zagi

a better git interface for agents

Why use zagi?

• 121 git compatible commands
• ~50% smaller output that doesn't overflow context windows
• 1.5-2x faster than git in all implemented commands
• Agent friendly features like fork, prompt and guardrails
• Git passthrough for non implemented commands

Installation

curl -fsSL zagi.sh/install | sh

This downloads the binary and sets up git as an alias to zagi. Restart your shell after installation.

From source

git clone https://github.com/mattzcarey/zagi.git
cd zagi
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast
./zig-out/bin/zagi alias  # set up the alias

Usage

Use git as normal:

git status         # compact status
git log            # concise commit history
git diff           # minimal diff format
git add .          # confirms what was staged
git commit -m "x"  # shows commit stats

Any commands or flags not yet implemented in zagi pass through to git. zagi also comes with its own set of features for managing code written by agents.

Easy worktrees

zagi ships with a wrapper around worktrees called fork:

# Create named forks for different approaches your agent could take
git fork nodejs-based
git fork bun-based

# Work in each fork
cd .forks/nodejs-based
# ... make changes, commit ...

cd .forks/bun-based
# ... make changes, commit ...

# Compare results, then pick the winner
cd ../..
git fork                       # list forks with commit counts
git fork --pick bun-based      # merge fork into base (keeps both histories)
git fork --promote bun-based   # replace base with fork (discards base commits)

# Clean up
git fork --delete-all

Agent mode

Set ZAGI_AGENT to enable agent-specific features.

export ZAGI_AGENT=claude-code

The value can be any string describing your agent (e.g. claude-code, cursor, opencode) - this will be used in future features for agent-specific behavior.

This enables:

• Prompt tracking: git commit requires --prompt to record the user request that created the commit
• Guardrails: Blocks destructive commands (reset --hard, checkout ., clean -f, push --force) to prevent data loss

git commit -m "Add feature" --prompt "Add a logout button to the header.."
git log --prompts  # view prompts

To prevent child processes from overriding ZAGI_AGENT, make it readonly:

# bash/zsh
export ZAGI_AGENT=claude-code
readonly ZAGI_AGENT

Strip co-authors

Remove Co-Authored-By: lines that AI tools like Claude Code add to commit messages:

export ZAGI_STRIP_COAUTHORS=1
git commit -m "Add feature

Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>"  # stripped automatically

Git passthrough

Commands zagi doesn't implement pass through to git or use -g to force standard git output:

git -g log         # native git log output
git --git diff     # native git diff output

Output comparison

Standard git log:

commit abc123f4567890def1234567890abcdef12345
Author: Alice Smith <[email protected]>
Date:   Mon Jan 15 14:32:21 2025 -0800

    Add user authentication system

zagi log:

abc123f (2025-01-15) Alice: Add user authentication system

Development

Requirements: Zig 0.15, Bun

zig build                           # build
zig build test                      # run zig tests
cd test && bun i && bun run test    # run integration tests

See AGENTS.md for contribution guidelines.

License

MIT