A complete GitHub repository manager with a dark-themed GUI — clone, sync, diff, backup, search, and manage all your repos from one tool.

git clone https://github.com/SysAdminDoc/GitForge.git
cd GitForge
python gitforge.py  # Auto-installs dependencies on first run

That's it. GitForge auto-installs PyQt6 and requests on first launch. No virtual environments, no config files, no manual setup.

┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│  GitHub API   │────>│  GitForge Core    │────>│  Tabbed Interface (PyQt6)       │
│              │     │                  │     │                                 │
│  REST v3     │     │  AppState        │     │  Settings | Clone | Sync Status │
│  Auth Token  │     │  GitHubAPI()     │     │  Diff Viewer | Backup | Search  │
│  Rate Limits │     │  Git Detection   │     │  Insights | GitHub API          │
└──────────────┘     │  Config Persist  │     └─────────────────────────────────┘
                     └────────┬─────────┘
                              │
                     ┌────────▼─────────┐
                     │  Local Git Repos  │
                     │                  │
                     │  git clone/pull  │
                     │  git diff/grep   │
                     │  git gc/status   │
                     └──────────────────┘

All long-running operations (cloning, scanning, searching, API calls) run in background QThread workers so the GUI never locks up. Every operation supports cancellation.

• Python 3.8+ (any recent Python install)
• Git — either of:
  • Git for Windows (recommended)
  • GitHub Desktop (GitForge auto-detects its bundled git)
  • Scoop: scoop install git
• Windows 10/11 (primary target; should work on macOS/Linux with standard git)

1. Open the Settings tab
2. Enter your GitHub username
3. Set your Local Repos Folder (e.g. C:\Users\You\Documents\GitHub)
4. (Optional) Add a Personal Access Token for private repos and API management
5. (Optional) Configure your git user.name and user.email

A token is optional for basic cloning of public repos, but required for:

• Cloning private repositories
• Bulk repo settings (visibility, descriptions, topics)
• Creating and deleting repos
• Archive/unarchive operations

Generate one at github.com/settings/tokens (classic token) with these scopes:

GitForge searches for git in this order:

1. System PATH (standard Git for Windows)
2. GitHub Desktop's bundled git (%LOCALAPPDATA%\GitHubDesktop\app-*\resources\app\git\cmd\)
3. Program Files\Git\cmd\
4. Scoop shims (~\scoop\shims\git.exe)

The detected path is shown in the Settings tab and activity log on startup.

1. Go to the Clone tab
2. Click Fetch Repos from GitHub
3. Select/deselect repos as needed
4. Click Clone Selected

Repos that already exist locally are updated with git pull --ff-only instead of re-cloned.

1. Go to the Sync Status tab
2. Click Scan Local Repos
3. Each repo shows: current branch, ahead/behind counts, dirty file count, and last commit
4. Use Pull Selected to bulk-update repos that are behind

1. Go to the Diff Viewer tab
2. Select a scan mode (working tree, staged, incoming, or unpushed)
3. Click Scan for Changes
4. Click a repo in the left panel, then a file in the middle panel
5. The right panel shows a color-coded diff
6. Stage/unstage/discard files, then commit and push directly

1. Go to the Backup & Export tab
2. Choose Mirror Clone for a full git backup (all branches, tags, refs) or ZIP Export for source archives
3. Use Find Orphaned Local Repos to detect repos deleted from GitHub but still on disk

1. Go to the Search tab
2. Enter a query with optional file filter (e.g. *.py) and regex toggle
3. Results show matches grouped by repo with file and line context
4. Use quick-action buttons to find dirty repos, unpushed work, or large files

1. Go to the GitHub API tab (requires token)
2. Click Load Repos to populate the table
3. Edit descriptions and topics by double-clicking cells
4. Bulk change visibility, archive/unarchive, or delete repos
5. Create new repos from the bottom panel

GitForge stores its configuration in:

%APPDATA%\GitForge\config.json

This file contains your username, encrypted token, repos folder path, and UI preferences. No data is sent anywhere except the GitHub API when you explicitly trigger an action.

Q: "Git not found" even though GitHub Desktop is installed A: GitForge auto-detects GitHub Desktop's bundled git. If detection fails, install Git for Windows standalone — it adds git to PATH globally.

Q: Clone fails with "[WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified" A: This means git isn't on PATH. Check the Settings tab to see if GitForge detected git. If the git status shows red, install Git for Windows.

Q: Rate limited by GitHub A: The GitHub API allows 60 requests/hour unauthenticated, or 5,000/hour with a token. Add a Personal Access Token in Settings to increase your limit.

Q: Can I use this with GitLab or Bitbucket? A: Currently GitHub only. The API layer is abstracted, so other providers could be added in the future.

Q: Does it support SSH cloning? A: Yes. Toggle Use SSH URLs in the Clone tab. Requires an SSH key configured with your GitHub account.

Q: Mirror clone vs regular clone? A: Regular clone gives you a working copy of the default branch. Mirror clone (--mirror) captures every branch, tag, and ref — ideal for full backups. Mirror repos are bare (no working tree) and stored as repo-name.git directories.

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Issues and pull requests are welcome. If you run into a bug, include the contents of crash.log (generated automatically on unhandled exceptions) in your report.