First steps

Open a repository

• File → Open Repository… (⌘O) opens a folder. A file opens the repository it belongs to.
• Drop a folder on the window or on the Dock icon.
• File → Open Recent, the Dock menu, or the jump list on Windows reopens recent ones.
• From a terminal, mytwig . opens the current folder (see The mytwig command).

MyTwig reopens the repositories you had open when you last quit. Each repository gets its own tab; ⌘T opens a new one.

Clone a repository

File → Clone Repository… lists the repositories of the accounts you’ve signed in to (GitHub, GitHub Enterprise, GitLab, Gitea, Forgejo and Bitbucket), the most recently active first. Search by name or description, pick one, choose HTTPS or SSH, and pick a folder. You can always paste a URL instead.

For very large repositories, Options for large repositories can clone without past file contents (blobless), with a shallow history, or with only the top-level files (sparse).

The repository manager

With no tab open, or in a new tab, MyTwig shows your repositories:

• Groups you make yourself. Drag repositories into them, and open a whole group at once.
• Recent repositories.
• Repositories found in folders you scan (Scan a Folder…).

Each one shows its branch, commits to push (↑) and pull (↓), changed files (●) and conflicts.

Around the window

Part	What it shows
Toolbar	Undo, redo, pull, push, branch, stash, the command palette, your profile, and the panel buttons.
Left panel (⌘J)	Local branches, remotes, tags, stashes, pull requests, issues, worktrees and submodules. ⌥⌘F filters it.
Commit graph	Your history. The top row, // WIP, is your working tree. See Reading the graph.
Details (⌘K)	The commit you chose: its message, author and files, or your changes and the commit box.
Terminal (⌘`)	Shell tabs opened in the repository.

Choose a file to see its diff. Diffs open in the middle, in place of the graph; Esc goes back. To show them under the file list instead, set Settings → Diff → Open diffs to Bottom.

The command palette

⌘P opens the command palette. Every action in MyTwig is there, with its shortcut: checking out a branch, merging, opening a recent repository, changing the theme. Start typing to filter. ⌘/ lists all keyboard shortcuts.

Make it yours

• Theme: light, dark or follow the system, from the palette or View.
• Language: Settings → General → Language: System, English or 简体中文. It switches at once.
• Accent color: Settings → Appearance: the system’s, one of eight, or any color.
• Fonts: Settings → Appearance: the interface font and the code font.
• Graph density: Settings → Graph → Graph nodes (small, medium, large), or View → Compact Mode.

See Settings for the full list.

Who you commit as

Your commits use Git’s user.name and user.email. Settings → Identity lists the names and emails of every account you’ve signed in to, plus your global Git identity. Picking one sets it for the open repository only. The chip above the Commit button shows who you’ll commit as; click it to switch.

Profiles keep separate identities, signing keys and open tabs, for example work and personal. Switch them from the avatar in the toolbar.

The mytwig command

MyTwig → Install Command Line Tool… (also in the palette and Settings → General) adds a mytwig command. Then:

mytwig .            # open the current folder
mytwig ~/code/app   # open a repository

If MyTwig is already running, the repository opens in a new tab.

Closing the window

By default, closing the last window keeps MyTwig in the menu bar so background fetches and notifications keep working. Settings → General → When the last window closes can quit instead, and Show in Dock can hide the Dock icon. See Menu bar.