Git Worklists

---

Git Worklists is a Visual Studio Code extension that provides a lightweight, Git-focused workflow for organizing changes, staging files, committing, and managing stashes - all through a custom UI.

It is designed for developers who want explicit control over staging, commits, and stash workflows, without relying on VS Code’s built-in Source Control view.

---

Demo

---

Features

---

Changelists View

A structured way to organize and stage changes.

• Displays Changes and Unversioned files clearly

• Shows file count badges per worklist

• Unversioned files are detected via git ls-files --others --exclude-standard

• Untracked directories are no longer shown as placeholder entries

• Files are displayed in Source Control style:

  • File name as primary label
  • Folder path shown as description

• Create, move, and delete custom changelists

• Move files between changelists (per file or per group)

• Move selected files to another changelist

• File-level and group-level checkboxes for staging / unstaging

• Visual file decorations (badges)

• Click files to open instantly

• Automatic reconciliation with Git status

• Files move automatically between:

  • Unversioned when newly created
  • Changes when tracked / modified

• Safe behavior when staging / unstaging newly created files

All staging state reflects the actual Git index.

---

Commit Panel

A focused commit experience separate from VS Code SCM.

• Custom Commit Message field
• Amend support with safe handling
• Commit and Commit & Push
• Live staged file counter
• Clear and actionable error feedback
• Safe confirmation before force-with-lease push
• Automatic upstream setup for new local branches

Commit behavior is predictable and aligned with Git CLI behavior.

---

Stash Management

Integrated Git stash support directly inside Git Worklists.

Create Stash (Per Changelist)

• Stash all tracked changes from a selected changelist
• Automatically tags stashes with their originating changelist
• Optional custom stash message
• Safe handling of untracked files (skipped unless explicitly supported)
• Immediate UI refresh after stash

Stash List View

• Dedicated Stashes view
• Clean, readable labels (no raw stash@{0} noise)
• Displays originating changelist (e.g. [CL:changes])
• Shows branch context
• Hover tooltip includes full Git reference

Stash Actions

Per-stash context actions:

• Apply Stash – restore changes without removing stash
• Pop Stash – restore changes and remove stash
• Delete Stash – drop stash with confirmation
• Refresh support

---

Git Integration

Uses Git CLI directly (no VS Code SCM provider).

Supported operations:

• git add
• git restore --staged
• git commit
• git commit --amend
• git push
• git stash push
• git stash list
• git stash apply
• git stash pop
• git stash drop
• git ls-files --others --exclude-standard

All operations are executed per repository using repo-relative paths.

---

Requirements

• Git installed and available in PATH
• Workspace opened inside a Git repository
• VS Code v1.108.0 or newer

---

Usage

---

Changelists & Commits

1. Open a Git repository in VS Code
2. Open Git Worklists from the Activity Bar
3. Stage or unstage files using checkboxes
4. Organize files into custom changelists
5. Enter a commit message
6. (Optional) enable Amend
7. Click Commit or Commit & Push

---

Stashes

1. Right-click a changelist -> Stash changes…
2. Enter an optional stash message
3. Open the Stashes view
4. Apply, Pop, or Delete stashes as needed

---

Extension Settings

This extension does not contribute custom VS Code settings yet.

---

Known Limitations

• No partial staging (no hunk / line staging)
• No multi-repository support
• Merge conflicts must be resolved manually
• Untracked files are not included in per-changelist stash by default
• GitHub / GitLab PR features are not included

---

Roadmap

Planned improvements:

• Include-untracked option for stash
• Multi-repository support
• Partial staging (hunk-based)
• Improved visual polish
• Extended test coverage
• Performance optimizations

---

Release Notes

0.0.3

Added

• Worklist file-count badge in Changelists view
• Extended unit test coverage
• Improved internal testability through refactoring

Fixed

• Unversioned files now detected via git ls-files --others --exclude-standard
• Untracked directories are no longer displayed as placeholder entries
• Files now display in Source Control style (filename + folder description)
• Improved reconciliation behavior for untracked vs tracked changes

---

0.0.2

Added

• Discard action for files directly from the Changelists view

Fixed

• Correct staged file detection (UI now accurately reflects Git index state)
• Automatic upstream setup when pushing new local branches
• Improved amend behavior when commit would otherwise be empty

---

0.0.1

Added

• Changelists view
• Custom commit panel
• Git staging, commit, amend, push support
• Per-changelist stash creation
• Dedicated Stashes view
• Apply / Pop / Delete stash actions
• Move files between changelists
• Move group to changelist
• Move selected files to changelist
• Improved reconciliation with Git status
• Clean stash label formatting
• Context menu + icon actions
• Error handling improvements

---

Development Philosophy

Git Worklists intentionally avoids VS Code’s built-in SCM provider.

Instead, it builds a focused, predictable workflow using:

• Tree Views
• Commit UI
• Git CLI

The goal is clarity, explicit control, and zero hidden magic.

---

Git Worklists - focused Git workflows without surprises. 🚀

---