Gitty
Gitty is a Node.js wrapper for the Git CLI. It's syntax closely resembles the Git command line syntax to asynchronously execute common commands, and parses the output into operable objects - depending on the call.
Prerequisites
Installation
$ npm install gitty
Note: If you encounter an error during installation on Mac OSX, make sure you have the XCode Command Line Tools installed. Gitty depends on pty.js for authenticated operations - which requires GCC compiler.
- Go to the App store and download the latest version of Xcode for free.
- Install Xcode (the app store actually downloads the "installer" for Xcode)
- Start Xcode
- Go to Preferences
- Go to Downloads
- Click on the "install" button after "Command Line Tools"
- Reboot
Usage
First, require Gitty.
var git = require('gitty');
The "meat" of the functionality is encapsulated in instances of a Repository
object. This object is instantiated with the path to the repository you wish to perform actions on.
var myRepo = git('/path/to/repo');
Now you can call this instance of Repository
's methods. For example, to execute git log
for myRepo
, you would do:
myRepo.log(function(err, log) {
if (err) {
} else {
}
});
A complete list of the available methods is below, as well as other Gitty functions.
Potential Use Cases
- Writing an exception logger with more insight
- Building a web based Git client
- Integrating automated deployments
Documentation
Repository(path)
Creates an instance of gitty.Repository
from the given path
. Each instance contains the following properties and has access to the following methods.
Repository.graph(callback) - NEW IN 1.2.1!!!
Passes a 2-dimensional array to the callback containing data that can be consumed by a UI for generating a network graph
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, graph_data)
Repository.isRepository
Type: Boolean
Based on the existence of the .git/
directory under the instance path
.
Repository.name
Type: String
Directory name of the instantiated Repository
.
Repository.path
Type: String
Normalized copy of the instance path
.
Repository.init(callback, flags)
Initializes the directory as a Git repository.
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
flags
- Type:
Array
- Description: Command flags like
['--bare','--shared']
Repository.log(callback, useSync)
Passes commit history as array to callback. Optionally do this this synchronously - not recommended
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, log)
Repository.status(callback)
Passes a status object into the callback
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, status)
Repository.add(files, callback, useSync)
Stages the passed array of files for commit. Optionally do this this synchronously - not recommended
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.remove(files, callback)
Removes the passed array of files for commit
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.unstage(files, callback)
Removes passed array of files from staging area
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.commit(message, callback, useSync)
Commits the current staged files. Optionally do this this synchronously - not recommended
message
- Type:
String
- Description: Commit message
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, output)
Repository.branches(callback)
Passes object denoting current branch and array of other branches
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, branches)
Repository.branch(name, callback)
Creates a new branch from the given branch name
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.checkout(branch, callback)
Performs checkout on given branch
branch
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the branch to checkout
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, branches)
Repository.merge(branch, callback)
Performs a merge of the current branch with the specified one
branch
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the branch to merge into current
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.tags(callback)
Passes array of repository's tags
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, tags)
Repository.tag(name, callback)
Creates a new tag from the given tag name
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.remote.add(name, url, callback)
Adds a new remote
name
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the remote to add
url
- Type:
String
- Description: URL to set for the new remote
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.remote.setUrl(name, url, callback)
Changes url of an existing remote
name
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the remote to edit
url
- Type:
String
- Description: URL to set for the existing remote
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.remote.remove(name, callback)
Removes the specified remote
name
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the remote to remove
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
Repository.remote.list(callback)
Passes key-value pairs to callback formatted: remote : url
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, remotes)
Repository.push(remote, branch, flags, callback, creds)
Pushes the specified branch to the specified remote
remote
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the remote to push to
branch
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the branch to push
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, success)
creds (optional)
- Type:
Object
- Description: Formatted as
{ user : 'username', pass : 'password' }
Note: This method does not use an instance of Command()
, see Authenticated Repositories
Repository.pull(remote, branch, flags, callback, creds)
Pulls the specified branch from the specified remote
remote
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the remote to pull from
branch
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of the branch to pull
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, success)
creds (optional)
- Type:
Object
- Description: Formatted as
{ user : 'username', pass : 'password' }
Note: This method does not use an instance of Command()
, see Authenticated Repositories
Repository.reset(hash, callback)
Resets the repository's HEAD to the specified commit and passes commit log to callback
hash
- Type:
String
- Description: Commit hash identifier to rest to
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, log)
Command(path, operation, flags, options)
Creates an instance of gitty.Command
from the given arguments. This is constructor is used primarily internally, for executing Repository
methods, however, it is exposed - see Extending Gitty. Each instance contains the following properties and has access to the following methods.
