A C++ implementation of Git's core functionality, originally ported from a Java "gitlet" project. This is a fully functional version control system that handles repositories, commits, branches, merging, and more.

Currently tested and working on macOS. Windows and Linux support coming soon.

TODO: Add Windows and Linux compatibility

cmake -B build && make -C build

# Build first
cmake -B build && make -C build

# Install to system PATH
sudo cp build/gitcpp /usr/local/bin/

# Add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/git_cpp/build"

After installation:

gitcpp <command> [args...]

Or without installation:

./build/gitcpp <command> [args...]

• init - Initialize a new repository
• add <file> - Stage files for commit
• commit <message> - Create a new commit
• rm <file> - Remove files from staging and working directory
• status - Show repository status

• log - Show commit history for current branch
• global-log - Show all commits across all branches
• find <message> - Find commits by message

• branch <name> - Create a new branch
• switch <name> - Switch to a branch
• rm-branch <name> - Delete a branch
• merge <branch> - Merge another branch into current branch

• restore <file> - Restore files from commits
• reset <commit> - Reset to a specific commit

• config <key> <value> - Set configuration values
  • gitcpp config user.name "Your Name"
  • gitcpp config user.email "your@email.com"

Create a .gitcppignore file in your repository root to ignore files and directories:

*.log
temp/
build/
.DS_Store

Supports basic patterns:

• *.extension - Ignore all files with specific extension
• directory/ - Ignore entire directories
• filename - Ignore specific files

When merging branches with conflicting changes, gitcpp will create conflict markers in affected files:

<<<<<<< HEAD
Current branch content
=======
Other branch content
>>>>>>> branch_name

Resolve conflicts by editing the file, then add and commit the resolved version.

gitcpp stores all data in a .gitcpp/ directory:

• commits/ - Commit objects
• blob_files/ - File content storage
• heads/ - Branch pointers
• staged_files/ - Staging area
• config/ - Configuration files

Try this 5-minute walkthrough to see gitcpp in action:

# Build the project
cmake -B build && make -C build

# Create a test directory
mkdir gitcpp_demo && cd gitcpp_demo

# Initialize repository
../build/gitcpp init

# Set up user info
../build/gitcpp config user.name "Demo User"
../build/gitcpp config user.email "demo@example.com"

# Create and add a file
echo "Hello gitcpp!" > hello.txt
../build/gitcpp add hello.txt
../build/gitcpp commit "Initial commit"

# Create a branch and make changes
../build/gitcpp branch feature
../build/gitcpp switch feature
echo "Feature branch changes" >> hello.txt
../build/gitcpp add hello.txt
../build/gitcpp commit "Add feature"

# Switch back and merge
../build/gitcpp switch main
../build/gitcpp merge feature

# Check the result
../build/gitcpp log
cat hello.txt

Expected output: You should see both commits in the log and the merged content in hello.txt.

# Create files to ignore
echo "debug info" > debug.log
mkdir temp && echo "temp file" > temp/cache.txt

# Create ignore file
echo "*.log" > .gitcppignore
echo "temp/" >> .gitcppignore

# Check status - ignored files won't show up
../build/gitcpp status

The project includes Google Test-based unit tests to verify functionality:

# Build tests (included in main build)
cmake -B build && make -C build

# Run tests (work in progress - some tests need isolation fixes)
./build/tests/gitcpp_tests

Note: Test suite is currently being refined to properly isolate test environments.