Guitar
Guitar is a free, open-source Rust terminal client for exploring, filtering, and operating on Git history.
What Guitar is
Guitar is a free, open-source Rust terminal client for exploring, filtering, and operating on Git history. Its topology-focused graph brings together commits, branches, tags, stashes, worktrees, and optional HEAD reflog entries. The project describes browsing repositories with 500,000 or more commits while history loads incrementally. File views include contents, unified diffs, hunk-only and side-by-side modes, line numbers, and wrapped long lines. Git actions cover staging, committing, resetting, stashing, rebasing, merging, cherry-picking, force pushing, and discarding changes. Remote authentication can use an SSH agent or key, a Git credential helper, or prompts inside the application; entered secrets remain in process memory rather than configuration files. Guitar supports Git remotes and immediate submodules, including update and URL synchronization operations. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. A non-bare repository and configured user.name and user.email are required.
Good
- Topology graph combines major Git references
- Handles repositories with 500,000-plus commits
- Multiple diff viewing modes
- Built-in staging and history operations
- Linux, macOS, and Windows support
Watch out
- No pull interface
- Force push is limited to current branch
- Search excludes commit messages and authors
- Submodules are immediate only
Who it suits
Guitar suits developers who prefer a terminal interface for large repositories and detailed history graphs. It is also useful for users needing built-in Git operations across Linux, macOS, or Windows.
Verdict
Guitar combines a history-focused graph with extensive Git operations in a terminal interface. Because destructive actions are included, keep backups when using it on important repositories.
The facts
Each one read from Guitar's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Authentication
- For remote operations, Guitar documents SSH agent and key authentication, Git credential helper use, and in app prompts for credentials.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Credential handling
- Secrets entered in Guitar's authentication prompts are kept in process memory and are not written to its config files.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Diff viewer
- The viewer supports unified and side-by-side diffs, line numbers, wrapped lines, and hunk-only mode.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Distribution
- Prebuilt binaries are published on the GitHub releases page, and the README also documents building from source with Cargo.checked 11 Oct 2026
- File inspection
- The viewer supports file contents, unified diffs, hunk only and side by side modes, line numbers, and wrapped long lines.checked 4 Oct 2026
- File search
- Repository file search lists commits that changed a selected tracked path.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Git operations
- Guitar supports operations including commit, rebase, merge, cherry-pick, revert, stash, and worktree management.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Graph
- Its graph brings together commits, branches, tags, stashes, worktrees, and optional HEAD reflog entries.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Graph view
- The graph can display commits, branches, tags, stashes, worktrees, and optional HEAD reflog entries.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The README documents support for Git remotes and immediate Git submodules, including submodule update and URL sync operations.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The README describes Guitar as a terminal Git client for exploring, filtering, and operating on large repositories.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Large repositories
- The project says Guitar can navigate repositories with 500,000 or more commits.checked 11 Oct 2026
- License
- The repository identifies its license as GPL-3.0.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Limitations
- The README lists no pull UI, force-push-only current-branch push, and external conflict-resolution editing as limitations.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Product
- Guitar is a Rust terminal interface for exploring and operating on Git history, with topology focused graph rendering.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Project status
- The maintainer describes Guitar as a hobby project and cautions users to take care with its potentially destructive Git actions.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Remote authentication
- Network operations use SSH or HTTP/HTTPS credentials, including Git credential helpers and in-app prompts.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Requirements
- Guitar requires a non-bare Git repository and configured Git user.name and user.email values.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Safety
- The maker describes Guitar as a hobby project with destructive Git tools and advises keeping backups when using it on important repositories.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Submodules
- Submodule support covers immediate submodules only and does not recurse into submodule commit graphs.checked 11 Oct 2026
- What it does
- Guitar is a Rust terminal interface for exploring, filtering, and operating on Git history.checked 11 Oct 2026
Alternatives to Guitar
- 1
Guitar2Tabs
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.1Free plan - 2
Cesure
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.0From €39.99 a year - 3
Note2Tabs
Free planWeb7.4From $5.99 a month - 4
Guitar Tab Maker
Free planAndroidiOSWebLinux7.3Free plan - 5
TabMaker
Free planAndroidiOSWebmacOS7.3From $34.99 a year - 6
Soundslice
Free planAndroidiOSWeb7.2From $5 a month