GitHub - nathabonfim59/gitid: A tool to stop sending work commits with your personal email

5 min read Original article ↗

Git Identity Manager (gitid)

A terminal-based tool that helps developers manage multiple Git identities easily through an interactive interface.

demo

Features

  • 🔄 Switch between multiple Git identities globally
  • 📁 Set repository-specific local identities
  • 🏷️ Optional nicknames for quick identity identification
  • ➕ Add new identities interactively
  • 🗑️ Delete unwanted identities
  • 💻 Terminal-based UI with keyboard navigation
  • 🔒 Uses Git's built-in configuration system
  • 🔍 Smart identity matching by nickname, name, or email
  • 📋 Command-line interface for automation and scripting
  • ✨ Visual indicators for current global and local identities

Installation

From Binary

Download the appropriate binary for your platform from the releases page.

From Package (Linux)

Debian/Ubuntu:

RedHat/Fedora:

Arch Linux (AUR):

# Pre-compiled binary
yay -S gitid-bin

# Build from source
yay -S gitid-git

Building from Source

Prerequisites

  • Go 1.21 or later
  • Make
  • NFPM (for package generation)

Build Commands

# Build for your current platform
make build

# Build static binary (Linux only)
make build-static

# Create releases for all platforms and packages
make release

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

Usage

GitID provides both an interactive TUI and command-line interface for managing Git identities.

Interactive Mode

Run gitid (without arguments) to start the interactive interface.

Keyboard Controls

  • ↑/↓ or j/k - Navigate through identities
  • Enter - Select identity to set as global
  • r - Set selected identity as local for current repository
  • R - Remove local identity (use global)
  • D - Delete selected identity
  • e - Edit nickname for selected identity
  • E - Edit full identity (name, email, nickname)
  • ←/→ - Navigate confirmation dialog
  • Esc - Cancel current action
  • q - Quit application

Command Line Interface

GitID also provides a full CLI for automation and scripting:

Global Identity Management

# List all identities
gitid list

# Show current global (and local if in repo) identity
gitid current

# Switch global identity
gitid switch <nickname|name|email>
gitid use <nickname|name|email>        # Alias for switch

# Add new identity
gitid add "Full Name" "email@domain.com" [nickname]

# Delete identity
gitid delete <nickname|name|email>

# Set/update nickname
gitid nickname <identifier> <new-nickname>

Repository-Specific (Local) Identity Management

# Show current local identity for repository
gitid repo current

# Set existing identity as local for current repository
gitid repo use <nickname|name|email>

# Add new identity and set as local for current repository
gitid repo add "Full Name" "email@domain.com" [nickname]

Global vs Local Identities

GitID supports both global and local (repository-specific) Git identities:

Global Identity

  • Applied to all Git repositories by default
  • Stored in Git's global configuration (~/.gitconfig)
  • Set with gitid switch <identifier> or by pressing Enter in TUI

Local Identity

  • Applied only to the current repository
  • Stored in the repository's local .git/config
  • Overrides global identity for that specific repository
  • Set with gitid repo use <identifier> or by pressing r in TUI

Visual Indicators

  • TUI: Shows repository status and [local] indicators
  • CLI: gitid current shows both global and local when in a repository
  • CLI: gitid list shows [current local] indicator

Managing Identities

In TUI (Interactive Mode)

  • Switch Global Identity: Select an identity and press Enter
  • Set Local Identity: Select an identity and press r (only in git repositories)
  • Remove Local Identity: Press R to fall back to global identity
  • Add Identity: Select "Add new identity" and follow the prompts
  • Edit Identity: Press e for nickname or E for full identity
  • Delete Identity: Navigate to an identity and press D, then confirm

Via Command Line

  • Global: Use gitid switch/use/add/delete commands
  • Local: Use gitid repo use/add/current commands

Example Workflow

# Add work identity
gitid add "John Doe" "john.doe@company.com" work

# Add personal identity
gitid add "John Doe" "john@personal.com" personal

# Set global identity to personal
gitid switch personal

# In work repository, set local identity to work
cd ~/work-project
gitid repo use work

# Check current status
gitid current
# Output:
# Global: personal (John Doe <john@personal.com>)
# Local:  work (John Doe <john.doe@company.com>)

Shell Completions

GitID supports shell completions for Bash, Zsh, and Fish to provide tab-completion for commands and arguments.

Installation

# Install for your current shell (auto-detected)
gitid completion bash    # For Bash
gitid completion zsh     # For Zsh
gitid completion fish    # For Fish

Upgrade

# Upgrade completions (remove and reinstall)
gitid completion upgrade         # Auto-detect current shell
gitid completion upgrade bash    # Upgrade for specific shell

Removal

# Remove completions
gitid completion bash -r    # Remove Bash completions
gitid completion zsh -r     # Remove Zsh completions
gitid completion fish -r    # Remove Fish completions

After installation, restart your shell or source your configuration file (e.g., source ~/.bashrc or source ~/.zshrc).

Nicknames

Nicknames are optional short identifiers that make it easier to distinguish between identities:

  • Display: Identities with nicknames show as nickname (Name <email>)
  • Without nicknames: Shows as Name <email> (backwards compatible)
  • Adding nicknames: Available when creating new identities or editing existing ones
  • Smart matching: CLI supports switching by nickname, name, or email
  • Quick identification: Especially useful when you have multiple identities with similar names

Help and Documentation

# Show help and all available commands
gitid help

# Get command-specific usage
gitid repo          # Shows repo subcommand usage
gitid completion    # Shows completion installation usage

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.