git-remarks

Personal developer notes attached to Git commits.

git-remarks is a tool for managing personal notes (thoughts, doubts, todos, decisions) attached to Git commits. Notes are scoped to branches and survive rebases. They are stored using git notes and remain local by default.

Features

• Branch-scoped notes — Notes are tied to a specific branch and only show when on that branch
• Survives rebases — Automatic migration of notes when commits are rewritten
• Local-first — Notes stay local, optional to share
• Simple CLI — Intuitive commands for common workflows
• Editor integration — Edit notes in your $EDITOR

Installation

From GitHub Releases

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases and add the binary to your PATH.

From Source

go install github.com/Enigama/git-remarks/cmd/git-remarks@latest

Quick Start

# Initialize hooks in your repository
git remarks init

# Add a remark to the current commit
git remarks add "This is a test helper, remove before PR"

# Add a typed remark
git remarks add --type todo "Refactor this later"

# List all active remarks on the current branch
git remarks

# Show remarks on a specific commit
git remarks show abc1234

# Resolve (remove) a remark
git remarks resolve a1b2c3d4

Commands

git remarks / git remarks list

List all active remarks on the current branch.

$ git remarks

feature/auth (2 active remarks)

[a1b2c3d4] thought · 2h ago · abc1234 (HEAD)
  Not confident in this approach yet.

[b2c3d4e5] todo · 1d ago · def5678
  Check if session timeout is handled.

git remarks add [commit] [body]

Add a new remark. Opens $EDITOR if no body provided.

# Add to HEAD
git remarks add "Quick note"

# Add with specific type
git remarks add --type doubt "Is this the right abstraction?"

# Add to specific commit
git remarks add abc1234 "Note on older commit"

# Open editor
git remarks add

Types: thought (default), doubt, todo, decision

git remarks show [commit]

Show all remarks on a specific commit (default: HEAD).

git remarks resolve <id>

Mark a remark as resolved (removes it).

git remarks edit <id>

Edit an existing remark in your $EDITOR.

git remarks init

Install the post-rewrite hook in the current repository. This ensures remarks survive rebases.

git remarks recover

Recover orphaned remarks using patch-id matching. Useful if hooks weren't installed during a rebase.

git remarks migrate-branch <old> <new>

Update branch name in all remarks after renaming a branch.

How It Works

Storage

Remarks are stored using Git's built-in notes system at refs/notes/remarks. Each commit can have multiple remarks stored as a YAML document.

Rebase Survival

When you run git remarks init, a post-rewrite hook is installed. This hook automatically migrates remarks to new commit SHAs after:

• git rebase
• git commit --amend
• Interactive rebases with squash/fixup

Recovery

If remarks become orphaned (e.g., hooks weren't installed), use git remarks recover to find matching commits by patch-id and migrate remarks.

Note Format

Remarks are displayed as:

id: a1b2c3d4
type: thought
commit: abc1234
age: 2h ago
---
Not confident in this approach yet.
Revisit after more usage.

Philosophy

git-remarks is designed for personal thinking, not collaboration:

• Notes represent unresolved thoughts that follow a branch
• They help you track mental context across development sessions
• Git history becomes a mental timeline
• Notes do not modify commits — SHAs remain unchanged

License

MIT