JetBrains IDE Git Integration

What you will learn

• Understand the core purpose of JetBrains IDE Git Integration
• Master the basic usage and common options of JetBrains IDE Git Integration
• Master Git operations in JetBrains IDEs including the Commit tool window, Annotate, Log, interactive rebase, and conflict resolution.
• Understand key concepts: The Commit Tool Window
• Know when to use this feature and when to avoid it

Start with a problem

Your team is adopting CI/CD pipelines, or you're configuring Git integration in your IDE — but you're unsure how Git behaves differently in automated environments compared to local manual operations.

One-Sentence Understanding

JetBrains IDEs provide the richest Git tooling of any IDE, with visual log, interactive rebase GUI, changelists, and deep conflict resolution tools.

The Commit Tool Window

Open with Alt+9 / Cmd+9 or click the Git tool window.

Layout

=== Commit ==================================
  [Author: you <you@example.com]             
  [Message                               ▼]
  ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ Create feature X                    │
  │                                     │
  │ - Added user authentication         │
  │ - Refactored API client             │
  └─────────────────────────────────────┘
  [Commit] [Commit & Push...] [▼]        

=== Unversioned Files ======================
  > Local Changes
    file.ts       [+ Add]      [Diff] [Revert]
    file2.ts

  > Shelf
    shelved-change  [Unshelve] [Drop]

  > Log

Commit Area

The commit area is divided into several panes:

Left toolbar:

• ✓ Commit
• ▶ Commit & Push (or Ctrl+Shift+K / Cmd+Shift+K)
• ← Amend commit
• ☰ More options (stash, shelf, etc.)

Uncommitted changes:

• Files with different colors: modified (blue), added (green), deleted (red)
• Right-click → Show Diff, Revert, Shelve, etc.

Essential Operations

Staging

JetBrains uses a model similar to Git's staging area:

• Changes: Files not yet staged (right pane)
• Default Changelist: Staged files
• Drag files between changelists to stage/unstage

Committing

Commit shortcut: Ctrl+K / Cmd+K

The commit dialog includes:

• Author selection (for different identities)
• Sign-off checkbox (Signed-off-by)
• GPG sign checkbox
• Amend option
• Recent commit messages
• Code analysis integration

Changelists

Changelists are JetBrains' unique feature — like multiple staging areas:

Create a new changelist: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+ / right-click → New Changelist

Shelving

Shelving (similar to git stash but more visual):

1. Right-click changes → Shelve Changes
2. A patch file is created
3. Unshelve later from the Shelf tab

Visual Log

The Git Log (Alt+9 → Log tab, or Ctrl+9 / Cmd+9 → Log) provides:

• Graphical branch visualization
• Filter by branch, user, date, message
• Search in commit messages
• Right-click → Branch / Tag / Cherry-pick / Revert

Interactive Rebase GUI

Right-click on a commit → Interactively Rebase from Here...

This opens a visual rebase editor where you can:

• Reorder commits (drag and drop)
• Squash commits
• Edit commit messages
• Drop commits
• Fixup commits

Conflict Resolution

Merge Dialog

When conflicts are detected, a dedicated dialog opens:

=== Merge ===================================
[Accept Left] [Accept Right] [Accept Both]
  ┌──────────────┬──────────────┐
  │ Left (Yours) │ Right        │
  │              │ (Theirs)     │
  │  code A      │  code B      │
  └──────────────┴──────────────┘
  ┌──────────────────────────────┐
  │ Result                       │
  │ merged code                  │
  └──────────────────────────────┘
  [Apply] [Cancel]

Left/Right panels show the two versions. Click arrows to apply specific changes to the result panel. Keyboard shortcuts available for each action.

Resolve in Editor

Like VS Code, conflict markers are highlighted. JetBrains provides gutter icons to accept/reject changes.

Annotate (Blame)

Right-click in the editor gutter → Annotate with Git Blame

Shows for each line:

• Commit SHA
• Author
• Date

Click on an annotation to see commit details. Navigate to the commit in the Log view.

Useful Settings

Settings → Version Control → Git
  → Auto-add files to commit: ✓
  → Warn when committing in detached HEAD or during rebase: ✓
  → Use credential helper: ✓
  → Path to Git executable: (auto-detected)
  → Update method: Merge / Rebase
  → Push tags: All / Current / None

Speed Searching

In JetBrains:

1. Ctrl+Shift+A / Cmd+Shift+A → Search Everywhere
2. Type git or any action name
3. Directly run Git commands from the search

Try it yourself

1. Practice the jetbrains-git command in a test repository and observe state changes before and after
2. Experiment with different options and compare the output differences
3. Simulate a real scenario where you would need to use this, and walk through the full process

Continue Learning

1. ide/vscode-git — VS Code Git features
2. concepts/stash-and-shelf — Stash vs Shelf
3. commands/git-rebase — Interactive rebase