Show HN: git-peek – git repo to local editor instantly | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: git-peek – git repo to local editor instantly

github.com

114 pointsJarred36 comments

I like that this doesn't assume what editor and git remote someone uses unlike github1s which is further pushing the development community toward centralizing on Github+VScode. Diversity is good.

You inspired me to write my own. Here is a 9-line shell script version of git-peak: https://git.sr.ht/~alexdavid/dotfiles/tree/master/bin/git-pe...

It doesn't do any fancy tarball magic for Github links, but the shallow clone works fast enough for me - sub 3s on modestly sized repos (especially on non-github repos since github is fairly slow to clone/push/pull).

I think it’s a big stretch to say that providing tools which interoperate with product A and not product B is pushing anyone toward anything. By that logic everything is coercive. This is like when I was informed that I was ruining free computing by personally preferring a less free desktop OS for my own usage and encouraging others to choose what they prefer.

I’m glad you made something that works for more environments. But be careful, you may be accused of pushing more people to use git over mercurial.

Good points. For the record I wasn't trying to say that github1s is "ruining free computing", I was trying to convey the opposite. More diversity is good.

If this had been published first, and github1s came along afterward to make it easier for users who don't set $EDITOR I'd be just as happy that it makes development more inclusive for all, not matter what the tools one prefers.

I'd love to see a mercurial version as well :)

Good points as well and I’m sorry if I was overly defensive. I agree totally that diversity is a good thing. I mistook some of your wording. But it’s clear you’re sincere about inclusion and I’m glad we had the opportunity to expand the conversation a bit! Thank you.

it is a defensible position though, with countless examples. In the real world, mind share determines the fate of technology.

As the simplest example, take the monopoly of IE6 which was reinforced by web site makers who did not interoperate with other browsers because they expected the majority to use IE.

I was one of those website makers and while I took great pains to support Netscape, I regret to inform you that Netscape was bad and the people who didn’t want to support it were right.

Edit: lest I forget, I also took great pains to support IE, which also was bad, and the people who didn’t want to support it were also right.

Thank you. Way better than the TypeScript version. Ugh. It may not have those features though. I will just add them myself.

Why not just curl the raw file and ignore any git cloing at all?

I think because we want to open the entire folder, how would that work?

some kind of httpfs mount? That would be seriously cool!

Oh. Yeah, ofc, my fault. I missed that.

I don't think it will work "as is" because github does not expose the directory structure in a way that httpfs understands out of the box. But some hacker around here could probably make an httpfs-github that does the job.

I read lots of code on GitHub, so I got really excited when I saw github1s (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26083919), but was disappointed when I saw that search doesn’t work (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26085540). So I hacked together `git peek` on Tuesday night. It works with any git repository, but uses GitHub’s API to be faster when it can.

Does it work with private repos?

I tried github1s with a private repo and it threw an authorization error.

Now it does. If you have the `GITHUB_TOKEN` environment variable set to a personal access token or if you happen to use the hubs github cli it will work

Cool, thank you!

I also count myself between those who implemented such a script when reading about github1s on HN :)

My latest iteration involves not using the terminal at all - I open the project from emacs instead. So I `M-x peek-repo`, paste the url, and the project will be cloned and open right in my emacs (I use a GUI variant).

Also, personally I don't find the need to use a tmpdir - my tradition is cloning to ~ and just let it remain there indefinitely. I always end up with a mere 100 repos before next time I wipe my computer for whatever reason.

Nice idea but I have an issue. I'm on the new MBP with the M1 and I have code-insiders installed as it runs natively.

So I tried the following:

git peek https://github.com/ylukem/pin-go -e code-insiders

It works, it downloads the repo, opens the editor but it immediately deletes it! Any idea how to fix this?

Author here — this is actually not a bug, but a deliberate design decision (so long as you meant, when the editor closes). I’m sorry for the confusion.

git peek is not a faster alternative to git clone. It’s for quickly reading other people’s code without needing to keep it around for writing or updating.

That being said, I could make it not delete the code after the editor closes and keep it somewhere. It just won’t have access to the git tree and other things you’d expect.

I could add a flag like —keep that doesn’t delete it and let’s you pass a place to put it.

Thanks for jumping in Jarred. My mistake, I wasn't aware of the rule and just wanted to share you project because it was so cool.

Turns out this was a bug – it wasn't properly adding `--wait` when opening the editor. Its fixed in 1.1.15.

Nice. I see Jarred had a similar idea to me after seeing github1s. For those with vim and without node: https://github.com/drzel/vim-repo-edit

Very good work and a excellent use a git sub-command. Although, I appreciate github1s and perhaps future is there. I am currently more likely to use git peek (with it's search feature).

It would be nice to give it a short lived cache. To avoid cloning a repo three times because I forgot something. Otherwise: good stuff, kudos!

Related project that was posted to HN yesterday:

github1s.com - just add "1s" to any github URL and it opens the repo in VS Code in your browser

Link for the curious https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26083919

Yes, the README says "This was inspired by github1s.com."

Can you update and commit?

I ask because I've been looking to improve my Shopify workflow. Buddy.works does the deploy to Shopify. But I'm trying to cut out the push. More or less changes + saves become commits, and then instantly deploy.

If not, perhaps someone can recommend something else?

Anyone know why I get ECONNREFUSED? https://imgur.com/Cd22Gwb

>Clones the repo to a temp folder and opens editor

Isn't this a 2-line shell script?

Doesn't seem to work on Windows.

Got "line 12: -S: command not found".

Fixed in v1.1.26. Thanks for reporting

Does this work with any git repo? Else, shouldn't this be called github-peek?

Are you the author? Else why are you posting it as a Show HN?

It works with non GitHub repos, but it’s not as fast. When it detects a GitHub link, it downloads the tarball from GitHub & and separately downloads the specific file linked (or the readme) using JSDelivr as a CDN. This is much faster than a normal clone

When it’s a regular git link, it does a partial clone and opens in your editor.

Thank you.

I apologize. I don't know why I got the idea you weren't the author. It's not like the account names don't imply it.

I was aggressive because only the day before I too saw github1s and found it mostly pointless and this seemed the same.

You have answered both questions though, so, well that's why I phrase challenges as questions, in case my head is up my ass.

Why so aggressive?

All of the above can be easily seen by looking at the provided link for about five seconds.

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