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[GH-ISSUE #389] Feature Request: Add `git-ai configure-gui` command for automatic GUI tool configuration #147

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opened 2026-03-02 04:12:16 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments

kerem commented

2026-03-02 04:12:16 +03:00

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Originally created by @txf0096 on GitHub (Jan 22, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/git-ai-project/git-ai/issues/389

Background

After installing git-ai, users need to manually configure their Git GUI tools (VSCode, Cursor, Tower, SourceTree, etc.) to use the git-ai wrapper instead of the system git binary. This manual process is:

Error-prone: Users need to find the correct settings file for each tool
Time-consuming: Each tool has different configuration methods (JSON, XML, macOS defaults)
Not discoverable: Many users don't know they need to do this until git-ai doesn't work in their GUI

Proposed Solution

Add a git-ai configure-gui command that automatically detects and configures installed GUI tools to use the git-ai wrapper.

Usage

# Auto-detect and configure all installed GUI tools
git-ai configure-gui --all

# Configure specific tools
git-ai configure-gui vscode cursor

# Preview changes without applying
git-ai configure-gui --all --dry-run

# List all supported tools and detection status
git-ai configure-gui --list

Example Output

🔍 Configuring GUI tools to use: /Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git

✅ VSCode
   Set "git.path" to "/Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git"
   Backup: /Users/alice/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json.backup

✅ Cursor
   Set "git.path" to "/Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git"

❌ GitHub Desktop
   Not installed

📊 Summary:
   ✅ 2 configured successfully
   ❌ 1 failed or not installed

⚠️  Please restart the configured applications for changes to take effect.

Supported GUI Tools

Priority 1 (Most Common):

Visual Studio Code
Cursor
GitHub Desktop

Priority 2 (Popular):

SourceTree
Tower
Sublime Merge
Fork

Priority 3 (IDE Family):

JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.)

Implementation Notes

Each tool requires different configuration approaches:

JSON-based tools (VSCode, Cursor, Fork, Sublime Merge)

Read and parse settings.json (with JSONC support for comments)
Update git.path or git_binary or gitInstancePath field
Create backup before modification
Show diff of changes

macOS defaults-based tools (GitHub Desktop, SourceTree, Tower)

defaults write com.github.GitHubClient gitPath "/Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git"

XML-based tools (JetBrains IDEs)

Find all JetBrains product directories
Update options/git.xml in each product
Update <option name="pathToGit" value="..." /> element

Benefits

Better onboarding: New users can get started faster
Fewer support requests: Common "git-ai not working in GUI" issues resolved
Cross-platform: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows
Safe: Creates backups before modifying settings
Transparent: Shows diff of changes and supports dry-run mode

This complements the existing git-ai install-hooks command, which configures agent-specific hooks. The configure-gui command focuses on Git GUI tools that need to be pointed to the git-ai wrapper.

Alternative Considered

Manual Documentation: We could just document the manual steps for each tool, but:

Users still need to do tedious work
Documentation gets outdated when tools change settings paths
Doesn't scale well as we support more tools

Platform Support

Initial implementation would focus on macOS, with Linux and Windows support added incrementally:

✅ macOS (highest priority - most common dev platform)
🔄 Linux (medium priority)
🔄 Windows (can be added later - different paths and registry-based tools)

