isomorphic-git

isomorphic-git is a pure JavaScript reimplementation of git that works in both Node.js and browser JavaScript environments. It can read and write to git repositories, fetch from and push to git remotes (such as GitHub), all without any native C++ module dependencies.

Goals

Isomorphic-git aims for 100% interoperability with the canonical git implementation. This means it does all its operations by modifying files in a ".git" directory just like the git you are used to. The included isogit CLI can operate on git repositories on your desktop or server.

This library aims to be a complete solution with no assembly required. The API has been designed with modern tools like Rollup and Webpack in mind. By providing functionality as individual functions, code bundlers can produce smaller bundles by including only the functions your application uses.

The project includes type definitions so you can enjoy static type-checking and intelligent code completion in editors like VS Code and CodeSandbox.

Supported Environments

The following environments are tested in CI and will continue to be supported until the next breaking version:

Upgrading from version 0.x to version 1.x?

See the full Release Notes on GitHub and the release Blog Post.

Install

You can install it from npm:

npm install --save isomorphic-git

Getting Started

The "isomorphic" in isomorphic-git means that the same code runs in either the server or the browser. That's tricky to do since git uses the file system and makes HTTP requests. Browsers don't have an fs module. And node and browsers have different APIs for making HTTP requests!

So rather than relying on the fs and http modules, isomorphic-git lets you bring your own file system and HTTP client.

If you're using isomorphic-git in node, you use the native fs module and the provided node HTTP client.

// node.js example
const path = require('path')
const git = require('isomorphic-git')
const http = require('isomorphic-git/http/node')
const fs = require('fs')

const dir = path.join(process.cwd(), 'test-clone')
git.clone({ fs, http, dir, url: 'https://github.com/isomorphic-git/lightning-fs' }).then(console.log)

If you're using isomorphic-git in the browser, you'll need something that emulates the fs API. The easiest to setup and most performant library is LightningFS which is written and maintained by the same author and is part of the isomorphic-git suite. If LightningFS doesn't meet your requirements, isomorphic-git should also work with BrowserFS and Filer. Instead of isomorphic-git/http/node this time import isomorphic-git/http/web:

<script src="https://unpkg.com/@isomorphic-git/lightning-fs"></script>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/isomorphic-git"></script>
<script type="module">
import http from 'https://unpkg.com/isomorphic-git@beta/http/web/index.js'
const fs = new LightningFS('fs')

const dir = '/test-clone'
git.clone({ fs, http, dir, url: 'https://github.com/isomorphic-git/lightning-fs', corsProxy: 'https://cors.isomorphic-git.org' }).then(console.log)
</script>

If you're using ES module syntax, you can use either the default import for convenience, or named imports to benefit from tree-shaking if you are using a bundler:

import git from 'isomorphic-git'
// or
import * as git from 'isomorphic-git'
// or
import {plugins, clone, commit, push} from 'isomorphic-git'

View the full Getting Started guide on the docs website.

Then check out the Useful Snippets page, which includes even more sample code written by the community!

CORS support

Unfortunately, due to the same-origin policy by default isomorphic-git can only clone from the same origin as the webpage it is running on. This is terribly inconvenient, as it means for all practical purposes cloning and pushing repos must be done through a proxy.

For this purpose @isomorphic-git/cors-proxy exists which you can clone or npm install. For testing or small projects, you can also use https://cors.isomorphic-git.org - a free proxy sponsored by Clever Cloud.

I'm hoping to get CORS headers added to all the major Git hosting platforms eventually, and will list my progress here:

| Service | Supports CORS requests | | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Gogs (self-hosted) | ✔ | | Gitea (self-hosted) | ✔ | | Azure DevOps | ✔ (Usage Note: requires authentication) | | Gitlab | ❌ My PR was rejected, but the issue is still open! | | Bitbucket | ❌ | | Github | ❌ |

It is literally just two lines of code to add the CORS headers!! Easy stuff. Surely it will happen.

isogit CLI

Isomorphic-git comes with a simple CLI tool, named isogit because isomorphic-git is a lot to type. It is really just a thin shell that translates command line arguments into the equivalent JS API commands. So you should be able to run any current or future isomorphic-git commands using the CLI.

It always starts with an the assumption that the current working directory is a git root. E.g. { dir: '.' }.

It uses minimisted to parse command line options and will print out the equivalent JS command and pretty-print the output JSON.

The CLI is more of a lark for quickly testing isomorphic-git and isn't really meant as a git CLI replacement.

Supported Git commands

This project follows semantic versioning, so I may continue to make changes to the API but they will always be backwards compatible unless there is a major version bump.

commands

• add
• addNote
• addRemote
• annotatedTag
• branch
• checkout
• clone
• commit
• currentBranch
• deleteBranch
• deleteRef
• deleteRemote
• deleteTag
• expandOid
• expandRef
• fastForward
• fetch
• findMergeBase
• findRoot
• getConfig
• getConfigAll
• getRemoteInfo
• getRemoteInfo2
• hashBlob
• indexPack
• init
• isDescendent
• isIgnored
• listBranches
• listFiles
• listNotes
• listRemotes
• listServerRefs
• listTags
• log
• merge
• packObjects
• pull
• push
• readBlob
• readCommit
• readNote
• readObject
• readTag
• readTree
• remove
• removeNote
• renameBranch
• resetIndex
• resolveRef
• setConfig
• status
• statusMatrix
• tag
• version
• walk
• writeBlob
• writeCommit
• writeObject
• writeRef
• writeTag
• writeTree

Community

Share your questions and ideas with us! We love that. You can find us in our Gitter chatroom or just create an issue here on Github! We are also @IsomorphicGit on Twitter.

Contributing to isomorphic-git

The development setup is similar to that of a large web application. The main difference is the ridiculous amount of hacks involved in the tests. We use Facebook's Jest for testing, which make doing TDD fast and fun, but we also used custom hacks so that the same tests will also run in the browser using Jasmine via Karma. We even have our own mock server for serving git repository test fixtures!

You'll need node.js installed, but everything else is a devDependency.

git clone https://github.com/isomorphic-git/isomorphic-git
cd isomorphic-git
npm install
npm test

Check out the CONTRIBUTING document for more instructions.

Who is using isomorphic-git?

• nde - a futuristic next-generation web IDE
• git-app-manager - install "unhosted" websites locally by git cloning them
• GIT Web Terminal
• Next Editor
• Clever Cloud
• Stoplight Studio - a modern editor for API design and technical writing

Similar projects

• js-git
• es-git

Acknowledgments

Isomorphic-git would not have been possible without the pioneering work by @creationix and @chrisdickinson. Git is a tricky binary mess, and without their examples (and their modules!) I would not have been able to come even close to finishing this. They are geniuses ahead of their time.

Cross-browser device testing is provided by:

Contributors

Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):

This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!

Backers

Thank you to all our backers! 🙏 [Become a backer]

Sponsors

Support this project by becoming a sponsor. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. [Become a sponsor]

License

This work is released under The MIT License