Gitstart creates, adds, and pushes with one line.

Gitstart automates creating a GitHub repository. It will:

• Auto-detect project language and create .gitignore (or use -l to specify)
• Create a license file based on your choice
• Create a new repository at GitHub.com (public or private)
• Create a README.md file with the repository name
• Initialize a git repository (if needed)
• Auto-detect the active branch from an existing repo
• Add files and commit with a custom message
• Add the remote and push
• Support existing directories and projects

• GitHub CLI (gh), authenticated
• git installed
• macOS, Linux, or Windows

brew install shinokada/gitstart/gitstart

scoop bucket add shinokada https://github.com/shinokada/scoop-bucket
scoop install gitstart

Download the latest .deb from the releases page and run:

sudo apt install ./gitstart_x.x.x_linux_amd64.deb

Download the latest .rpm from the releases page and run:

sudo rpm -i gitstart_x.x.x_linux_amd64.rpm

go install github.com/shinokada/gitstart@latest

This places the gitstart binary in your $GOPATH/bin or $GOBIN directory. Make sure that directory is in your PATH.

# Login to GitHub
gh auth login

# Create a new repository
gitstart -d repo-name

# Create in current directory
cd existing_project
gitstart -d .

gitstart works seamlessly after scaffolding tools like npx sv create, npm create vite@latest, or composer create-project. Use --post-framework to skip prompts for files the framework already created, while still auto-detecting the language and branch:

npx sv create my-app && cd my-app && gitstart -d . --post-framework
npm create vite@latest my-app && cd my-app && gitstart -d . --post-framework
npm create vite@latest my-app -- --template react && cd my-app && gitstart -d . --post-framework
composer create-project laravel/laravel my-app && cd my-app && gitstart -d . --post-framework
npx nuxi@latest init my-app && cd my-app && gitstart -d . --post-framework

Or use quiet mode for a minimal one-liner:

npx sv create my-app && cd my-app && gitstart -d . -q

-d, --directory DIRECTORY    Directory name or path (use . for current directory)
-l, --language LANGUAGE      Programming language for .gitignore (auto-detected if omitted)
-p, --private                Create a private repository (default: public)
-P, --public                 Create a public repository
-b, --branch BRANCH          Branch name (auto-detected from existing repo; default: main)
-m, --message MESSAGE        Initial commit message (default: "Initial commit")
    --description DESC       Repository description
    --no-license             Skip LICENSE file creation
    --no-readme              Skip README.md creation
    --post-framework         Optimised for use after a framework starter
                             (implies --no-license --no-readme)
-n, --dry-run                Show what would happen without executing
-q, --quiet                  Minimal output
-h, --help                   Show help message
    version                  Show version

When -l is not provided and no .gitignore exists, gitstart inspects the project directory for well-known marker files and infers the language automatically:

If multiple markers are present the first match in the table above wins. You can always override auto-detection with -l.

When --branch is not explicitly set and a .git directory already exists (e.g. created by a framework starter), gitstart reads the active branch from .git/HEAD and pushes to that branch instead of defaulting to main. Passing --branch explicitly always takes precedence.

Create a new repository:

gitstart -d my-project

Create with specific programming language:

gitstart -d my-python-app -l python

Create a private repository:

gitstart -d secret-project -p

Use custom commit message and branch:

gitstart -d my-app -m "First release" -b develop

Add repository description:

gitstart -d awesome-tool --description "An amazing CLI tool for developers"

Skip LICENSE and README (e.g. framework already created them):

cd my-existing-project
gitstart -d . --no-license --no-readme

Use --post-framework after a Svelte scaffold:

npx sv create my-app
cd my-app
gitstart -d . --post-framework

Use --post-framework after a React scaffold:

npm create vite@latest my-app -- --template react
cd my-app
gitstart -d . --post-framework

Preview changes without executing (dry run):

gitstart -d test-repo --dry-run

Quiet mode for scripts:

gitstart -d automated-repo -q

Initialize existing project:

cd my-existing-project
gitstart -d . -l javascript --description "My existing JavaScript project"

Show version:

gitstart version

Gitstart supports Tab completion in your shell. Once set up, pressing Tab after typing part of a flag or subcommand will either complete it automatically or show you the available options. For example:

gitstart --di[TAB]        # completes to --directory
gitstart --[TAB]          # lists all flags
gitstart [TAB]            # lists all subcommands: completion, help, version

Run the setup command for your shell once, then open a new terminal (or source your config file):

Bash

gitstart completion bash >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Zsh

gitstart completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_gitstart"
source ~/.zshrc

Fish

gitstart completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/gitstart.fish

PowerShell

gitstart completion powershell >> $PROFILE

Empty directory: Creates repository normally.

Directory with files but no git:

• Warns about existing files
• Asks for confirmation
• Preserves existing files
• Adds them to the initial commit

Directory with existing git repository:

• Detects existing .git folder
• Auto-detects the active branch from .git/HEAD
• Adds remote to existing repository
• Preserves git history

Existing LICENSE, README.md, or .gitignore:

• Detects existing files and skips them
• Use --no-license or --no-readme to explicitly suppress creation
• Use --post-framework to suppress both at once

When you run gitstart without --no-license, --post-framework, or -q, you'll be prompted to select a license:

Select a license:
1) mit: Simple and permissive
2) apache-2.0: Community-friendly
3) gpl-3.0: Share improvements
4) None

• Automatic cleanup: If repository creation fails, the remote repository is automatically deleted
• Validation checks: Ensures all required tools are installed
• Auth verification: Confirms you're logged in to GitHub
• File conflict detection: Detects existing files and skips safely
• Detailed error messages: Clear information about what went wrong and how to fix it

Read more about Licensing.

Bug Fixes:

• Add v1.2.1 changelog and README entries (missed before tagging)

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed goreleaser CI failure: corrected License to LICENSE in .goreleaser.yaml (archives files list and nfpms contents)

New Features:

• Auto-detect project language from marker files (go.mod, package.json, Cargo.toml, etc.) when -l is not provided
• --no-license flag to skip LICENSE creation without suppressing all output
• --no-readme flag to skip README.md creation without suppressing all output
• --post-framework flag: optimised mode for use after framework starters — implies --no-license --no-readme
• Auto-detect active branch from .git/HEAD when --branch is not explicitly set

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed dry-run language detection to always auto-detect (not only when --post-framework is set)
• Fixed composer.json marker mapping from PHP to Composer (PHP.gitignore does not exist in GitHub/gitignore)
• Renamed internal resolvDir to resolveDir (typo fix)

• Added shell completion support (bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell)

Gitstart is now rewritten in Go with full cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows).

New Features:

• Private repository support with -p/--private flag
• Custom commit messages with -m/--message flag
• Custom branch names with -b/--branch flag
• Repository description with --description flag
• Dry run mode with --dry-run flag
• Quiet mode with -q/--quiet flag
• Full support for existing directories and files
• Automatic rollback on errors
• Detection and handling of existing git repositories

Improvements:

• XDG-compliant config directory (~/.config/gitstart/config)
• Better error messages with context
• File conflict detection and user prompts
• Smarter handling of existing LICENSE, README, and .gitignore files

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed issue with gh repo create --clone in existing directories
• Proper handling of existing files to prevent data loss

• Initial public release

Shinichi Okada

• Medium
• Twitter

Copyright (c) 2021-2026 Shinichi Okada (@shinokada) This software is released under the MIT License, see LICENSE.