Getting Started

Open a repository, make your first commit, and work with multiple repos at once

After installing, launch GitBor. The start screen (Repository Manager) lists your recent repositories and offers Open, Clone and Init. These three actions live on the start screen — not in the title-bar menu.

Open a repository

There are three ways:

File → Open Repository… or Ctrl+O, then pick the folder.
Click a repository in the Recent list on the start screen.
Drag a folder onto the GitBor window.

GitBor finds .git/ even if the folder you pick is a subfolder of the repository. The repository opens in a new tab and the graph starts rendering immediately — heavy work happens in the background, even for large repos.

Risky roots. If you try to open your home folder, a drive root, C:\Windows, Program Files or node_modules, GitBor warns you and opens the repo without the automatic file-change watcher (so the OS isn't flooded with events). Refresh manually with F5. See Troubleshooting.

Clone a repository

On the start screen choose Clone. Paste a Git URL — the Folder name field auto-fills a repo name extracted from the URL, and Browse… picks the parent folder. The parent folder is remembered across launches, so the next clone starts from the same place. A live preview shows the final path; progress and any error are shown inline.

Initialize a new repository

Choose Init on the start screen, pick the target folder via Browse… (its parent folder is remembered separately from clone), confirm the name, and GitBor runs git init and opens the new repository.

Above the graph sits a compact toolbar:

Button	What it does
Fetch	Fetches from all remotes.
Pull	Pulls the current branch. The ▾ split adds Pull --rebase. Uncommitted changes are auto-stashed and restored. A badge shows how many commits you're behind.
Push	Pushes the current branch. The ▾ split adds Push --force and, when there's no upstream, Push -u origin. A badge shows how many commits you're ahead.
Stash	Stashes your working changes (opens a name dialog).
Pop	Re-applies the latest stash.

Buttons are disabled only on the active tab while it has an operation running — work in other tabs is never blocked. Full keyboard shortcuts live in Keyboard Shortcuts; remotes and pull/push options are covered in Remotes & Syncing.

Make a commit

The commit panel has two fields:

Subject — the short title.
Description — the extended body (optional).

Pressing Enter in Subject moves focus to Description (same as Fork and GitKraken). Commit with the Commit button or Ctrl+Enter from either field. The Amend checkbox adds your staged changes to the previous commit (git commit --amend).

Stage changes per file or per hunk (see Diff Viewer). Next to Subject is the AI button — it turns your staged diff into a commit message, streamed live into the field. Configure it under AI Commit Messages.

Stash

A stash temporarily shelves uncommitted work. Use Stash in the toolbar (with an optional message), or let GitBor auto-stash before risky operations. Stashes appear under Stashes in the sidebar; right-click one to Show Changes, Apply, Apply and drop, or Drop. The stash dialog also has an AI Suggest name button — see AI Helpers.

Multiple repositories in one window

The tab bar sits at the top. Open another repository with the + tab (it shows the start screen) or by dragging a folder in. Each tab is fully independent — fetch in one while you commit in another. Right-click a tab for Close, Close Others, Close to the Right, Open in Explorer and Copy Path. Your open tabs are restored the next time you launch GitBor.