GEL — Git Experience Local

Overview

GEL is a local Git GUI built with Kotlin and Compose Multiplatform Desktop. It wraps two interchangeable backends — the git CLI and the JGit library — behind a clean Material 3 interface for the daily local workflow.

No accounts, no remote sync, no reimplemented git internals. Just the parts of Git you actually use every day, in a desktop app that stays out of your way.

The name: gel means come in Turkish, and git means go. Local Git operations, handled by come instead of go.

Features

• Staging — stage or unstage individual files or everything at once; flat list and directory tree views
• Diff viewer — side-by-side diff with line numbers, hunk headers, and word-level intra-line highlighting
• Commit — commit with a message; amend the last commit with one click
• History — scrollable commit log with full diff on click; filter by message or author
• Branches — list, switch, create, and delete local branches
• Stash — stash changes with an optional message; pop or drop stash entries
• Markdown — renders .md files inline with a preview/diff toggle
• Dual backend — switch between the git CLI and JGit at runtime

Tech Stack

• Kotlin 2.1.0
• Compose Multiplatform Desktop 1.7.0
• Material 3 design system
• JGit 7.6.0 — library backend
• java-diff-utils — word-level diff highlighting
• Kotlin Coroutines — non-blocking git operations on Dispatchers.IO