Command.repo
Type: String
Directory path for the instantiated Command
object
Command.command
Type: String
Assembled command string based on the instantiated operation
, flags
, and options
Command.exec(callback)
Executes a child_process
by the instance's command
property in the directory specified by the instance's path
property
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, stdout, stderr)
Note: This is a wrapper for Node's child_process.exec
that, first, validates the path as a Git repository before execution. If the path fails validation, an Error
will be thrown.
config(key, value, callback)
Does global Git configuration
key
- Type:
String
- Description: Name of configuration property to set
value
- Type:
String
- Description: Value to set to the named configuration property
callback (optional)
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err)
clone(path, url, callback, creds)
Clones the repository at url
into the specified path
path
- Type:
String
- Description: Path to directory to clone into
url
- Type:
String
- Description: Url of the Git repository to clone
callback
- Type:
Function
- Description: Receives argument(s):
(err, success)
creds (optional)
- Type:
Object
- Description: Formatted as
{ user : 'username', pass : 'password' }
Note: This method does not use an instance of Command()
, see Authenticated Repositories
Authenticated Repositories
One challenge that was faced while developing Gitty was performing any authenticated operations. Since OpenSSH does not read input from stdin
for authentication, but rather a psuedo-terminal - Gitty uses pty.js (https://github.com/chjj/pty.js/) to spawn a pseudo-terminal for operations that may require authentication, such as pull
, push
, and clone
.
Credentials are always passed as the last argument and are optional. Below is an example of an authenticated Repository.push()
.
myRepo.push('origin', 'master', function(err, succ) {
if (err) {
console.log(err);
} else {
console.log(succ);
}
}, {
user : 'username',
pass : 'password'
});
This format is consistent for all authenticated operations. Keep this in mind if you are extending Gitty with an operation that requires authentication, and be sure to read the pty.js documentation.
Extending Gitty
Almost all of the Repository
methods are simply convenience wrappers around instances of Command
. This makes extending the Repository
constructor with custom methods easy as pie! Let's run through a quick example. Let's say we want to add a method for creating a new branch and automatically switching to it. What do we need to do?
- Extend the
Repository
prototype - Create a new instance of
Command
- Parse the output and pass to a callback
Three steps is all it should take to add a new method to the Repository
constructor, and below is how you might do it.
var git = require('gitty');
git.Repository.prototype.branchAndCheckout = function(name, callback) {
var repo = this
, cmd = new git.Command(repo.path, 'checkout', ['-b'], name);
cmd.exec(function(error, stdout, stderr) {
var err = error || stderr;
callback.call(repo, err, stdout);
});
};
It's a simple as that. Now you would be able to use this custom method in your application, like so:
myRepo.branchAndCheckout('myBranch', function(err, data) {
if (err) {
} else {
console.log(data);
}
});
The Output Parser
The output parser is simply a collection of functions that accept the string output of an executed command, and turn it into something that can be operated on. For example, the output from git log
gets converted to an array of object-literals before being returned back to the callback for Repository.log()
.
Contributing
One of the reasons I have tried to make Gitty so easy to extend is, well, because I want you to extend it! It is not a wrapper for every possible Git operation, but it most certainly could be, and with minimal coding too! Contributions are always welcome and encouraged. However, to keep Gitty clean and healthy, before making additions consider the following:
- Does my addition follow the conventions already in place?
- Does my code belong where I have placed it?
- Does my syntax resemble the Git CLI?
If you can answer "yes" to these 3 questions, then send a pull request!
Author
Gitty was written by Gordon Hall (gordon@gordonwritescode.com)
Licensed under MIT license