I built GitPop, an open-source, lightweight Windows File Explorer extension that brings a fast Git interface right to your context menu.
The problem: I got tired of opening heavy IDEs (like VS Code) or bulky GUI clients just to make a quick commit, but I also wanted the nice visual diffs and staging checkboxes that terminal workflows lack.
The solution: When you right-click any folder with a .git repository and select "GitPop Here", it instantly launches a sleek, dark-mode UI overlay. You can view your changes, stage files, and commit directly from your desktop.
To speed things up even more, I added an AI "Sparkle" button that reads your git diff and auto-generates a conventional commit message.
Technical details:
Stack: I built this using Tauri v2, React, and Rust. I specifically chose Tauri over Electron because a context-menu popup needs to open instantly and use minimal RAM.
Privacy First (Local AI): By default, the AI feature hooks into a local Ollama instance (like llama3.2), meaning your proprietary source code diffs never leave your machine. I also added support for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini for those who prefer cloud models.
Git Backend: Instead of wrestling with libgit2, the Rust backend spawns hidden child processes to execute native Git CLI binaries. This means it automatically respects your existing global Git config, SSH keys, and GPG signing.
A fun engineering challenge: Building a transparent, glassmorphism UI on Windows 11 using Webview2 was surprisingly tricky. Combining "transparent": true with a hidden startup state ("visible": false) caused the rendering engine to completely panic and crash. I also had to write custom OS-level Rust code to suppress the background CMD terminals from flashing every time a Git command ran.
What's next (macOS): Right now, the release is heavily optimized for Windows File Explorer, but I am actively working on the macOS version to integrate this exact same experience directly into Finder.
I’d love for you to try out the Windows version while I wrap up the Mac build. The installers (.exe/.msi) and source code are available on GitHub.
Repo: https://github.com/vinzify/gitpop
I'll be hanging around the comments to answer any questions about the tech stack, Tauri v2, or the implementation!