GitComet is a free, local-first Git graphical client written in Rust, aimed at developers and teams who need fast browsing, staging, and diffing of very large repositories without their code leaving the machine.

What it is

GitComet is a cross-platform desktop application for Git workflows, distributed as a GUI for Linux, Windows, and macOS. It lives in the Git client ecosystem and is implemented in Rust, with the UI built on GPUI and the Git backend exposed through the gix feature alongside ui-gpui in the build. The project is published by Auto-Explore under the AGPL-3.0 licence, documents itself at gitcomet.dev, and ships as open source with prebuilt installers.

The concrete problem it solves is responsiveness. The README states that GitComet started from frustration with existing tools on huge codebases such as Chromium, where no product stayed responsive and functional while browsing large repositories and file diffs. In that sense it replaces two things: the terminal-driven sequence of git status, git add, git log, and git diff commands, and heavier GUI Git clients that stall on repositories of that size. It also replaces standalone diff and merge utilities, because it can be invoked directly by git difftool and git mergetool as a headless-capable external tool.

Key capabilities

• Full local-first desktop workflow covering Git remotes, pull and push, staging, and commits.
• Worktree support, branching, and full repository history browsing.
• Multi-repository browsing from a single application window.
• Inline and side-by-side diffs, plus 2-way and 3-way merge tools.
• Standalone diff and merge usage invoked through git difftool and git mergetool.
• Cross-platform distribution: Microsoft Store and portable binaries on Windows, a Homebrew cask (brew install --cask gitcomet) on macOS and Linux that installs an AppImage on Linux, plus APT repository, AUR, GURU, .deb, and tarball packages.
• Build from source with cargo build -p gitcomet --features ui-gpui,gix and run with cargo run -p gitcomet --features ui-gpui,gix -- /path/to/repo.

Who uses it and how

• Developers working on very large codebases, the Chromium-scale case the README cites as the project's origin, who need diffs and history browsing to stay responsive.
• Teams that require local-first privacy, since the core workflow keeps repositories on the machine and does not depend on a hosted service.
• Users who want one tool for both the GUI and the command line, configuring GitComet as the git difftool and git mergetool target.
• Multi-repository maintainers who switch between several checkouts during the day.
• Linux users on Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, or Gentoo installing through apt, AUR, or GURU, including WSLg setups that need libxcb1, libxkbcommon0, and libxkbcommon-x11-0 installed separately for tarball or Homebrew binaries.

Getting started

Download the prebuilt binaries or installers from GitHub Releases, or install through a package channel such as brew install --cask gitcomet, the APT repository, AUR, GURU, or the Microsoft Store. Source builds use cargo build -p gitcomet --features ui-gpui,gix; either way, GitComet requires a local Git installation of 2.50 or newer.

How it compares

The provided facts name no competing Git clients, so no direct product comparison can be made on licence, self-hosting, or cost. On the evidence available, GitComet stands alone in this registry as a local-first, AGPL-3.0 desktop Git client whose distinguishing claim is performance on very large repositories.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster or adopter must already run Git 2.50 or newer locally, and users on Debian, Ubuntu, or WSLg installing from a tarball or Homebrew binary rather than the official apt package must also install the GUI runtime libraries by hand. The paid Professional edition, a €20 lifetime tier, is planned to gate the Claude Code, Codex, GitHub CLI, GitHub, and Azure DevOps integrations, so anyone needing those integrations today should not expect them in the open source build. The README excerpt is also truncated mid-sentence in the headless section, and the repository carries 56 open issues, so tooling beyond the documented desktop path may be less finished than the core GUI.

brew install --cask gitcomet

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/gitcomet.git
cd gitcomet && makepkg -si

emerge --ask dev-vcs/gitcomet

curl -fsSL https://apt.gitcomet.dev/gitcomet-archive-keyring.gpg | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/gitcomet-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null
curl -fsSL https://apt.gitcomet.dev/gitcomet.sources | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gitcomet.sources >/dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gitcomet

sudo apt install libxcb1 libxkbcommon0 libxkbcommon-x11-0

cargo build -p gitcomet --features ui-gpui,gix
cargo run -p gitcomet --features ui-gpui,gix -- /path/to/repo

# Configure Git globally to use GitComet for both difftool + mergetool
gitcomet setup

# Remove GitComet integration safely
gitcomet uninstall

GITCOMET_BIN="/absolute/path/to/gitcomet"

# Headless tool: algorithm-only merge/diff for CI, scripts, and no-display environments
git config --global merge.tool gitcomet
git config --global mergetool.gitcomet.cmd \
  "'$GITCOMET_BIN' mergetool --base \"\$BASE\" --local \"\$LOCAL\" --remote \"\$REMOTE\" --merged \"\$MERGED\""
git config --global mergetool.trustExitCode true
git config --global mergetool.gitcomet.trustExitCode true
git config --global mergetool.prompt false

git config --global diff.tool gitcomet
git config --global difftool.gitcomet.cmd \
  "'$GITCOMET_BIN' difftool --local \"\$LOCAL\" --remote \"\$REMOTE\" --path \"\$MERGED\""
git config --global difftool.trustExitCode true
git config --global difftool.gitcomet.trustExitCode true
git config --global difftool.prompt false

# GUI tool: opens focused GPUI windows for interactive diff/merge
git config --global merge.guitool gitcomet-gui
git config --global mergetool.gitcomet-gui.cmd \
  "'$GITCOMET_BIN' mergetool --gui --base \"\$BASE\" --local \"\$LOCAL\" --remote \"\$REMOTE\" --merged \"\$MERGED\""
git config --global mergetool.gitcomet-gui.trustExitCode true

git config --global diff.guitool gitcomet-gui
git config --global difftool.gitcomet-gui.cmd \
  "'$GITCOMET_BIN' difftool --gui --local \"\$LOCAL\" --remote \"\$REMOTE\" --path \"\$MERGED\""
git config --global difftool.gitcomet-gui.trustExitCode true

# Auto-select GUI tool when DISPLAY is available, headless otherwise
git config --global mergetool.guiDefault auto
git config --global difftool.guiDefault auto

gitcomet difftool --local <path> --remote <path> [--path <display_name>] [--label-left <label>] [--label-right <label>]

gitcomet mergetool --local <path> --remote <path> --merged <path> [--base <path>] [--label-local <label>] [--label-remote <label>] [--label-base <label>]