BranchQuilt

See who changed what across Git branches and pull requests—in an interactive, offline HTML map.

Requires: Node.js 22.12+ and Git. BranchQuilt is currently an alpha.

Run from npm

Inside the Git repository you want to visualize:

npx branchquilt@alpha build .

Or use pnpm:

pnpm dlx branchquilt@alpha build .

Open branchquilt/index.html in your browser. No server required.

By default, BranchQuilt embeds the checked-out branch, main/master, and the other locally available branch or remote-tracking refs, up to 50 snapshots. Use --max-branches 10 to lower that bound, or repeat --branch to build an exact set.

To keep the tool in your project:

npm install --save-dev branchquilt@alpha
npx branchquilt build .

With pnpm, use pnpm add -D branchquilt@alpha and pnpm exec branchquilt build ..

Keep generated output out of Git

The current alpha writes index.html and an ownership marker inside its output directory. Use a hidden directory and exclude it locally so builds do not change shared .gitignore or appear in git status:

exclude_file="$(git rev-parse --git-path info/exclude)"
grep -qxF '/.branchquilt/' "$exclude_file" || printf '\n/.branchquilt/\n' >> "$exclude_file"
pnpm exec branchquilt build . --output .branchquilt/site

The planned branchquilt view command will make this automatic by writing beneath the repository's private Git directory and opening the report. It is not available in the current alpha.

Run from Git

git clone https://github.com/penguinkang/branchquilt.git
cd branchquilt
pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
pnpm build
node dist/cli.cjs build /path/to/your/repo

Use pnpm 9.15.4 for this checkout. The HTML is written inside the target repository, at branchquilt/index.html.

Common commands

Run these inside your target repository:

# Compare two existing branches
npx branchquilt@alpha build . --branch main --branch feature/my-work

# Automatically include at most 20 available branches
npx branchquilt@alpha build . --max-branches 20

# Include GitHub PRs and reviews (repository inferred from origin)
npx branchquilt@alpha build . --github required

# Refresh an existing report; suitable for a scheduled job
npx branchquilt@alpha refresh . --timeout 600 --json

# See all implemented options
npx branchquilt@alpha build --help

For private GitHub repositories, supply GH_TOKEN or GITHUB_TOKEN through your environment. Scheduled jobs should use a pinned local installation; see the setup guide below.

Explore the map

The first-run Tips tour points to the main controls; close it, complete it, or hide it for seven days. Click a box to subdivide it in place into folders, files, classes and functions. Hover to reveal ↗, or Cmd/Ctrl+click, for details. The cursor tooltip names the object and explains its contributor color; larger boxes also show contributor badges. Choose a branch’s PR scope to overlay its changed files with animated diagonal texture while retaining contributor colors. Select several PRs from Reviews to see overlaps. Size switches between child counts and bytes; Linear / Log adjusts the scale. Leaves count as one child-sized unit. Move the pointer near the top or bottom edge to reveal secondary controls. Activity shows history, and Search filters files and contributors.

Analysis uses committed snapshots; uncommitted changes are excluded. PR coverage is file-level. Reports can contain private repository metadata, so review them before sharing.

Publish on GitHub Pages

BranchQuilt will offer two explicit publication modes: Actions for standard GitHub repositories and branch for environments where Actions is restricted. The planned interface is branchquilt pages init --mode actions|branch, followed by one branchquilt publish command. These commands are not available in the current alpha; today, use the reviewed Actions template or the branch-source procedure in the publishing guide. Neither design requires generated HTML on the source branch.

GitHub setup · Scheduled jobs & Pages · Known limits · Downloads

MIT licensed.