Changes View

The Changes view is the staging and commit interface. It shows your working tree modifications, lets you stage/unstage at the file or hunk level, and compose commits — all without leaving the app.

Accessing the Changes View

• Click the Changes icon (dot-in-square) in the activity bar
• Keyboard shortcut: Cmd+Shift+G

Layout

The Changes view uses a split-panel layout:

• Left panel — file list grouped into Staged, Unstaged, and Untracked sections
• Right panel — inline patch diff for the selected file with hunk-level controls (Stage Hunk, Discard Hunk)
• Bottom panel — commit composer with message input and commit button

Features

File Status List

Files are grouped into sections:

• Staged — changes ready to commit (green checkmark)
• Unstaged — modified but not staged (hollow circle)
• Untracked — new files not yet added to git

Each file shows:

• Status code (Modified, Added, Deleted, Renamed, Untracked)
• Color-coded indicator
• File path (relative to repo root)

View Modes

Toggle between:

• List view — flat list sorted by path
• Tree view — hierarchical folder structure
• Staging zones — visual drag-and-drop staging areas

Hunk-Level Staging

Click a file to see its diff in the right panel. Each hunk has:

• Stage hunk — add this specific change to the index
• Unstage hunk — remove from the index (for staged files)
• Discard hunk — revert this change in the working tree
• Line-level staging — select individual lines to stage

The hunk toolbar appears on hover over each diff section.

Batch Actions

Select multiple files (Shift+click or Cmd+click) for batch operations:

• Stage all selected
• Unstage all selected
• Discard all selected (with confirmation dialog)

Commit Composer

The bottom panel contains the commit message editor:

• Subject line — first line, shown in log
• Body — extended description (optional)
• Conventional commit — dropdown for type prefix (feat, fix, etc.)
• Scope — optional scope chip
• Issue references — auto-suggest from linked forge
• Amend — toggle to amend the previous commit
• Sign — GPG/SSH sign the commit

Commit Readiness

A readiness indicator shows whether you can commit:

• ✅ Staged changes present + message entered
• ⚠️ No staged changes
• ⚠️ Empty commit message
• ❌ Merge conflict unresolved

Discard Confirmation

Discarding changes is destructive. The app shows a confirmation dialog when:

• Discarding more than 50 lines
• Discarding an entire file
• Batch discarding multiple files

The dialog shows exactly what will be lost.

Crab Large File Integration

When large files (tracked by Crab) are modified:

• The Crab Staged Section shows files that need crab add
• The add flow handles chunking and staging to the Crab index
• After crab add, pointer blobs appear in the git staged section

Context Menu

Right-click a file for:

• Stage / Unstage
• Discard changes
• Open in editor
• Open diff in new tab
• Copy path
• Reveal in Finder

Keyboard Shortcuts

Refresh Behavior

The Changes view auto-refreshes when:

• The file watcher detects changes
• A git operation completes (commit, merge, rebase)
• The view gains focus after being in the background
• Manual refresh via the toolbar button

Tips and Best Practices

• Stage by hunk, not by file — for cleaner commits, stage only the relevant hunks from each file rather than entire files
• Use the commit readiness indicator — it tells you at a glance whether you're ready to commit
• Review before discard — the discard confirmation shows exactly what will be lost; read it carefully
• Conventional commits — enable the type/scope prefix for consistent commit messages across your team
• Amend carefully — amending rewrites history; only amend commits that haven't been pushed

Troubleshooting