Review your working tree from the terminal before committing.

diffmate is a focused Git TUI for people whose daily coding routine lives in the terminal. Run it inside a repository, scan changed and untracked files, inspect diffs, stage or unstage files, commit, push, and jump into your editor or coding agent without leaving the keyboard.

Preview

Why

This is not trying to be something special or better than every other Git TUI. It is built around how I personally want to review code before committing.

My daily workflow lives in the terminal now: Codex, Claude Code, Neovim, Git, and small tools that stay out of the way. diffmate is my version of that for reviewing a commit. I want to open it, see what changed, review the diff, stage what I need, write or generate a commit message, and push without leaving the terminal.

The app will probably change a lot as I use it. Some features might get added, some might get removed, and some might stay simple on purpose. The point is to adjust it around the daily workflow instead of building a huge Git client from day one.

Status

Early MVP. The first goal is a small, useful pre-commit review screen rather than a full Git client.

Install

Without installing Go:

curl -fsSL https://diffmate.imadys.dev/install.sh | sh

Manual install from GitHub Releases:

curl -L https://github.com/imadys/diffmate/releases/latest/download/diffmate-linux-amd64.tar.gz -o diffmate.tar.gz
tar -xzf diffmate.tar.gz
sudo install -m 755 diffmate /usr/local/bin/diffmate

With Go:

go install github.com/imadys/diffmate/cmd/diffmate@latest

From a local checkout:

make install
diffmate review

Requirements

Required:

• Git installed and available in your PATH.

Optional:

• A preferred editor CLI for opening files or the project: code, zed, cursor, or nvim.
• A coding agent CLI for commit message suggestions: codex, claude, or gemini.

diffmate shells out to the Git CLI instead of using a Git library, so Git is the only hard runtime dependency.

Usage

diffmate review

Running diffmate with no arguments also opens the review screen.

If the current directory is not a Git repository, diffmate opens a setup screen and can initialize Git for that directory.

The review screen uses a bento-style terminal layout:

• Changes, branches, commits, and stash live in numbered sidebar cards.
• The diff panel fills the remaining terminal width.
• The console panel keeps Git and app errors visible under the diff.
• The footer keeps the main workflow shortcuts visible.
• The screen refreshes automatically every 3 minutes when no modal is open.

Config

Press , inside the app to configure:

• Visible sidebar cards.
• Preferred editor: VS Code, Zed, Cursor, or Neovim.
• Preferred coding agent: Codex, Claude, Antigravity, or Gemini.

Config is saved in your OS config directory under diffmate/config.json.

Merge Conflicts

If a merge creates conflicts, diffmate switches into a focused conflict mode:

• The left pane lists only conflicted files.
• The right pane shows the selected file with conflict markers highlighted.
• o accepts ours for the selected file.
• t accepts theirs for the selected file.
• s stages the selected file as resolved.
• e opens the selected file in your editor.
• a aborts the merge after confirmation.
• c continues the merge once conflicts are resolved.

Tech Stack

• Go for the CLI and Git workflow logic.
• Bubble Tea for the terminal app architecture.
• Bubbles for reusable TUI pieces like the diff viewport.
• Lip Gloss for terminal styling and layout.
• Git CLI under the hood for repository operations.

Commit Suggestions

In the commit modal, press ctrl+g to ask the configured coding agent for a Conventional Commit message from the current diff.

Supported headless suggestion commands:

• Codex: codex exec using the account-supported default model.
• Claude: claude -p with haiku.
• Gemini: gemini -p with gemini-2.5-flash.

If the selected agent is not installed or does not support a verified headless prompt mode yet, diffmate shows a placeholder instead of blocking the modal.

Keybindings

Key	Action
j, down	Move to next file
k, up	Move to previous file
1-4	Focus sidebar cards
5	Focus diff
tab	Cycle cards and diff
,	Open config
t	Open config sections
left, right	Switch sidebar sections when sidebar is focused
], right	Scroll diff down one line
[, left	Scroll diff up one line
space, f, pgdown, ctrl+d	Scroll diff down one page when diff is focused
b, pgup, ctrl+u	Scroll diff up one page
g	Jump to top of diff
G	Jump to bottom of diff
space	Primary action in focused card
S	Stage all changes in Changes
U	Unstage all changes in Changes
s	Stash changes in Changes
D	Reset selected change with confirmation
n	Create a new branch in Branches
m	Pick a branch to merge into the current branch
u	Update current branch from upstream
d	Delete selected branch with confirmation
D	Delete selected remote branch with confirmation
ctrl+d	Delete selected local and remote branch
c	Open commit message box
ctrl+g	Suggest a commit message with preferred agent
ctrl+s	Create commit from the commit message box
ctrl+d	Clear commit message and modal errors
esc	Cancel commit message box
p	Push current branch and set upstream if needed
o	Open project in preferred editor
a	Open preferred coding agent
e, enter	Open selected file in $VISUAL, $EDITOR, or vi
r	Refresh
~	Show or hide the console panel
ctrl+l	Clear console log history
?	Show full keymap
q, esc	Quit

Conflict mode:

Key	Action
j, k	Move between conflicted files
[, ]	Scroll conflict view
o	Accept ours for selected file
t	Accept theirs for selected file
s	Stage selected file as resolved
e	Open selected file in editor
a	Abort merge with confirmation
c	Continue merge

Development

go test
go test ./...
go run ./cmd/diffmate review

Roadmap

• Stage and unstage individual hunks.
• Toggle staged, unstaged, and all-changes views.
• Watch the repository and refresh automatically.
• Add Homebrew packaging.

License

MIT