herdr-git-graph

A read-only git commit graph TUI for Herdr. Opens in a split pane beside your work and shows a colored ASCII branch graph with ref labels, dates, authors, and on-demand commit details or diffs.

Features

• Colored ASCII commit graph with per-lane branch colors (no image protocol required)
• Branch, remote, tag, and HEAD labels shown as colored pills on each commit
• Commit list includes relative date, author, and short hash
• Commit details and patch diffs open only when requested (Enter / d)
• Browse commits with keyboard navigation
• Filter by branch (all, local, or a specific branch)
• Fuzzy search commits by subject, author, hash, or ref name
• q / Esc quit closes the Herdr host pane (no leftover empty shell pane)
• Read-only — never modifies your repository

Requirements

• Herdr 0.7.0+
• Git on PATH
• Optional: delta for styled diffs
• Rust 1.70+ only when a prebuilt binary is unavailable for your platform

Install and run

Install the plugin from this public GitHub repository:

herdr plugin install jorge-huxley/herdr-git-graph

Herdr shows the plugin manifest and commands for review before installation. The installer downloads a SHA-256-verified prebuilt binary when one is available and otherwise builds from source with Cargo.

Run it directly from a Herdr session:

# Linux and macOS
herdr plugin action invoke open-git-graph --plugin herdr-git-graph

# Windows
herdr plugin action invoke open-git-graph-windows --plugin herdr-git-graph

For frequent use, add one or both actions to your Herdr config.toml. Run herdr --help to see its location on your platform.

# Open in a split pane (Linux and macOS).
[[keys.command]]
key = "prefix+g"
type = "shell"
command = "herdr plugin action invoke open-git-graph --plugin herdr-git-graph"

# Open in its own tab (Linux and macOS).
[[keys.command]]
key = "prefix+shift+g"
type = "shell"
command = "herdr plugin action invoke open-git-graph-tab --plugin herdr-git-graph"

On Windows, use open-git-graph-windows and open-git-graph-tab-windows instead. Then reload the configuration:

herdr config check
herdr server reload-config

Open a Git repository in Herdr and press the configured key. Invoking the same action again focuses the existing graph; invoking it while focused closes it. Quitting from inside the TUI with q (or Esc when the details pane is already closed) also closes the Herdr pane.

Local development

herdr plugin link /path/to/herdr-git-graph
cargo build --release

Releases are published from v* tags. The Release workflow waits for a green CI run on the same commit before building assets, so push the release commit to main and confirm CI is green (or in progress) before pushing the tag.

Keys

Key	Action
j / k or arrows	Move selection
PageUp / PageDown	Jump selection by 10 commits
Enter	Open commit details pane
d	Open commit diff (again switches back to details)
b	Branch filter picker
/	Search commits
Ctrl-u / Ctrl-d	Scroll details/diff
?	Help
Esc	Close details/dialog, or quit and close Herdr pane
q	Quit and close Herdr pane

The graph starts full-width. The right-hand commit pane appears only after Enter (details) or d (diff).

Configuration

Copy config.example.toml to the directory from:

herdr plugin config-dir herdr-git-graph

Marketplace

To list this plugin on herdr.dev/plugins, add the GitHub topic herdr-plugin to your public repository.

License

MIT