{"slug": "i-wanted-jetbrains-style-git-in-vs-code-so-we-built-git-brain", "title": "I wanted JetBrains-style Git in VS Code, so we built Git Brain 🧠", "summary": "A developer built Git Brain, a visual Git GUI extension for VS Code, Cursor and other VS Code-compatible IDEs that brings a JetBrains-style Git experience with a visual commit graph, 3-way merge editor, worktrees and AI-assisted commit splitting. The tool also includes a built-in MCP server that lets coding agents like Claude Code, Codex and Cursor access structured Git context with guardrails around destructive actions.", "body_md": "**Git Brain is a visual Git GUI for VS Code, Cursor and other VS Code-compatible IDEs.**\n\nIt's designed as a JetBrains-style Git experience and GitLens alternative, with a visual commit graph, Git history, diffs, branches, stashes, worktrees, a 3-way merge editor, AI Git workflows and a built-in MCP server for coding agents.\n\n**Website:** [https://git-brain.com](https://git-brain.com)\n\nAI changed almost everything about how I write code.\n\nClaude, Codex, Cursor, Copilot and coding agents can now do things that would've taken me hours.\n\nBut somehow, one of the oldest parts of the developer workflow still kept making me work: **Git.**\n\nNot Git itself\n\nGit is great, the experience around it,\n\nAnd if you're coming from JetBrains IDEs, you probably know how nice Git can feel when all of this is actually connected.\n\nI wanted that experience inside VS Code and the new generation of VS Code-based IDEs.\n\nSo we built **Git Brain**.\n\nThe idea behind Git Brain is pretty simple:\n\nPut the everyday Git workflow into one visual workspace and make it hard to shoot yourself in the foot\n\nNot another Git abstraction\n\nNot a replacement for Git\n\nA UI for actually understanding what Git is doing\n\nGit Brain works inside VS Code, Cursor, Antigravity, Trae, Kiro, Windsurf, VSCodium and other VS Code-compatible editors.\n\nThis was one of the first things we cared about,\n\nWhen I look at a repository, I don't just want a list of commits\n\nI want to understand it.\n\nGit Brain gives you a visual commit graph with branches, merges, tags, filtering, commit details and file diffs in the same flow.\n\nYou can inspect a commit, see exactly which files changed and jump directly into the diff without leaving the graph.\n\nFor me, that's much easier than trying to reconstruct the state of the repository in my head from a list of SHAs.\n\nI never understood why resolving a complicated merge conflict still so often means staring at:\n\n```\n<<<<<<< HEAD\n...\n=======\n...\n>>>>>>> feature\n```\n\nFor small conflicts, fine.\n\nFor large ones?\n\nNo thanks.\n\nGit Brain has a real **3-way merge editor**:\n\n**Local | Result | Remote**\n\nYou can see both versions, understand how they relate, choose either side or both, edit the result and move between conflicts visually.\n\nIt's heavily inspired by the type of Git experience I liked in full IDEs,\n\nAnd this became even more important once coding agents entered the picture.\n\nThis was something I didn't fully expect\n\nAgents generate code incredibly fast\n\nBut faster code generation also means:\n\nSo we started building AI around the Git workflow itself.\n\nFor example, Git Brain can analyze a large working tree and **split the changes into logical commits**.\n\nInstead of:\n\n```\nfix stuff\n```\n\nwith 47 unrelated files 😅\n\nyou can get a proposed commit structure, review it and decide exactly what belongs where.\n\nIt can also generate commit messages, summarize changes, help create PR descriptions and resolve conflicts.\n\nBut there was another problem.\n\nIf an agent is doing real development work, it needs more than access to files.\n\nIt needs to understand:\n\nSo Git Brain now includes a built-in **MCP server**.\n\nThat means agents like Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other MCP-compatible tools can interact with Git Brain and get structured Git context instead of blindly running shell commands.\n\nThe goal isn't to give an agent unlimited access to your machine.\n\nActually, the opposite.\n\nWe wanted to expose specific Git capabilities with guardrails around mutations and destructive actions.\n\nI think this part is going to become much more important as we give coding agents more autonomy.\n\nAnother feature I personally think is becoming much more useful because of AI is **Git worktrees**.\n\nYou can have:\n\n```\nmain\nfeature-auth\nfix-production-bug\nagent-experiment\n```\n\nall checked out at the same time without constantly switching branches.\n\nThat's perfect when you have multiple agents or tasks running in parallel.\n\nBut worktrees are one of those Git features that many developers know exist and still don't use.\n\nMostly because the CLI workflow isn't very inviting.\n\nSo Git Brain gives worktrees their own visual panel where you can create, inspect, open and remove them.\n\nNo memorizing `git worktree` commands required.\n\nWe get this question a lot.\n\nYes - **Git Brain can be used as a GitLens alternative for VS Code**, especially if what you want is a fast visual Git experience focused on everyday workflows.\n\nBut our bigger goal is slightly different.\n\nWe're trying to build the Git experience we want for the **agentic development era**:\n\n**Humans get a great visual interface. Agents get structured Git capabilities.\nBoth operate on the same repository state.**\n\nGitLens has done a lot for Git inside VS Code, and we're not pretending otherwise.\n\nWe're just exploring a different direction.\n\nAt this point it has grown into much more than the little Git UI we originally imagined:\n\nAnd we're still building.\n\nGit Brain has already passed **70,000 downloads on Open VSX**, which is kind of crazy to us considering this started because we were annoyed with our own Git workflow.\n\nGit Brain is available for VS Code and VS Code-compatible IDEs.\n\nIf you use Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf or another compatible editor, I'd genuinely love for you to try it.\n\nBut even more than another install, I'm interested in this:\n\n**What is the one Git workflow you still hate doing?**\n\nMerge conflicts?\n\nRebase?\n\nCherry-picking?\n\nUnderstanding what an agent changed?\n\nKeeping multiple tasks alive at once?\n\nTell me in the comments.\n\nThere's a decent chance we'll build it 😅", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-wanted-jetbrains-style-git-in-vs-code-so-we-built-git-brain", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/ariel_livshits_512edef446/i-wanted-jetbrains-style-git-in-vs-code-so-we-built-git-brain-118", "published_at": "2026-09-13 07:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-13 07:26:29.512852+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-agents", "ai-tools", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Git Brain", "VS Code", "Cursor", "JetBrains", "GitLens", "Claude Code", "Codex", "GitHub Copilot"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-wanted-jetbrains-style-git-in-vs-code-so-we-built-git-brain", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-wanted-jetbrains-style-git-in-vs-code-so-we-built-git-brain.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-wanted-jetbrains-style-git-in-vs-code-so-we-built-git-brain.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-wanted-jetbrains-style-git-in-vs-code-so-we-built-git-brain.jsonld"}}