diffsurfer

A GUI commit history timeline viewer for Git repositories.

Features

• Visual timeline of Git commits with addition/deletion statistics
• File tree view showing changed files across commits
• Inline diff visualization for file changes
• Support for both local and remote Git repositories
• Dark and light theme options
• Branch switching capability

Installation

macOS

Homebrew (Recommended)

Install via Homebrew using this repository as a tap:

brew tap thehonker/diffsurfer https://github.com/thehonker/diffsurfer.git

Then install Diffsurfer:

brew install --cask diffsurfer

Manual Installation

1. Download the .dmg file from the latest release
2. Open the DMG file and drag Diffsurfer to your Applications folder

Windows

1. Download the .exe installer from the latest release
2. Run the installer and follow the installation wizard

Linux

AppImage (Recommended)

1. Download the .AppImage file from the latest release
2. Make it executable: chmod +x Diffsurfer-*.AppImage
3. Run the AppImage

Tarball

1. Download the .tar.gz file from the latest release
2. Extract it: tar -xzf Diffsurfer-*.tar.gz
3. Run the executable: ./Diffsurfer

From Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/thehonker/diffsurfer.git

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install --include=dev

3. Build the application:

   npm run build

Usage

Running the Application

Build and run the application:

npm run dev

Or just run the built application:

npm run start

Loading a Repository

1. When the application starts, you'll see a repository loading screen
2. Enter a file:// URL pointing to a local Git repository, or a git:// URL for a remote repository
3. Alternatively, click "Load Repository" without entering a URL to browse for a local directory
4. The application will load the commit history and display it in a timeline view

Navigation

• Click on commits in the timeline to view details
• Use mouse wheel or arrow keys to navigate through commits
• Select files in the sidebar to view their diffs
• Switch branches using the branch selector dropdown
• Change themes using the theme selector

Development

Building

Build the application:

npm run build

This will:

1. Run ESLint to check for code issues
2. Compile TypeScript files
3. Copy static assets to the dist directory

Running Tests

Run linting checks:

npm test

Server Mode

Run the application in server mode to serve the UI over HTTP:

npm run server

The server will be available at http://localhost:3000

Packaging

Create distributable packages for all platforms:

npm run dist

Or create packages for specific platforms:

# macOS
npm run dist:mac

# Windows
npm run dist:win

# Linux
npm run dist:linux

This project uses GitHub Actions for automated building and packaging:

• macOS: .dmg and .zip packages
• Windows: NSIS installer and .zip archive
• Linux: AppImage and .tar.gz archive

To create a new release:

1. Create a new git tag: git tag v1.2.3
2. Push the tag: git push origin v1.2.3
3. GitHub Actions will automatically build and create a release with all packages

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International