Getting Started

Getting Started

Open a repository

1. Launch GitPulse.
2. Open Repository… (⌘O / Ctrl+O) or Clone Repository… (⌘⇧O / Ctrl+Shift+O).
3. The repository opens as a tab. Open several; switch with Ctrl+Tab.

The command palette (⌘K / Ctrl+K) is the fastest way to jump: views, branches (@), commits (#), and actions (>).

Press ? or ⌘/ for the in-app shortcuts sheet. Full list: Keyboard Shortcuts.

The four views

View	Shortcut	What it is for
Work	F10	What is in flight: worktrees, PRs, conflicts, stacks, policy
Code	⌘1 / Ctrl+1	Files and blame on one selected path
History	⌘2 / Ctrl+2	Graph, diff, and reflog on one selected commit
Insights	⌘3 / Ctrl+3	Pulse, coverage, health, and storage — on-demand scans

Sections live in each view's header. Picking a commit in Graph and switching to Diff keeps that commit. Opening a file in Explorer and switching to Blame keeps that file. A blocked worktree row in Work → Overview opens Resolve on the worktree that is actually stuck.

Full catalog: Views.

Beside the views

• Terminal (`Ctrl+``) — native PTY docked under the current view. Hiding the dock does not kill the session; closing the repository does. AI and the policy sidecar cannot see this PTY.
• Fleet (Shift+F10) — every open and recent repository in one grid. Not a view: it sits above the tab strip so it survives switching repos. Cells are a value, not scanned, or could not read — never a fake zero.

First useful paths

See the graph. History → Graph. The default branch is pinned to the leftmost column. ⌘F filters commits (author:, sha:, path:, type:, free text). Filters keep the graph connected: dropped commits hand their lineage to the survivors.

Commit. Stage from Code or Diff (including hunk/line staging). ⌘Enter / Ctrl+Enter opens the commit composer. Mutating Git goes through the Policy and AI.

Inspect health. Insights → Health. Audits run when you ask; an ecosystem that could not be scanned is named, not implied clean.

Talk to an agent. Install gitpulse-mcp and point Codex / Claude Code / an MCP client at it. The server is read-only. See MCP and Agents.

GitHub panel

Work → Remote uses your local gh CLI. GitPulse never stores GitHub tokens. If the panel is empty, run gh auth status in a terminal.

macOS appearance

On macOS, chrome uses glass over a transparent, desktop-blurring window. Code, diffs, and the graph stay opaque. Reduce transparency / increase contrast fall back to solid surfaces. Details: docs/MACOS_APPEARANCE.md.