Git Watcher

Git Watcher allows you to constantly see an up-to-date git graph or status while using the terminal. Git Watcher automatically refreshes when it notices a change in the state of your repository. Now, you don't have to constantly run git status and git log --graph to the see the state of your repository!

Prerequisites

• Windows Terminal: Whether you use Git Watcher or not, Windows Terminal is the best option for PowerShell. It is especially useful for Git Watcher because it allows you to open side-by-side panes where you can execute commands in one pane and view the git graph in the other.
• Git: Git Watcher is used to watch a git repository. If you don't have git installed, this tool obviously won't work.

Install Instructions

Run the following:

git clone https://github.com/WestRyanK/GitWatcher.git
cd GitWatcher
./Install.ps1

Start-GitWatcher

The Start-GitWatcher command allows you to automate opening a series of Windows Terminal panes that are watching different git commands. If no LayoutCommands are specified, it will use the following layout:

Start-GitWatcher
    [[-Path] <string>]
    [-QuakeMode]
    [[-LayoutCommands] <string[]>]

-Path

Specifies the path to the git repository to watch. Defaults to the current directory if none is specified.

-QuakeMode

If you are using Windows Terminal in quake mode, you must specify this switch. Otherwise, the Git Watcher panes will open in a new window.

-LayoutCommands

Specifies an array of commands that are sequentially issued to Windows Terminal in order to create the Git Watcher panes. Each command item in the array is of form WindowCommand:PaneCommand. For some items, you may want to execute only a WindowCommand. In those cases, PaneCommand will be empty.

Start-GitWatcher will run the LayoutCommands sequentially in the following manner:

1. The WindowCommand will execute in the current Windows Terminal window. Normally, you will use a split-pane or move-focus command from here.
2. The PaneCommand will then execute in the focused Windows Terminal pane. Normally, you will call Watch-Git with some parameters here.

The following example demonstrates how the default pane layout is generated:

Start-GitWatcher -LayoutCommands (
  "split-pane --vertical:             Watch-Git -GitCommand Graph",
  "split-pane --horizontal:           Watch-Git -GitCommand Status",
  "split-pane --vertical --size .3:   Watch-Git -GitCommand Branch",
  "move-focus first" )

Note: To easily reuse your Git Watcher layout, I recommend creating a function in your PowerShell profile that calls Start-GitWatcher with your desired layout commands.

Watch-Git

The Watch-Git command should rarely be used by itself; instead, you should use the Start-GitWatcher command. If you want to adjust the layout of Git Watcher, you will need to use the Watch-Git command within the LayoutCommands parameters.

Watch-Git
    [[-Path] <string>]
    [[-GitCommand] {Graph | Status | Branch}]
    [[-UpdateDelaySeconds] <double>]
    [[-LiveMessage] <string>]

-Path

Specifies the path to the git repository to watch. Defaults to the current directory if none is specified.

-GitCommand

Specifies which git command to continuously watch. Defaults to Graph.

• Graph will show the git log --graph --oneline --branches.
• Status will show git status.
• Branch will show git branch.

-UpdateDelaySeconds

Specifies how long to wait after a file system change has been detected to update the view. Low values may cause flickering as the view rapidly refreshes when multiple files are changed.

-LiveMessage

Specifies what text to display at the bottom of the view to indicate that the view will be updated live as changes are detected. {0} will be replaced with the current repository directory. ANSI escape codes can be used to change colors and use other terminal effects. By default, the Live Message is green text that says (● Live in '{0}').

-LineMode

Specifies how long lines should be handled. The value of Wrap causes long lines to be wrapped around to the next line. The value of Clip causes long lines to be clipped so that they never wrap to the next line.