gitlogue is a cinematic Git commit replay tool for the terminal that turns a repository's commit history into an animated story with realistic typing, syntax highlighting and file tree transitions, aimed at developers who want to watch code change over time rather than read it as static log output.

What it is

gitlogue is a command line application written in Rust that lives in the terminal/TUI ecosystem. It renders Git history as animation, driven by the ratatui terminal interface library and tree-sitter parsers for syntax highlighting, and it is distributed as a single gitlogue binary through an install script, Homebrew, Cargo, pacman and Nix. The tool is dual-purpose: it can replay a specific commit, a commit range, or an endless random stream, and it can also render the current working tree diff before a commit exists at all.

The concrete problem it solves is the flatness of standard Git history inspection. A developer reviewing git log or a raw diff reads a wall of static text with no sense of sequence, file movement, or how the code was actually typed. gitlogue replaces that static reading experience with a frame-by-frame replay: cursor movement, deletions, insertions and file tree transitions unfold in order, so the shape of a change is visible rather than inferred. It also covers the pre-commit case through gitlogue diff, which visualizes staged changes by default and unstaged changes with gitlogue diff --unstaged.

Key capabilities

• Commit replay as animation with realistic typing, cursor movement and file operations, addressable by hash or range such as gitlogue --commit abc123 or --commit HEAD~5..HEAD, with --order asc for oldest-first playback and --loop for continuous repetition.
• Working tree diff view for staged changes via gitlogue diff and unstaged changes via gitlogue diff --unstaged, showing changes before they are committed.
• Tree-sitter syntax highlighting with support for 32 languages, paired with 9 built-in themes managed through gitlogue theme list and gitlogue theme set dracula, or selected per run with --theme.
• Project file tree rendering that shows the directory structure alongside change statistics.
• Screensaver mode for endless random commit playback, with playback keys including Space to toggle play and pause, h and l to step one line, H and L to step one change, and p and n to move between commits.
• Speed control through --speed in milliseconds per character, plus per-file-type rules such as --speed-rule "*.java:50" and --speed-rule "*.xml:5".
• Filtering and exclusion through --author for case-insensitive partial author or email matching, --after and --before for date windows, --ignore "*.ipynb" for patterns, and --ignore-file .gitlogue-ignore for a stored ignore list.

Who uses it and how

• Developers running it as an ambient screensaver or workspace display, where an idle terminal shows a repository's history playing continuously instead of a blank prompt.
• Educators and learners using replay to visualize how a code base evolved over time, since file tree transitions and typing order make structural change legible.
• Presenters who replay real commit histories live during presentations, using --commit ranges and --loop to keep a segment running.
• Content creators recording demos with VHS or asciinema, where the animated replay supplies visual material for terminal screencasts.
• Desktop ricing enthusiasts using it as a living terminal decoration, and the README's own "Look Busy Mode" for appearing productive during meetings.

Getting started

The recommended installation is the install script, curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unhappychoice/gitlogue/main/install.sh | bash. Alternatives are brew install gitlogue, cargo install gitlogue, pacman -S gitlogue on Arch Linux, or nix run github:unhappychoice/gitlogue; after installation, running gitlogue with no arguments starts the cinematic screensaver.

How it compares

The provided facts name no paid products that gitlogue replaces, and no comparable tools. It stands alone in this registry on that evidence, so no licence, self-hosting or cost-model contrast can be drawn from the material available.

When to use it — and when not to

Use it when the goal is watching or displaying commit history rather than querying it, and when a terminal is the intended output surface. Two documented limits matter: gitlogue is not a true screensaver and includes no power management or screen blanking, and static elements such as the editor background and border lines may cause burn-in on OLED displays over extended periods, though LCD displays are generally safe. Anyone expecting a system screensaver replacement, or an OLED owner planning long unattended runs, should look elsewhere.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unhappychoice/gitlogue/main/install.sh | bash

brew install gitlogue

cargo install gitlogue

pacman -S gitlogue

# Run directly without installation
nix run github:unhappychoice/gitlogue

# Or install to your profile
nix profile install github:unhappychoice/gitlogue

# For flake-based configurations, add to your inputs:
# inputs.gitlogue.url = "github:unhappychoice/gitlogue";
# Then use: inputs.gitlogue.packages.${system}.default

git clone https://github.com/unhappychoice/gitlogue.git
cd gitlogue
cargo install --path .

# Start the cinematic screensaver
gitlogue

# View a specific commit
gitlogue --commit abc123

# Replay a range of commits
gitlogue --commit HEAD~5..HEAD

# Replay commits in chronological order (oldest first)
gitlogue --order asc

# Loop a specific commit continuously
gitlogue --commit abc123 --loop

# Loop through a commit range
gitlogue --commit HEAD~10..HEAD --loop

# View staged changes (default)
gitlogue diff

# View unstaged changes instead
gitlogue diff --unstaged

# Filter commits by author or email (case-insensitive partial match)
gitlogue --author "john"

# Filter commits by date
gitlogue --after "2024-01-01"
gitlogue --before "1 week ago"
gitlogue --after "2024-06-01" --before "2024-07-01"

# Use a different theme
gitlogue --theme dracula

# Adjust typing speed (ms per character)
gitlogue --speed 20

# Set different speeds for different file types
gitlogue --speed-rule "*.java:50" --speed-rule "*.xml:5"

# Ignore specific file patterns (e.g., notebooks, lock files)
gitlogue --ignore "*.ipynb" --ignore "poetry.lock"

# Use an ignore file
gitlogue --ignore-file .gitlogue-ignore

# List available themes
gitlogue theme list

# Set default theme
gitlogue theme set dracula

# Combine options
gitlogue --commit HEAD~5 --author "john" --theme nord --speed 15 --ignore "*.ipynb"