FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Who is SpiderGit for?
For people who work with many git repositories: developers with several clients, teams managing dozens of services, consultants moving from one project to another. It works perfectly well with just a few repositories too, but it shines when you need an overview and separate contexts.
How much does it cost?
SpiderGit is a young project that keeps evolving: it starts out as a free tool in this first release, but we can’t guarantee it will stay free forever.
Do I need to know how to use git from the terminal?
No. Everyday operations (commit, push, pull, branches, merge, rebase, stash, conflicts) are done from the interface, with confirmations and explanations when an operation is delicate. If you know git, you’ll find its concepts and names.
Does SpiderGit replace git?
No, it uses it. SpiderGit runs the git installed on your computer, so your configuration, SSH keys, credential helper, hooks and Git LFS all apply. You can use SpiderGit and the terminal on the same repository, even at the same time.
What is a workspace?
A set of repositories with its own settings: groups, favorites, color, automatic fetch and git identity. Usually you create one per client or area of work. A repository can belong to several workspaces.
How do I avoid committing with the wrong email?
Set the name and email in the workspace: every commit, merge, tag, cherry-pick and revert made in its repositories will use that identity. Above the Commit button you always see which identity will be used.
How do I add many repositories at once?
From the Repositories page → Folder scan: enter the folders you work in and the depth, start the scan and add the repositories found. With “Group from subfolders” the group is suggested automatically.
Does the dashboard fetch by itself?
If you enable it in the workspace, yes: when it opens, it fetches all repositories in the background, without ever asking for credentials. At any time you can use “Refresh” (local status only, no network) or “Fetch all”.
How does it handle credentials?
It uses git’s credential helper (for example Git Credential Manager on Windows and macOS). If there isn’t one, it asks for username and password or token in a window during the operations you started, without storing them. For GitHub, GitLab and Azure DevOps use a personal access token instead of the password.
Does it work with SSH?
Yes, with the keys loaded in the SSH agent; if a key has a passphrase, SpiderGit asks for it in a window.
Which languages is it available in?
English, Italian and Spanish. At startup it follows the system language; you can change it in Settings → System settings. Git’s own messages, for example in the details of an error, stay in English.
Where does it store its data? Does it touch my repositories?
It stores workspaces, library and dashboard cache in a small database in the user’s data folder (%APPDATA%\SpiderGit on Windows, ~/.config/SpiderGit on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/SpiderGit on macOS). Repositories stay where they are: removing one from a workspace deletes nothing from disk.
What does “Repository owned by another user” mean?
For security, git refuses repositories that belong to another user of the system, which often happens with external drives or folders copied from another computer. SpiderGit recognizes the case and, if you trust the content, adds the repository to git’s exceptions (safe.directory) with one click.
Does it handle very large repositories?
The history is loaded in pages of 500 commits, with a button to load more. Performance on repositories with tens of thousands of commits has not yet been measured systematically.
Which systems does it run on?
Windows 10 and 11 (x64), Linux (x64) and macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel). It needs git 2.35 or later.
Can’t find the answer?
Write to us: we answer questions, bug reports and suggestions.