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Tig (Text-mode Interface for Git) Cheatsheet

Installation

Platform Command
Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt update && sudo apt install tig
Fedora/RHEL sudo dnf install tig
Arch Linux sudo pacman -S tig
macOS (Homebrew) brew install tig
macOS (MacPorts) sudo port install tig
Windows (Git Bash) Included with Git for Windows
Windows (WSL) sudo apt install tig
Windows (Scoop) scoop install tig
From Source git clone https://github.com/jonas/tig.git && cd tig && make && sudo make install

Verify Installation: tig --version

Basic Commands

Command Description
tig Open main view showing commit history in current repository
tig status Show working directory status (like git status)
tig blame <file> Show line-by-line authorship for a file
tig <file> Show commit history for a specific file
tig show <commit> Display details of a specific commit
tig refs Show all branches and tags
tig stash Display all stashed changes
tig log Show commit log view
tig diff Show unstaged changes in working directory
tig grep <pattern> Search for pattern in repository
tig <branch> Show commits from a specific branch
tig --all Show commits from all branches
tig --help Display help information
tig --version Show tig version information
Key Description
j / ↓ Move down one line
k / ↑ Move up one line
h / ← Scroll left
l / → Scroll right
PgUp / b Page up
PgDn / Space Page down
Home Jump to first line
End Jump to last line
Enter Open/select item (context-dependent)
Tab Switch to next view
q Close current view
Q Close all views and quit
R Reload/refresh current view
O Maximize current view
h Show help and key bindings

Search and Filter Keys

Key Description
/ Search forward
? Search backward
n Find next match
N Find previous match
[ Jump to previous diff chunk
] Jump to next diff chunk
{ Jump to previous file in diff
} Jump to next file in diff

Advanced Commands

Command Description
tig --author="Name" Filter commits by specific author
tig --since="2 weeks ago" Show commits from a relative date
tig --after="2024-01-01" --before="2024-12-31" Show commits within date range
tig --grep="pattern" Show commits with pattern in message
tig --merges Show only merge commits
tig --no-merges Exclude merge commits
tig main..feature Show commits in feature not in main
tig main...feature Show commits that differ between branches
tig --follow -- <file> Track file history through renames
tig -S"function_name" Pickaxe search: commits changing occurrences
tig -G"regex" Show commits where diff matches regex
tig -n 100 Limit to last 100 commits
tig -- '*.py' Show commits affecting Python files only
tig reflog Browse Git reflog entries
tig show <commit>:<path> Display file content at specific commit
tig blame +<line> <file> Open blame view at specific line number

Interactive Operations (Inside Tig)

Key View Description
u status Stage/unstage file or chunk
1 status Stage/unstage single line
! status Revert file or chunk
C status Commit staged changes
C main/log Cherry-pick commit
e main/log Edit commit message (if HEAD)
! main/log Revert commit
@ main/log Move to commit (checkout)
C refs Create new branch
d refs Delete branch
m refs Merge branch
! any Execute external command
: any Execute git command (e.g., :!git reset)

Configuration

Tig reads configuration from these locations (in priority order):

  1. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tig/config (typically ~/.config/tig/config)
  2. ~/.tigrc
  3. $GIT_DIR/tigrc (repository-specific)
  4. /etc/tigrc (system-wide)

Creating Configuration File

# Create user config directory and file
mkdir -p ~/.config/tig
touch ~/.config/tig/config

# Or use traditional location
touch ~/.tigrc

Color Customization

# Customize interface colors
color cursor white blue bold
color title-focus white blue bold
color title-blur white black bold

# Diff colors
color diff-header yellow default
color diff-chunk magenta default
color diff-add green default
color diff-del red default

# Status colors
color stat-staged green default
color stat-unstaged red default
color stat-untracked yellow default

View Settings

# Configure main view columns
set main-view = id:yes date:default author:full commit-title:yes,graph:yes,refs:yes

# Set commit ID width
set id-width = 10

# Enable line numbers in blame view
set blame-view = date:default author:full id:yes,color line-number:yes,interval=1 text