Originally created by @txf0096 on GitHub (Jan 22, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/git-ai-project/git-ai/issues/389 ## Background After installing `git-ai`, users need to manually configure their Git GUI tools (VSCode, Cursor, Tower, SourceTree, etc.) to use the git-ai wrapper instead of the system git binary. This manual process is: 1. **Error-prone**: Users need to find the correct settings file for each tool 2. **Time-consuming**: Each tool has different configuration methods (JSON, XML, macOS defaults) 3. **Not discoverable**: Many users don't know they need to do this until git-ai doesn't work in their GUI ## Proposed Solution Add a `git-ai configure-gui` command that automatically detects and configures installed GUI tools to use the git-ai wrapper. ### Usage ```bash # Auto-detect and configure all installed GUI tools git-ai configure-gui --all # Configure specific tools git-ai configure-gui vscode cursor # Preview changes without applying git-ai configure-gui --all --dry-run # List all supported tools and detection status git-ai configure-gui --list ``` ### Example Output ``` 🔍 Configuring GUI tools to use: /Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git ✅ VSCode Set "git.path" to "/Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git" Backup: /Users/alice/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json.backup ✅ Cursor Set "git.path" to "/Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git" ❌ GitHub Desktop Not installed 📊 Summary: ✅ 2 configured successfully ❌ 1 failed or not installed ⚠️ Please restart the configured applications for changes to take effect. ``` ### Supported GUI Tools **Priority 1 (Most Common):** - Visual Studio Code - Cursor - GitHub Desktop **Priority 2 (Popular):** - SourceTree - Tower - Sublime Merge - Fork **Priority 3 (IDE Family):** - JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.) ### Implementation Notes Each tool requires different configuration approaches: #### JSON-based tools (VSCode, Cursor, Fork, Sublime Merge) - Read and parse settings.json (with JSONC support for comments) - Update `git.path` or `git_binary` or `gitInstancePath` field - Create backup before modification - Show diff of changes #### macOS defaults-based tools (GitHub Desktop, SourceTree, Tower) ```bash defaults write com.github.GitHubClient gitPath "/Users/alice/.git-ai/bin/git" ``` #### XML-based tools (JetBrains IDEs) - Find all JetBrains product directories - Update `options/git.xml` in each product - Update `<option name="pathToGit" value="..." />` element ### Benefits 1. **Better onboarding**: New users can get started faster 2. **Fewer support requests**: Common "git-ai not working in GUI" issues resolved 3. **Cross-platform**: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows 4. **Safe**: Creates backups before modifying settings 5. **Transparent**: Shows diff of changes and supports dry-run mode ### Related Issues This complements the existing `git-ai install-hooks` command, which configures agent-specific hooks. The `configure-gui` command focuses on Git GUI tools that need to be pointed to the git-ai wrapper. ### Alternative Considered **Manual Documentation**: We could just document the manual steps for each tool, but: - Users still need to do tedious work - Documentation gets outdated when tools change settings paths - Doesn't scale well as we support more tools --- ## Platform Support Initial implementation would focus on **macOS**, with Linux and Windows support added incrementally: - ✅ macOS (highest priority - most common dev platform) - 🔄 Linux (medium priority) - 🔄 Windows (can be added later - different paths and registry-based tools)

kerem closed this issue

2026-03-02 04:12:16 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-03-02 04:12:17 +03:00

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Owner

@svarlamov commented on GitHub (Jan 22, 2026):

Hey, thank you for the issue! We're currently working on this #383

@svarlamov commented on GitHub (Jan 22, 2026): Hey, thank you for the issue! We're currently working on this #383

kerem commented

2026-03-02 04:12:18 +03:00

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Owner

@acunniffe commented on GitHub (Jan 22, 2026):

+1 releasing something for Mac first and documenting how a community member could add an agent or Git Client (GUI) so it's easy for the community to extend support

@acunniffe commented on GitHub (Jan 22, 2026): +1 releasing something for Mac first and documenting how a community member could add an agent or Git Client (GUI) so it's easy for the community to extend support

kerem commented

2026-03-02 04:12:18 +03:00

Author

Owner

@svarlamov commented on GitHub (Feb 7, 2026):

Thanks for raising this. We've got the foundation for this laid down and a number of Git clients already specially supported. I think from here on out we can accept issues for particular clients

@svarlamov commented on GitHub (Feb 7, 2026): Thanks for raising this. We've got the foundation for this laid down and a number of Git clients already specially supported. I think from here on out we can accept issues for particular clients

kerem referenced this issue

2026-03-02 04:13:11 +03:00

[PR #147] fix ai blame path bugs #285