Git Sidebar

Mods ui

Install Command

npx claude-code-templates@latest --mod ui/git-sidebar

claude-code — git-sidebar

Content

Early access. A mod is a complete Claude Code plugin built on function hooks (Anthropic's mods/ layout); it loads in Claude Code 2.1.259+ with CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS=1 and the $ API may still change between releases. Hooks module: hooks/git-sidebar.tsx. Options: columns, maxBranches, openOnStart (set in user or managed settings pluginConfigs, or /config). Run claude plugin validate on the installed folder to see every event it hooks and every $ call it makes.

A small lazygit-style side pane for Claude Code: every worktree of the repository the session is in, and its local branches, as rows you can click.

app
Worktrees (3)
● app  main                ~2
  app-feature  feature/login  locked
  app-spike  spike
Branches (4)
* main                     ↓2
+ feature/login         ↑3 ↓1
+ spike
  old                     gone
[ refresh ] [ close ]

Run /git-sidebar to open it and /git-sidebar stop to close it.

Where it draws

In the fullscreen layout the engine docks the pane beside the transcript, floor to ceiling, splitting the screen in two. That layout needs a terminal at least 110 columns wide; turn it on with /tui fullscreen (the session restarts and resumes) or CLAUDE_CODE_NO_FLICKER=1. On the classic main-screen layout the same pane sits above the prompt instead, with the same rows and the same actions.

The pane width is a request: columns (default 44) sets it when the pane opens, and a width you drag the dock to wins.

What a click does

Row	Click or Enter
worktree	moves the session there with the engine's own `/cd` (the `●` row is where you are)
branch	shows its upstream, age and last 5 commits, plus one action
→ `switch`	`git switch <branch>` in the current worktree, only when that worktree has no uncommitted changes
→ `open worktree`	when another worktree has the branch checked out (`+`), `/cd` there, since git would refuse the switch
`refresh` (`r`)	reads git again
`close`	closes the pane

Mouse clicks land in the fullscreen layout. Everywhere else, focus the pane (ctrl+x tab), then move with Tab and press with Enter. Esc hands the keyboard back to the prompt and leaves the pane open.

The pane refreshes itself when it opens, after every /cd, and after each of Claude's turns, so a branch or worktree Claude just created shows up. While it is open, the status line under the prompt reads git: <branch> · N worktrees · N branches.

Markers: ● the worktree the session is in, * its branch, + a branch checked out in another worktree, ~N uncommitted paths, ↑/↓ ahead/behind its upstream, gone when the upstream branch was deleted.

What it runs

Only git, by argv (no shell), through $.process.run: rev-parse --show-toplevel, worktree list --porcelain, for-each-ref refs/heads, status --porcelain in each worktree (the first 12), log -n5 for a selected branch, and switch when you press it. It never commits, stashes, deletes or fetches.

Options

  columns: number      width asked for the docked pane, 28-120 (default 44)
  maxBranches: number  local branches listed, most recently committed first (default 40)
  openOnStart: boolean open the pane when a session starts (default false)

Declared in .claude-plugin/plugin.json (userConfig). Set them in /config, in user settings (~/.claude/settings.json, never project settings), with --settings <file> or in managed settings, under the plugin's full id:

json

{ "pluginConfigs": { "git-sidebar@skills-dir": { "options": { "columns": 56 } } } }

With --plugin-dir the id is plain git-sidebar. A pane opened on its own at session start stays hidden below 144 columns until you run /git-sidebar.

Install

npx claude-code-templates@latest --mod ui/git-sidebar
CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS=1 claude

It is written to .claude/skills/git-sidebar/, which Claude Code auto-loads as git-sidebar@skills-dir in a trusted project (accept the trust prompt once; claude -p never shows it). For one session with hot reload: CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS=1 claude --plugin-dir .claude/skills/git-sidebar. claude plugin validate .claude/skills/git-sidebar prints every event it hooks and every $ call it makes.

If /git-sidebar is missing from the typeahead, the mod did not load: claude --debug and look for hooks module git-sidebar@… loaded in ~/.claude/debug/latest.

Tests

CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS=1 claude plugin test .claude/skills/git-sidebar

The tests answer $.process.run with a fake git, mount the pane on the terminal surface and press its rows.

Early access. Mods need Claude Code 2.1.259+ with CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS=1; the $ API may change between releases. Written and tested on 2.1.282 against the 2.1.278 declarations. Typed against Anthropic's declarations: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/tree/main/mods