# Git in the file list — status, changes, branches, history

> Git status badges in the file list, the branch in the status bar, views for changes (stage, commit, stash), branches and history — plus fetch, pull and push.

- Canonical: https://cwdio.com/features/git-integration/
- Updated: 2026-08-15
- Product: Cwdio File Manager (cwdio) — https://cwdio.com

Open a folder inside a git repository and cwdio shows you what git knows: which files changed, which are
new, which are ignored, what branch you are on and how far ahead or behind it is — in the file list itself,
before you open anything.

## What it does

- **Status column.** Modified, added or untracked, and ignored files carry a badge; a folder shows the
  highest-precedence state of anything under it; clean files show nothing. The column fills after the
  listing has painted, so it never slows a directory down.
- **Branch in the status bar.** `⎇ main` plus a `↓behind ↑ahead` badge, read straight from `.git/HEAD`
  (no git process) and refreshed live when something else — the embedded terminal, another tool — checks out
  a different branch.
- **Changes view** (<kbd>Ctrl+Shift+G</kbd>). Every changed file with a diff, per-file **stage / unstage**
  checkboxes, **Stage all / Unstage all**, **Commit** with an **Amend last commit** option that pre-fills the
  previous message, **Stash** (named, including untracked files) with a list to **apply / pop / drop**, and
  **Discard** behind a two-step confirm — an untracked file's discard goes to the Recycle Bin.
- **Branch switcher.** The status-bar chip opens a keyboard-first picker: type to filter, <kbd>Enter</kbd> to
  check out; a name that does not exist offers **Create branch**; rows can be **renamed** inline (<kbd>F2</kbd>)
  or **deleted** (safe `-d`, with a visible *Force delete* escalation for an unmerged branch).
- **History view** (<kbd>Ctrl+Shift+H</kbd>). The log, filterable by subject, author or hash; <kbd>Enter</kbd>
  on a commit shows its full patch, coloured, with a strip of the files it touched — click a chip to jump to
  that file's section; a button copies the hash.
- **Fetch / pull / push.** A Sync row in the changes view (and Go-menu / palette commands): fetch with prune,
  pull (fast-forward only by default; merge or rebase offered on divergence; abort on conflict), push, and
  **Publish branch** when there is no upstream yet.

## How to use it

1. Navigate into any folder of a repository. Badges appear; the status bar shows the branch.
2. <kbd>Ctrl+Shift+G</kbd> to review changes: tick the files to stage, write a message, **Commit**.
3. Click the branch chip to switch or create a branch; <kbd>Ctrl+Shift+H</kbd> to read the history.
4. Push from the Sync row. If a credential is refused, the view says so and points you to the embedded
   terminal, where your git can prompt and cache once.

## How it stays cheap and safe

- Repository detection is a filesystem walk for `.git`, not a `git rev-parse` spawn; the vast non-repo parts
  of your disks never start a process. The one `git status` per repo folder is timeout-bounded and
  de-duplicated in flight.
- Network operations run non-interactively — stdin closed, `GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0`, a generous killable
  timeout — so a hidden credential prompt can never hang the app. cwdio adds `ssh -o BatchMode=yes` only if
  you have configured neither `GIT_SSH_COMMAND`, `core.sshCommand` nor `GIT_SSH`; your own ssh setup always
  outranks it.
- Every command that can lose work — discard, drop stash, delete branch, force-push — is a two-step
  confirm; every one that cannot (stage, unstage, commit, stash, switch) just runs.

## What it deliberately does not do

- It does not store your git credentials or tokens, and it does not manage remotes beyond `origin`.
- It is not a merge-conflict resolver: a conflict offers Abort and leaves the working tree for you and your
  editor.
- Worktrees and submodules whose `.git` is a *file* are not (yet) recognised for the branch chip and history.

## Related

- [Terminal sync](/features/terminal-sync/) — the shell that opens in the repo folder you are viewing.
- [Compare and sync](/features/compare-and-sync/) — the two-file diff viewer.
- [Search](/features/search/) — content search that honours `.gitignore`.

## Frequently asked questions

**Does browsing my drive run git everywhere?** No. cwdio finds a repository by looking for a .git folder up the parents — a sub-millisecond file check, no git process — and only inside a working tree does it run one git status for the folder you are looking at. Outside repositories nothing is spawned. If git is not installed, badges simply do not appear.

**Which git does it use, and where do my credentials come from?** Your own: the git on your PATH, your ssh client and your existing configuration. cwdio holds no git credential store — authentication is delegated to Git Credential Manager, ssh-agent or Pageant exactly as VS Code does. It sets its own non-prompting ssh options only when you have configured none, so a PuTTY user keeps plink. If a credential is refused, the fallback is cwdio's embedded terminal, where git can prompt.

**Can pull or push do something destructive by accident?** Pull is fast-forward-only by default and refuses cleanly on divergence; only then does the changes view offer an explicit Merge or Rebase, and a conflict offers Abort. Push is plain; a rejected push offers force-push behind a two-step confirmation and always uses --force-with-lease, never bare --force. Discarding changes and deleting or force-deleting a branch are likewise two-step confirms; discarding an untracked file moves it to the Recycle Bin.

**Do I get a diff?** Yes. The changes view shows each file's working-tree-versus-HEAD diff, the history view shows a commit's full patch with a changed-files strip you can jump by, and Compare files (Ctrl+Shift+D) diffs any two files side by side. Bytes stay in cwdio's host process; only the small row list crosses to the interface.