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
python gitforge.py --versionThat's it. GitForge auto-installs PyQt6 and requests on first launch. No virtual environments, no config files, no manual setup.
| Tab | Feature | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Settings | Git Auto-Detection | Finds git from PATH, GitHub Desktop, Program Files, and Scoop installs |
| Settings | Git Config Editor | Set global user.name and user.email without touching the terminal |
| Settings | Persistent Config | Username, token, repos folder, and preferences saved between sessions |
| Clone | Bulk Clone | Fetch and clone all repos from any GitHub account in one click |
| Clone | Smart Update | Automatically pulls instead of re-cloning if a repo already exists locally |
| Clone | Selective Clone | Select/deselect individual repos, filter forks, toggle SSH vs HTTPS |
| Clone | Private Repos | Supports Personal Access Tokens for private repository access |
| Sync Status | Status Dashboard | Scans every local repo and shows branch, ahead/behind, dirty files, last commit |
| Sync Status | Bulk Pull | Pull all selected repos at once with --ff-only |
| Sync Status | Bulk Fetch | Fetch all remotes across all repos simultaneously |
| Sync Status | Bulk GC | Run aggressive garbage collection across selected repos |
| Diff Viewer | Working Tree Diffs | Color-coded diff output like GitHub Desktop — green additions, red deletions |
| Diff Viewer | Four Scan Modes | Uncommitted, staged, incoming (remote), and unpushed changes |
| Diff Viewer | File Actions | Stage, unstage, and discard individual files per repo |
| Diff Viewer | Inline Commit | Commit and push directly from the diff view with a message field |
| Backup | Mirror Clone | Full --mirror backup with all branches, tags, and refs |
| Backup | ZIP Export | Archive repos as .zip files with optional .git folder exclusion |
| Backup | Orphan Detection | Find local repos that were deleted from GitHub |
| Backup | Bulk GC + Reporting | Garbage collect all repos and report total disk space freed |
| Search | Cross-Repo Grep | Full-text git grep across all local repos with regex and file filters |
| Search | Find Dirty Repos | Quickly locate repos with uncommitted changes |
| Search | Find Unpushed Work | Identify repos with local commits not yet pushed |
| Search | Large File Finder | Scan for files over 10 MB across all repos |
| Insights | Stats Dashboard | Total repos, languages, disk usage, stars, forks, and private count |
| Insights | Language Breakdown | Table of languages sorted by repo count and total size |
| Insights | Largest Repos | Top 20 repos by size |
| Insights | Recent Activity | Repos sorted by last push date |
| GitHub API | Bulk Visibility | Change repos between public and private in bulk |
| GitHub API | Edit Descriptions | Modify repo descriptions and topics inline |
| GitHub API | Archive / Unarchive | Archive or restore repos in bulk |
| GitHub API | Create Repos | Create new repositories directly from the GUI |
| GitHub API | Delete Repos | Delete repos from GitHub with double confirmation safety |
| Providers | GitLab / Gitea / Forgejo / Bitbucket | Use one normalized repository workflow across forges; Bitbucket Cloud is read-only |
| Local Ops | Rebase / Worktrees / Submodules / LFS | Plan interactive rebases, transfer commits, manage worktrees, update submodules, and detect LFS |
| Automation | Scripts / Templates / Offline | Run explicitly trusted scripts, deploy templates, cache reads, and queue API writes |
| Advanced API | Releases / Actions / Protection | Manage releases, workflows, branch protection, secrets/variables, hooks, and collaborator audits |
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ 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)
- Open the Settings tab
- Enter your GitHub username
- Set your Local Repos Folder (e.g.
C:\Users\You\Documents\GitHub) - (Optional) Add a Personal Access Token for private repos and API management
- (Optional) Configure your git
user.nameanduser.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:
| Scope | Required For |
|---|---|
repo | Private repos, API management |
delete_repo | Deleting repos from the GitHub API tab |
GitForge searches for git in this order:
- System PATH (standard Git for Windows)
- GitHub Desktop's bundled git (
%LOCALAPPDATA%\GitHubDesktop\app-*\resources\app\git\cmd\) Program Files\Git\cmd\- Scoop shims (
~\scoop\shims\git.exe)
The detected path is shown in the Settings tab and activity log on startup.
- Go to the Clone tab
- Click Fetch Repos from GitHub
- Select/deselect repos as needed
- Click Clone Selected
Repos that already exist locally are updated with git pull --ff-only instead of re-cloned.
- Go to the Sync Status tab
- Click Scan Local Repos
- Each repo shows: current branch, ahead/behind counts, dirty file count, and last commit
- Use Pull Selected to bulk-update repos that are behind
- Go to the Diff Viewer tab
- Select a scan mode (working tree, staged, incoming, or unpushed)
- Click Scan for Changes
- Click a repo in the left panel, then a file in the middle panel
- The right panel shows a color-coded diff
- Stage/unstage/discard files, then commit and push directly
- Go to the Backup & Export tab
- Choose Mirror Clone for a full git backup (all branches, tags, refs) or ZIP Export for source archives
- Use Find Orphaned Local Repos to detect repos deleted from GitHub but still on disk
- Go to the Search tab
- Enter a query with optional file filter (e.g.
*.py) and regex toggle - Results show matches grouped by repo with file and line context
- Use quick-action buttons to find dirty repos, unpushed work, or large files
- Go to the GitHub API tab (requires token)
- Click Load Repos to populate the table
- Edit descriptions and topics by double-clicking cells
- Bulk change visibility, archive/unarchive, or delete repos
- 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.