opentui-git

A lazygit-style terminal UI git client built with OpenTUI, SolidJS, and Bun.

Tech Stack

• OpenTUI — Terminal UI library (renders via Bun FFI to a native Zig core)
• SolidJS — Reactive UI framework
• Bun — JavaScript runtime (required at runtime, see below)
• simple-git — Git command wrapper

Installation

Prerequisites

opentui-git runs under the Bun runtime — OpenTUI's native renderer is loaded via bun:ffi, which has no Node equivalent. Install Bun first:

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Install via npm / pnpm

npm install -g opentui-git
# or
pnpm add -g opentui-git

Or run on demand without installing globally:

npx opentui-git
# or
pnpm dlx opentui-git

If Bun isn't on your PATH, the launcher will print a clear error pointing you at the install command above.

Usage

Run inside any git repository:

opentui-git

Development

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.3.5 or later (runtime for the TUI/server)
• Node v20+ with Corepack enabled (for pnpm)
• Git

The repo uses pnpm as its package manager (pinned via packageManager in the root package.json); Corepack will activate the right version automatically.

Install

pnpm install

Run

pnpm dev:tui      # TUI in current cwd (use --cwd to point elsewhere)
pnpm dev:server   # Standalone GraphQL server (auto-started by the TUI; useful for log visibility)
pnpm dev:desktop  # Electron desktop client

Typecheck

pnpm typecheck

Releasing

pnpm release:patch   # 0.1.0 → 0.1.1
pnpm release:minor   # 0.1.0 → 0.2.0
pnpm release:major   # 0.1.0 → 1.0.0

The release:* scripts bump packages/core/package.json, commit, tag, and push. The Release GitHub Actions workflow takes over from the tag push and publishes to npm.

Project Structure

opentui-git/
├── packages/
│   ├── core/        Published as the `opentui-git` npm package — TUI source
│   │                + Node bin launcher that re-execs under Bun.
│   ├── server/      GraphQL backend (private workspace package, vendored
│   │                into core/ at publish time).
│   ├── client/      Shared Apollo client + generated GraphQL documents.
│   └── desktop/     Electron + React desktop client.
└── bunfig.toml      Registers @opentui/solid's JSX preload for the Bun runtime.

Why Bun is required

OpenTUI's native renderer is loaded with import { dlopen } from "bun:ffi". There's no Node-compatible export, so the TUI process must run under Bun. The npm package ships a small Node-runnable bin (bin/opentui-git.mjs) that locates bun on PATH and re-execs the TS entry point — this is what makes npx opentui-git work even though the TUI itself is Bun-only. The GraphQL server and desktop client run on whichever runtime they're invoked from (Bun for the TUI's child server, Node for Electron).

Logs

OpenTUI includes a built-in console overlay:

• Ctrl+\ — toggle the overlay
• arrow keys — scroll
• + / - — resize

All console.{log,error,warn} output is redirected there.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome — issues and PRs both fine.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Credits

Inspired by lazygit. Built on OpenTUI, SolidJS, and simple-git.