Ask natural language questions about any git repo, answered by a local AI — no API keys, no usage costs, fully offline.

Works two ways: as a standalone terminal app you launch yourself and run locally, or as an MCP server wired into AI coding agents like Claude Code and Codex.

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How it works

git-assist gives an AI access to six git tools (git log, git diff, git status, git branch, git show, git blame). You ask a question in plain English, the model picks the right tool, runs it against your real repo, and streams back a formatted answer.

Everything runs on your machine. Nothing is sent to the cloud.

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Requirements

• Node.js v20 or later — nodejs.org
• Ollama — ollama.com/download
• At least 8 GB RAM (16 GB+ recommended)

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Setup

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/7shep/git-assistant.git
cd git-assistant
npm install
npm run build

2. Install Ollama

Download and run the installer from ollama.com/download.

On first run, git-assist will automatically start Ollama and download the model if they aren't already set up.

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Option A — Standalone terminal app (Slower Response)

Install globally so you can run it from any directory:

npm install -g .

Then navigate to any git repo and launch:

cd ~/your-project
git-assist

The first launch downloads the AI model (~5 GB, one time only), then the interactive UI starts.

❯ what changed in the last 5 commits?
  ▶ calling git_log { max: 5 }
  a3f9c12  add OAuth token refresh logic    2h ago
  d81cc04  fix session expiry edge case     5h ago

❯ who last modified src/auth.ts?
  ▶ calling git_blame { file: "src/auth.ts" }
  Last modified by Alex on 2025-05-20 — commit d81cc04

Options

git-assist [--repo <path>] [--model <tag>]

  --repo  <path>   git repository to query (default: current directory)
  --model <tag>    Ollama model tag (default: qwen3:8b)

Commands

Input	Action
exit / quit / q	Close the assistant
Ctrl+C	Force quit

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Option B — MCP server for AI coding agents (Faster response, will affect usage limits)

This wires git-assist into Claude Code (or any MCP-compatible agent) as a set of callable tools. The agent can then query your repo directly — no separate terminal needed.

Register with Claude Code

Run this once from the project directory:

claude mcp add --transport stdio git-assistant -- node /absolute/path/to/git-assistant/dist/mcp.js

Replace /absolute/path/to/git-assistant with where you cloned the repo. On Windows use forward slashes:

claude mcp add --transport stdio git-assistant -- node C:/Users/yourname/git-assistant/dist/mcp.js

Using it

Once registered, open any Claude Code session and ask naturally:

• "What changed in the last 5 commits?"
• "Summarize the diff between main and this branch"
• "Who last modified package.json?"

Claude Code will call the appropriate git tool automatically.

Each tool accepts an optional repo parameter so you can point it at any repo path, not just the one you opened:

• "What's the status of the repo at ~/other-project?"

Other MCP-compatible agents

Any agent that supports the MCP stdio transport works the same way. Register node /path/to/dist/mcp.js as a stdio server and the six tools become available.

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Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
GIT_ASSISTANT_MODEL	qwen3:8b	Ollama model (standalone mode only)
OLLAMA_HOST	http://127.0.0.1:11434	Ollama server address
OLLAMA_MODELS	OS default	Where Ollama stores downloaded models

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Choosing a model

Model	Size	Notes
qwen3:8b	5.2 GB	Default. Strong tool calling, good reasoning.
qwen2.5:7b	4.7 GB	Slightly smaller, still solid.
llama3.1:8b	4.9 GB	Meta's model. Good alternative.
qwen2.5:14b	9 GB	Smarter, but slower on GPUs under 12 GB VRAM.

Switch models with the --model flag or the env var:

git-assist --model llama3.1:8b
# or
export GIT_ASSISTANT_MODEL=llama3.1:8b

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Updating

After pulling new changes:

npm install
npm run build
npm install -g .   # if using the standalone CLI

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Tech stack

• TypeScript — language
• Ink — React-based terminal UI (standalone mode)
• Ollama JS — local LLM client with tool calling and streaming
• MCP SDK — Model Context Protocol server (agent mode)
• Zod — tool input validation
• Node.js child_process — git command execution (no shell, injection-safe)