Julia Evansb0rk@jvns.ca
Oct 21, 2026, 12:06 PMpoll: if you use Git, do you use a terminal text editor to edit your commit messages? (or other things that Git asks you to edit like interactive rebases etc)
(you can pick more than one)
Replies
Oct 21, 2026, 12:10 PM@b0rk When in the terminal, which is most of the time, I use a terminal editor. But if I am in Emacs, I use Magit, the Emacs git frontend.
Simon Tathamsimontatham@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 12:15 PM@b0rk _nearly_ got to tick all the boxes! I use emacs, but depending on the circumstances, it might be an emacs launched specially when I run 'git commit' from the shell prompt, or I may be running Magit in an emacs I had already. In either case the emacs may be GUI or tty-only, depending on whether I'm doing it at the other end of an ssh connection.
Alas, I couldn't think of any excuse to tick the 'other' box too :-)
(I do have a completely daft trick where I set VISUAL="cp file.txt", causing git to use the contents of that pre-prepared file instead of spawning an editor. But I only use that for prewritten 'git rebase -i' lists. For commit messages, there's no need: 'git commit' has a perfectly good -F option.)
- Julia Evansb0rk@jvns.caOct 21, 2026, 1:03 PM
@simontatham VISUAL=“cp file.txt” is incredible
Chris [list of emoji]suetanvil@freeradical.zoneOct 21, 2026, 1:08 PMThat's horrible (complement).
(I'd be *way* too nervous to do that, and would just have the editor insert the prewritten text, though.)
- Simon Tathamsimontatham@hachyderm.ioOct 21, 2026, 1:16 PM
@suetanvil @b0rk the usual reason I'm providing a prewritten 'git rebase -i' list in the first place is so I can try it over and over again until I get it right. For the same reason, I usually also make a separate clone of the git repo to do it in, so that I can mess up the first 10 attempts without doing any permanent damage!
Oct 21, 2026, 3:29 PM@simontatham @suetanvil @b0rk When I'm going to do a rebase that I'm afraid I might mess up, I start with `git checkout -b rb`, and rebase that instead. Then when I'm happy with `rb` I reset the real ref to the same place. If I'm unhappy I delete `rb` and nobody is the wiser.
Why would you want to use a fresh repo?
Arie van Deursen 🇪🇺🇳🇱avandeursen@mastodon.acm.orgOct 21, 2026, 12:14 PM@b0rk In “other”: I also use -m “…” from the command line if the message is simple enough
Nelsonskyfaller@jawns.clubOct 21, 2026, 12:16 PM@b0rk I currently use gitui which is a TUI, which is perhaps not the same thing as a GUI? If I'm writing a longer commit message I'll open it in a terminal text editor, currently micro.
scmbradleyScmbradley@mathstodon.xyzOct 21, 2026, 12:17 PM@b0rk I just use git commit -m and put the message in the terminal. Is that using a terminal editor?
mr_daemonmr_daemon@untrusted.websiteOct 21, 2026, 12:19 PM@b0rk Commits and interactive rebases through vim because add-ons correctly wrap and highlight everything for me so i don't need to worry about line length or proper wrapping.
That said, the gitlens UI for interactive rebases in vscode is pretty good and I do use it whenever it decides to show it instead of popping my $EDITOR in the terminal pane, which is a coin toss for some reason.
Oct 21, 2026, 12:22 PM@b0rk I also know the -m "message here" CLI syntax and very occasionally use it.
Ben 🏳️⚧️🍉benofbrown@toot.catOct 21, 2026, 12:29 PM- Oct 21, 2026, 12:34 PM
@benofbrown @b0rk I've seen beginner guides use it (Djangogirls at one point), because it avoids having to get into the weeds about setting nano up, or worse, vi
Zuri (he/him) ❌️👑 | 🕐 CETshaedrich@mastodon.onlineOct 21, 2026, 12:28 PM@b0rk Follow-up question would be "Terminal text editor: vim vs nano" 😂
Khleedrilkhleedril@cyberplace.socialOct 21, 2026, 12:29 PM@b0rk I clicked the GUI option as it's the closest, but I actually have GIT throw up an Emacs window, which is technically graphical but looks like a text interface.
