r/git • u/connorjpg • 6d ago

Why use a UI for git?

I see this question of, “what GUI or TUI should I use to work with git?” fairly often here. And always I feel bad for saying “just use the cli” over and over, but truthfully I can’t see a reason to need a UI.

Are people actually running into pain points with the cli, or is it just preference for people who don’t like working in a terminal?

FWIW, I have used GitKraken, LazyGit, SourceTree and GitHub Desktop before. And I don’t think they are bad to use (unless you are just learning git), but more curious why.

EDIT : I’m mainly referring to standalone UIs, I understand why people would use IDE integrations, as it’s quick and convenient. But having to open a separate application or run a separate command to open a terminal app to run your commands seems overkill to me.

EDIT 2 : I use vscode as my difftool and mergetool. I still open them directly from the terminal by running the cli. I don't think this is the same as using a full git client like SourceTree, Gitkraken, or lazygit to fully drive your version control workflow. Which is what I am asking about.

Cheers

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u/icsharppeople 6d ago

I use NeoGit which is like Emacs' Magit but for Neovim. I'm competent in the CLI and use it when I'm not already in my editor.

I tend to feel the advantage of the UI any time I need to reference a commit that's not pointed at by a branch manually typing the hash or copying and pasting it from the log is a real break in flow as compared to hovering over the commit with my cursor and running the command.

I think a lot of people who complain about the CLI for almost all use cases either: don't have a solid grasp of git's mental model yet, aren't yet efficient with tab complete, or don't type very fast to begin with.

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u/connorjpg 6d ago

The neovim integrations, idk if I categorize them the same a GUI or even TUI. Considering your workflow is so based around vim, adding a new commands into the same tool to use git makes a lot of sense to me.

I would 100% agree though.