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Usage

strix              # open the repository containing the current directory
strix path/to/repo # open a specific repository

strix opens on the alternate screen and restores your terminal on exit (even if it panics).

The layout

 strix  my-repo                                       main
╭ Changes ───────────────────╮╭ Diff · unified ──────────────────────╮
│ Staged                     ││  src/app.rs                          │
│   M src/app.rs             ││ @@ -12,6 +12,7 @@                     │
│ Changes                    ││  12  pub struct App {                │
│   M src/ui/mod.rs          ││  13      pub repo_path: PathBuf,      │
│ ? notes.txt                ││ +14      pub focus: Focus,            │
╰────────────────────────────╯╰──────────────────────────────────────╯
 j/k move   space stage   d diff mode   q quit
  • Changes (left). Two sections: Staged files on top, Changes (unstaged) and untracked files below. Each row shows a status marker (M modified, A added, D deleted, ? untracked) coloured by state.
  • Diff (right). The selected file's diff, syntax-highlighted, in unified or side-by-side mode.

A typical session

  1. Launch strix in your repo. The first changed file is selected and its diff is shown.
  2. Move through files with j/k (or the mouse).
  3. Press space to stage or unstage the selected file. It moves between the Changes and Staged sections.
  4. Press d to flip between unified and side-by-side diffs.
  5. Press x to discard a file's changes (you'll be asked to confirm).
  6. Commit with git commit in another pane — strix intentionally doesn't create commits.

History view

Press i (or 2) to switch to the History view; Esc, i, or 1 returns to the staging view. The left column changes shape:

╭ Committed Changes ─────────╮╭ Commit a1b2c3d ──────────────────────╮
│ ● a1b2c3d Add history view ││ commit a1b2c3d4e5f6…                  │
│   M src/app.rs             ││ Author  …                             │
│   A src/git/history.rs     ││ Date    2026-05-30 14:02 +0000        │
│   M src/ui/mod.rs          ││                                       │
├ Graph ─────────────────────┤│     Add history view                  │
│ ● a1b2c3d Add history view ││                                       │
│ │ 9f8e7d6 Fix diff scroll  ││  3 files changed, +120 −14            │
│ ● 7c6b5a4 Docs install     ││   M src/app.rs   +40 −2               │
╰────────────────────────────╯╰───────────────────────────────────────╯
 j/k move   tab pane   d split   b hide   i/esc status
  • Graph (bottom-left). Commit log of the current branch (HEAD ancestry, including merges), with a colored branch/merge rail. Move with j/k, click a row to select it.
  • Committed Changes (top-left). The selected commit followed by its changed files. The commit row (●) is selectable; the right pane swaps between commit details and a file diff based on what you pick.
  • Right pane. Commit details (full hash, author, date, message, per-file stat) when the ● row is selected; the file's diff vs the commit's first parent when a file is selected — same renderer as the status view.
  • Layout. The vertical split bar resizes the left column vs the diff; the horizontal one resizes Committed Changes vs Graph. Both are drag-to-resize.
  • b collapses the entire left column the same way it does in the status view, leaving the diff (or commit details) full-width.

Inspecting a frame

For debugging or scripting, --dump-frame renders one frame to stdout as text and exits:

strix --dump-frame --width 120 --height 40

See Keybindings for the complete key map and CLI for all flags.