# Line number display interval
set line-number-interval = 5

# Horizontal scrolling percentage
set horizontal-scroll = 33%

# Tab size for display
set tab-size = 4

# Truncation indicator
set truncation-delimiter = ~

Diff Configuration

# Number of context lines in diffs
set diff-context = 3

# Ignore whitespace (options: no, all, some, at-eol)
set ignore-space = some

# Use patience diff algorithm
set diff-options = --patience

# Show untracked files in status view
set status-show-untracked-files = yes

Custom Key Bindings

# Bind 'C' in main view to cherry-pick
bind main C !git cherry-pick %(commit)

# Bind 'P' in status view to push
bind status P !git push

# Bind 'F' to fetch in main view
bind main F !git fetch

# Bind 'S' to create stash
bind status S !git stash save "%(prompt Enter stash message: )"

# Bind 'A' to amend commit
bind status A !git commit --amend

# Open commit in browser (GitHub)
bind main B !@hub browse -- commit/%(commit)

Display Options

# Wrap long lines
set wrap-lines = yes

# Show changes in status view
set status-show-untracked-dirs = yes

# Refresh interval (seconds)
set refresh-mode = auto
set refresh-interval = 1

# Mouse support
set mouse = yes

# Editor for commit messages
set editor-line-number = yes

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Code Review Workflow

# Open repository
tig

# Navigate to commit (use j/k)
# Press Enter to see full diff
# Press Tab to switch between views
# Press q to go back

# Review specific branch
tig feature-branch

# Compare branches
tig main..feature-branch

Use Case 2: Finding When a Bug Was Introduced

# Search for specific code change
tig -S"problematic_function"

# Or search commit messages
tig --grep="bug\|fix" -i

# View blame for specific file
tig blame src/buggy-file.js

# Navigate to suspicious line
# Press Enter to see the commit
# Press Tab to see full commit details

Use Case 3: Interactive Staging and Committing

# Open status view
tig status

# Navigate to files (j/k)
# Press 'u' to stage/unstage files
# Press '1' to stage individual lines
# Press 'C' to commit when ready
# Write commit message and save

Use Case 4: Exploring Project History

# View all commits with graph
tig --all

# Filter by author and date
tig --author="John Doe" --since="1 month ago"

# View commits affecting specific files
tig -- src/core/*.py

# Follow file through renames
tig --follow -- src/renamed-file.js

Use Case 5: Branch Management

# View all branches and tags
tig refs

# Navigate to branch
# Press 'C' to create new branch
# Press 'd' to delete branch
# Press 'm' to merge branch
# Press Enter to view branch commits

Best Practices

  • Learn keyboard shortcuts: Tig is designed for keyboard navigation. Memorize j/k for movement, Enter to drill down, and q to go back for efficient browsing.

  • Use view-specific commands: Different views have different operations. Press h in any view to see available key bindings for that context.

  • Customize your configuration: Create a ~/.config/tig/config file to customize colors, bindings, and view settings to match your workflow and preferences.

  • Combine with Git commands: Use tig for visualization and Git commands for operations. Tig complements Git rather than replacing it.

  • Use filters for large repositories: In repositories with thousands of commits, use --author, --since, --grep, or file filters to narrow results.

  • Leverage the status view: Use tig status as an interactive alternative to git add -p for granular staging control.

  • Explore with Tab: Use Tab to cycle through related views and see different perspectives on the same data (commit → diff → tree).

  • Set up repository-specific configs: Create .git/tigrc in repositories that need special settings without affecting your global configuration.

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Tig not found after installation Ensure tig is in your PATH: which tig. Restart terminal or run source ~/.bashrc
Colors not displaying correctly Check terminal supports 256 colors. Set TERM=xterm-256color or configure colors in ~/.tigrc
Slow performance in large repos Use filters to limit commits: tig -n 1000 or tig --since="1 month ago". Consider set refresh-mode = manual
UTF-8 characters display incorrectly Set locale: export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 and export LANG=en_US.UTF-8 in shell config
Mouse not working Enable in config: set mouse = yes. Ensure terminal supports mouse events
Can't edit commits or stage files Ensure you have write permissions and are in a valid Git repository. Check git status works
Custom key bindings not working Verify syntax in config file. Check for conflicts with default bindings. Reload with R
Tig crashes on startup Check Git repository is valid: git status. Update tig to latest version. Remove custom config temporarily
Diff view shows binary files Add to .gitattributes: *.bin -diff. Or set set diff-options = --no-binary
Line numbers not showing Enable in config: set line-number-interval = 1 and ensure view supports line numbers

Quick Reference Card

LAUNCHING TIG          NAVIGATION              OPERATIONS
tig                    j/k  ↓/↑  Move         u    Stage/unstage
tig status            h/l  ←/→  Scroll       C    Commit/cherry-pick
tig blame <file>      PgUp/PgDn  Page        !    Revert/execute
tig <branch>          Enter      Select      e    Edit
tig --all             Tab        Next view   @    Checkout
                      q/Q        Quit        R    Refresh

SEARCH                 VIEWS                   FILTERS
/  Search forward      tig        Main        --author="Name"
?  Search backward     tig status Status      --since="date"
n  Next match          tig refs   Branches    --grep="pattern"
N  Previous match      tig blame  Blame       --no-merges
[  Prev chunk          tig stash  Stash       -- '*.ext'
]  Next chunk          tig diff   Diff