Oliver Kennedyokennedy@discuss.systemsOct 21, 2026, 12:33 PM@b0rk Console editor for the most part, but I cobbled together a special flow for commits. It opens a tempfile in an editor and pops up a new terminal window running gittui. I can review edits in the latter while staging files, but still make notes in the former. When I quit the editor, the commit fires.
https://git.odin.cse.buffalo.edu/okennedy/random-hacks/src/branch/main/git-review
Benjamin Geerbenjamingeer@piaille.frOct 21, 2026, 12:37 PM@b0rk I use the Lazygit plugin in Neovim (which is kind of an IDE 🙂) in a terminal, so I don’t know which category that’s in 😅
Cesarcesarb@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 12:42 PM@b0rk For some reason, I don't trust GUI tools to manipulate the git repository (probably because some GUI tool I've once tried to use made a mess of the repository state, turning a merge into a non-merge with the contents which should have been in the merge). So when editing files to resolve merge conflicts or when adding files and committing, I always use the trusty command line; which then defaults to the terminal text editor I have configured as default.
Stephen Darlingtonsdarlington@mas.toOct 21, 2026, 12:45 PM@b0rk Too lazy to change the default. I know vi well enough that it’s not a problem, plus I don’t want to switch out to a GUI text editor while I’m in the terminal.
Oct 21, 2026, 12:50 PM@b0rk Either the terminal text editor or Lazygit.
I Forgetepilanthanomai@signs.codesOct 21, 2026, 12:50 PM@b0rk I create most of my git commits through the "fugitive" vim plugin. That keeps most of my commit messages inside my running vim session. Occasionally I'll do one in a command line, though, and that opens vim (my $EDITOR).
KaiBonfireAtNight@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 12:56 PM@b0rk I use lazygit. Guess that counts as "other".
palanirajapalaniraja@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 1:05 PM@b0rk IMHO lazygit should have been an option
Oct 21, 2026, 1:07 PM@b0rk most of the time i just write my commit message with
-mbut my.bashrcis configured withif [[ "$TERM_PROGRAM" == "vscode" ]]; then
export EDITOR='code --wait'
else
export EDITOR='nano'
fiso for when i need to write a longer one or i'm doing an interactive rebase or something, it depends on where i'm making the commit from
Oct 21, 2026, 1:14 PM@b0rk is
readlinea text editor? 🤔 (seegit commit -F -)
Duncan Lockduncanlock@cosocial.caOct 21, 2026, 1:11 PM@b0rk Random, depending on what exactly I'm doing, how extensive the commit message is going to be (they don't all need to be essays) and how I'm feeling.
amirreza-sf80amirreza8002@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 2:24 PM@b0rk lazygit (TUI)
pr06lefspr06lefs@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 2:28 PM@b0rk sometimes I use gitui, a terminal based git interface.
Eyevanovicheyevanovich@mas.toOct 21, 2026, 2:31 PM@b0rk I use Lazygit for most things Git. It’s a beautiful program.
paulheypaulhey@vivaldi.netOct 21, 2026, 2:54 PM@b0rk Other: if I'm in the terminal (eg. ssh'd into a remote system) I'll try to use helix or vim if they're available to do commit messages. Otherwise I just commit directly in the IDE I'm using (Zed/VSCode).
- paulheypaulhey@vivaldi.netOct 21, 2026, 2:56 PM
@b0rk Additionally, if I have it installed, I'll use lazygit
Oct 21, 2026, 3:34 PM@b0rk I voted other but maybe I'm 'terminal + magit'. For regular commits I basically always use Magit to make selective commits (so Magit + GNU Emacs and it's almost always as a GUI, not in a terminal). But when rebasing, if I hit a rebase conflict I fix it in the terminal and then 'git rebase --continue' usually throws me into vim to maybe fiddle with the old commit message.