle is on. Their results remain separately identified and folded. Broad searches list tracked files first; very large result sets are marked truncated, and Replace all stays disabled until results are complete.

History

Inspect a commit

Open History and click a commit subject for its full message, author, date, references, publication state, and changed files. Open the complete diff or one file's diff, including renamed paths, and copy the full hash when needed. Merge and empty commits also open with complete metadata.

History loads incrementally. Search subjects, authors, hashes, and references in the loaded history; load more to search older commits. Matches are highlighted without removing graph rows. Press Enter or use the next-match button to jump between them.

Only the latest commit can be undone, and only when OpenTig can prove it is still local and safe to undo.

Read the graph

The graph follows current-branch history and actual parent relationships. It does not fetch in the background or include unmerged branches outside HEAD. Colors adapt to the theme:

GitHub-style merge messages and trailing (#123) references are hints, not verified PR status or proof of squash/rebase. On GitHub repositories, the reference opens the PR viewer on the right; that viewer handles issue numbers or unavailable PRs. Squash/rebase histories remain linear.

Branches and worktrees

Switch branches

Search local and remote branches, then select one. Selecting a remote branch creates or uses its local tracking branch. You cannot switch to a branch already checked out in another worktree.

If switching would overwrite local changes, OpenTig offers to move all tracked and untracked changes to the destination and leave them unstaged. Conflicts open in Changes, with a safety stash kept for recovery.

Inspect and refresh branches

Open Manage branches to search, choose All, Local, or Remote, and group or filter by configured remote. Select a branch or worktree for details rather than a hover tooltip.

Remote references reflect the last fetch. Fetch updates all configured remotes and prunes obsolete remote references without removing local branches, worktrees, or tags. Already-deleted server branches are marked as cached and offer Fetch and clean up, not creation or remote deletion.

From a remote's Local branches details, create a tracking branch at the fetched tip with an editable name. This does not switch the current checkout or touch uncommitted changes.

Delete branches or remove worktrees

• Local branch: deletion uses Git's non-forced, fully merged path.
• Remote branch: confirm the named remote and branch individually. OpenTig rechecks the remote tip and destination with an expected-commit lease. Default branches cannot be deleted; unknown defaults, ambiguous fetch mappings, or differing/multiple fetch/push destinations also block deletion. Git permissions and server branch protection still apply. Local branches and worktrees remain; bulk remote deletion is unavailable.
• Linked worktree: open or remove an eligible worktree. Removing it does not delete its branch. The main worktree cannot be removed.

Worktree selection and removal recognize filesystem aliases, including Windows short paths, while preserving Linux case-sensitive path distinctions.

GitHub pull requests

With an authenticated GitHub CLI, use PRs to review metadata, descriptions, cumulative or per-commit diffs, and native stacks. Open PRs in OpenTig or GitHub, or create an editable draft before publishing.

Repository account selection, Git HTTPS authentication, and commit authorship are separate controls. See GitHub accounts and pull requests for setup, scopes, access checks, direct push behavior across clients, and credential boundaries.

Optional AI assistance

Locally installed Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode 2, or Grok Build can draft commit messages, propose complete-file commit groups, and write PR descriptions. You review and confirm every commit or PR.

See AI assistance for supported versions, CLI detection, model selection, coverage reports, optional repository instructions, and usage history. AI privacy explains provider isolation and supplied context.

Preferences

Open Settings to choose themes, fonts, interface scale, change-list layout, viewer wrapping, ignored-file visibility, remote-check intervals, and shortcuts.

OpenTig remembers viewer and workspace preferences, project ordering, expanded folders, and worktree tabs. See interface, preferences, and mobile use for controls, phone navigation, and saved state.

Keyboard shortcuts

These are the defaults. Rebind most shortcuts in Settings → Shortcuts. Shortcuts marked fixed follow platform or file-manager conventions and cannot be changed.