Why?

This is a passion project of mine where I wanted a cross-platform git client, which would tackle some of the pain-points of existing solutions. Namely, conditional strategies to handle larger repositories (i.e. Kubernetes, Linux kernel, etc.) More importantly, I wanted to implement certain ergonomics which I didn't find in other clients, such as: showing image previews to visualize what changed (if an image was replaced, for example), grouping commits by month/year, giving the user more customization over how they wished to see dates (human-readable, versus timestamps), or how many "commits ago" a file was introduced. As a fun challenge, I wanted to provide the user the option to visualize the repo as a vertical, or horizontal graph, which could be navigated (and zoomed in/out of) on a touch-screen. This is a work in progress, and I welcome any suggestions, or better yet - contributions to the project! 😊

Prerequisites

All Platforms

1. Rust (latest stable version)

   • Install from rustup.rs
   • Verify: rustc --version

2. Node.js (v18 or later)

   • Install from nodejs.org
   • Verify: node --version

3. wasm-pack

   • Install: cargo install wasm-pack
   • Verify: wasm-pack --version

4. Tauri CLI

   • Install: cargo install tauri-cli
   • Verify: cargo tauri --version

Windows-Specific

• Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools or Visual Studio with C++ support
  • Required for building native dependencies
  • Download from Microsoft

Linux-Specific

Install system dependencies:

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
    build-essential \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libssl-dev \
    libgtk-3-dev \
    libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
    librsvg2-dev

Fedora:

sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel.x86_64 \
    openssl-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libappindicator-gtk3 \
    librsvg2-devel

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S webkit2gtk \
    base-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    openssl \
    libappindicator \
    librsvg

macOS-Specific

1. Xcode Command Line Tools

   xcode-select --install

2. Homebrew (recommended)

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Building Executables

Step 1: Install Dependencies

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

Step 2: Build WebAssembly Module

The graph visualization requires a WebAssembly module that must be built first:

Windows:

cd graph-wasm
wasm-pack build --target web
cd ..

Linux/macOS:

cd graph-wasm
wasm-pack build --target web
cd ..

Copy WASM files to static directory:

Windows:

if not exist "static\graph-wasm\pkg" mkdir "static\graph-wasm\pkg"
xcopy /Y /I "graph-wasm\pkg\*" "static\graph-wasm\pkg\"

Linux/macOS:

mkdir -p static/graph-wasm/pkg
cp -r graph-wasm/pkg/* static/graph-wasm/pkg/

Step 3: Build Executables

Windows

Development Build:

cargo tauri dev

Release Build:

cargo tauri build

The executable will be located at:

src-tauri/target/release/gitpow.exe

Installer: The installer will be created at:

src-tauri/target/release/bundle/msi/gitpow_0.1.0_x64_en-US.msi

Linux

Development Build:

cargo tauri dev

Release Build:

cargo tauri build

The executable will be located at:

src-tauri/target/release/gitpow

AppImage:

src-tauri/target/release/bundle/appimage/gitpow_0.1.0_amd64.AppImage

Debian Package:

src-tauri/target/release/bundle/deb/gitpow_0.1.0_amd64.deb

macOS

Development Build:

cargo tauri dev

Release Build:

cargo tauri build

The application bundle will be located at:

src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/GitPow.app

DMG:

src-tauri/target/release/bundle/dmg/gitpow_0.1.0_x64.dmg

Note: On macOS, you may need to sign the application for distribution. See Tauri's macOS Code Signing documentation.

Building for Specific Targets

Cross-Compilation

Building Windows executable from Linux/macOS

Install the Windows target:

rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu

Install MinGW-w64 (Linux):

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install gcc-mingw-w64-x86-64

# macOS
brew install mingw-w64

Build:

cargo tauri build --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu

Building Linux executable from Windows/macOS

Install the Linux target:

rustup target add x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

Use Docker or a Linux VM for building.

Building macOS executable from Linux/Windows

macOS executables must be built on macOS due to code signing requirements.

Development

Running in Development Mode

Windows:

dev.bat

Linux/macOS:

# Build WASM first
cd graph-wasm && wasm-pack build --target web && cd ..
mkdir -p static/graph-wasm/pkg
cp -r graph-wasm/pkg/* static/graph-wasm/pkg/

# Run Tauri dev
cargo tauri dev

Environment Variables

• RUST_LOG: Controls Rust logging level (default: debug in dev mode)
  • Options: error, warn, info, debug, trace
  • Example: RUST_LOG=info cargo tauri dev

Build Output Locations

All build outputs are located in src-tauri/target/:

• Debug builds: src-tauri/target/debug/
• Release builds: src-tauri/target/release/
• Bundles: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Troubleshooting

WebAssembly Build Issues

If wasm-pack build fails:

1. Ensure wasm-pack is installed: cargo install wasm-pack
2. Check Rust version: rustc --version (should be 1.70+)
3. Install the wasm32 target: rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown

Tauri Build Issues

Windows:

• Ensure Visual C++ Build Tools are installed
• Check that cargo and rustc are in your PATH

Linux:

• Verify all system dependencies are installed (see Prerequisites)
• If GTK errors occur, install: sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev

macOS:

• Ensure Xcode Command Line Tools are installed
• If code signing errors occur, you may need to configure signing in tauri.conf.json

Missing Libraries.js

The static/libraries.js file is auto-generated during build. If it's missing:

1. The build script (src-tauri/build.rs) should generate it automatically
2. If it doesn't, ensure Cargo.toml and package.json are readable
3. The file will be created in static/libraries.js during the build process

Build Time Issues

• First build may take 10-30 minutes (compiling Rust dependencies)
• Subsequent builds are much faster (incremental compilation)
• Use cargo tauri build --debug for faster debug builds

Project Structure

gitpow-rust/
├── src/                    # Rust library code
├── src-tauri/              # Tauri application
│   ├── src/               # Tauri commands
│   ├── icons/             # Application icons
│   ├── build.rs           # Build script (generates libraries.js)
│   └── tauri.conf.json    # Tauri configuration
├── static/                # Frontend files
│   ├── js/                # JavaScript modules
│   ├── graph.js           # Graph visualization
│   └── index.html         # Main HTML file
├── graph-wasm/            # WebAssembly module
│   └── src/              # Rust WASM source
└── scripts/              # Build scripts

Features

Separation by month/year:

vertical graph view:

Horizontal graph view:

Image Diff Preview: