GitMini: Less git, more productivity.

GitMini is a powerful tool that simplify the way you use Git. It revolves around the concept of tickets, which are commonly used to organize and track work progress in Software Development.

GitMini doesn't replace Git; it enhances it by automating repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on what truly matters: writing code. It provides a simple set of commands that are intuitive also for people new to Version Control.

No more: "Hint: You have divergent branches and need to specify how to reconcile them."

No more: "CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result." Just a simple and intuitive interface

Usage

The main command in GitMini is git publish, which simplifies the process of publishing code changes. Use it after working on the repo like this:

git publish "Ticket name/number"

When executed, the git publish command automates the following actions:

• Safely updates your local repository while keeping your changes
• Prompts you to resolve any possible conflicts before going on.
• Add all files to staging, do a commit
• Bring your changes to the master branch

If instead you want to have your code reviewed before publishing it to master.

git review "Ticket name/number"

This will create or checkout a special branch for the review of that ticket. In this branch you can see changes of the ticket in the working tree with a git diff command or in VS Code interface

Anyone in the team is able to push to this branch with his comments/changes. The branch is automatically synced between team with the git refresh commands (git refresh runs automatically in almost every gitmini operation) When team is satisfied with the ticket they can finally publish it with git publish "Ticket name/number"

In the future we plan to expand the review feature with some configs

• Option to force the ticket to be reviewed before being published
• Option to require at least x approvals before a ticket is published (will need a "git approve" command)
• Option to directly publish the ticket if the review has X approvals
• Option to decide which person of the team can approve a Review

git unpublish "Ticket name/number"

When executed, the git unpublish command automates the following actions:

• Safely refresh your local repository while keeping your changes
• Prompts you to resolve any conflicts before going on.
• Reverts the commit on master of the ticket you want to unpublish
• Commits the changes git commit -m "revert of {ticket-name}"
• Pushes your changes to repository's server so other people can get your revert git push

This will not delete the branch of your ticket, in order to remove it completely see git delete Ticket name is optional but must be unique if used. If you use git publish default ticket name will be "WIP-{timestamp}". This will make GitMini even simpler but consider that it is strongly recommended to give meaningfuls names to every code publish. GitMini works also offline, you don't need to set remote orgin, it will work by creating normal commits and branches in the background.

Optional Commands

git start "Ticket name/number"

The git start command starts or resumes work done in a ticket. It performs the following actions:

• Initialize the repository if not yet done with git init
• Ask you for name or email if not set or use global ones if already set
• Retrieves updates from remote origin to ensure you are working on an up-to-date codebase using git refresh
• Prompts you to resolve any possible conflicts.
• Create a branch named as your ticket (name defaults to "WIP {timestamp}" when no specified)

git rename "old_ticket_name/number" "new_ticket_name/number"

Rename a ticket, its branch, and commits from the old ticket name to the new ticket name. Useful for updating ticket names to better reflect content or for other reasons. Please communicate changes with the team to avoid confusion. If you use it with only one paramerter it will rename the current ticket to the provided one.

git combine <ticket_name_1> <ticket_name_2> ...

The git combine command allows you to combine multiple ticket branches into one branch. This is useful when you have work spread over multiples ticket by accident or when you completed work on several related tickets and want to merge them into a single ticket before publishing.

git list

The git list command lists all the tickets that have been opened until now. It provides a way to quickly view the tickets you have worked on or are currently working on (the one marked with *).

git current

Returns the name of the current ticket you're working on, in case your forgot. Makes sense only if you use git start.

git update "Message to team members"

The git update command allows you to update team members with your work, even if it is not yet finished. It bring the changes to the master and pushes to the remote repository so other team members can start receiving your progress. It is useful when doing important changes that we want other members to get without finishing our ticket

It works only on current ticket and accepts an update message as parameter (defaults to ticket name)

git delete "Ticket name/number"

The git delete command deletes the specified ticket. This will remove the ticket branch and its associated commits from your local repository. Note that this action cannot be undone, so use it with caution. To completely delete the work done on this ticket you have to run git unpublish "ticket name" as well.

git refresh

Refresh your code with latest updates from server while keeping your work undisturbed. It is used internally everytime we start or publish a ticket. It automates the following tasks:

• Temporary saves any changes you have going by committing them
• Brings any new update from server
• Prompts you to fix any possible conflicts

In the future it will be possible to run refresh every n seconds to be always updated and receive conflicts as soon as possible.

git pause

Pause your current work and see the code as it was without your changes (resume it with git start "ticket name")

gitmini help

Shows all the commands with descriptions

Install:

Requirements: Git must be installed

Drag and drop install

Download the repository, drag the install.sh file into a terminal and press Enter

Npm

Open a terminal and run the following command:

npm install gitmini -g

or if needed

sudo npm install gitmini -g

Makefile

In the GitMini folder

install:

make install

uninstall:

make uninstall

That's it! You can now use the new commands in your repositories. And you can also use them with only 2 letters: gitmini or gm.

Examples:

Minimal Approach

1. Make edits to files in the repository
2. Publish your changes with a default ticket name:

git publish

3. Something went wrong? Revert your last publish

git unpublish

Normal Approach

1. Start a new ticket

git start "work on the new login page"

2. Make edits to files in the repository and than publish them with

git publish

Multitasking

git start feature-1

Do your work...

Blocked? Start a new ticket!

git start feature-2

More urgent ticket? Work on that!

git start bug-1

Do your work...

git publish

Go back to feature-1

git start feature-1

Go back to feature-2

git start feature-2

Publish the remaining tickets when completed

git publish feature-1
git publish feature-2

Contributors

1. @ciro0405

Contributions to GitMini are welcome! If you have any suggestions, bug reports, or feature requests, please create an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.