21

Right now I'm using fugitive to manage almost everything git related, but I can't find a good workflow to quickly visualize and switch between available branches.

I can do :Git checkout <branch-name>, the problem is that it autocompletes both file names and branches, and I'd prefer a branch list.

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13

To culminate the answers here are the ways to accomplish this:

Vanilla Terminal Vim

Press CTRL-Z in normal mode will drop you back in to the shell and suspend Vim. After executing your git checkout [branchname] type the fg command to return to the suspended Vim which will also force Vim to refresh.

Vanilla GUI Vim

Some gvim implementations will have :shell support which will open a shell inside of Vim using a dumb terminal. However it may be easier to just type:

:!git checkout [branchname]

This will execute the command without having to open a new shell prompt. (This option is also usable in the terminal Vim).

vim-fugitive

vim-fugitive is a plugin that allows you to use Git from within Vim. The command would be:

:Git checkout [branchname]

vim-merginal

vim-merginal is a plugin that uses vim-fugitive and provides a user friendly-ish interface.

  1. Type :Merginal.
  2. Move cursor to the branch you want.
  3. Type cc to check out that branch.
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  • 1
    It's fugitive, not fugative, and that's what OP is already using. – muru Dec 23 '15 at 20:07
  • 1
    Awesome answer. vim-merginal is what I was looking for. – Sergio D. Márquez Dec 23 '15 at 20:09
  • 1
    I like the ctrl-z because it auto loads the files. Co-workers like to have a tmux window for the command line and one for vim but when they do a checkout or merge when they return to vim they have to go to each open file and :e! each time. (:bufdo e) which is a pain to remember. Instead it is easier to ctrl-z then when fg happens Vim performs the :e auto-magically. – Sukima Nov 25 '16 at 17:25
  • I Another nice fugitive extension you could add to the list: github.com/sodapopcan/vim-twiggy – Sergio D. Márquez Mar 16 '18 at 19:00
  • In case the git checkout is already done, :checktime comes in handy to reload all opened buffers. – LEI Apr 19 '18 at 22:02
13

Use the vim-merginal plugin (fugitive extension). It offers interactive TUI for:

  • Viewing the list of branches
  • Checking out branches from that list
  • Creating new branches
  • Deleting branches
  • Merging branches
  • Rebasing branches
  • Solving merge conflicts
  • Interacting with remotes(pulling, pushing, fetching, tracking)
  • Diffing against other branches
  • Renaming branches
  • Viewing git history for branches

enter image description here

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7

You should embrace your terminal. If you use CTRL-Z, it will background Vim (or whichever process you are currently running), then you can run any commands you want, the fg to bring the process back to the foreground:

<CTRL-Z>
git checkout <tab>
fg
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  • 3
    ... and when using GVim? – muru Dec 23 '15 at 5:30
  • 2
    :shell is the way to go or alt tabbing in to your other favorite terminal emulator – 65-e9-7e-17 Dec 23 '15 at 5:32
  • 2
    I always like !git checkout [branchname] – bronzehedwick Dec 23 '15 at 18:46
5

The fugitive Git checkout <branch> has a downside that it doesn't autocomplete the branch name. Using fzf.vim I've created this command:

function! s:changebranch(branch) 
    execute 'Git checkout' . a:branch
    call feedkeys("i")
endfunction

command! -bang Gbranch call fzf#run({
            \ 'source': 'git branch -a --no-color | grep -v "^\* " ', 
            \ 'sink': function('s:changebranch')
            \ })

hope you find it useful

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1

The answer provided by @kubek2k is so phenomenal. That solution is better than I could have imagined and implemented in in less lines of code that I could have imaged. It opened the door to help me understand the powerful personalization use of 'fzf'.

I have slightly modified it to additionally provide:

  1. Makes use of fugitive to get the refs instead of the command line, (better support for windows)
  2. List tags along with branches

Here is the slight modification:

function! s:gitCheckoutRef(ref) 
    execute('Git checkout ' . a:ref)
    " call feedkeys("i")
endfunction
function! s:gitListRefs()
   let l:refs = execute("Git for-each-ref --format='\\%(refname:short)'")
   return split(l:refs,'\r\n*')[1:] "jump past the first line which is the git command
endfunction
command! -bang Gbranch call fzf#run({ 'source': s:gitListRefs(), 'sink': function('s:gitCheckoutRef'), 'dir':expand('%:p:h') })
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