rgit

rgit is a lightweight, high-performance web frontend for browsing bare Git repositories. It provides a modern gitweb/cgit-like interface written in Rust and optimized for fast metadata queries.

Key Features

• Efficient metadata storage using RocksDB for commits, branches, and tags with configurable reindex interval (default: 5 minutes).
• On-demand content loading via gitoxide: files, trees, and diffs are fetched when requested rather than preloaded.
• Small in-memory caching for rendered READMEs and diffs to speed repeated views.
• Modern Rust stack using an Axum web server and Askama-style templates for fast HTML rendering.
• Dark mode UI and a simple repository listing with owner/description support stored in bare repo config files.
• Distributed deployment options: standalone binary, Docker/Docker Compose images, and Nix/NixOS integration.

Use Cases

• Host a fast, read-only browser for an organization’s bare Git repositories to inspect commits, branches, tags, and file contents.
• Provide developers a lightweight alternative to full forge platforms for repository browsing and code review reference.
• Run as a local/self-hosted gitweb replacement on NixOS, in containers, or as a single binary for minimal infrastructure.

Limitations and Considerations

• Designed to work exclusively with bare Git repositories; non-bare repositories are not supported.
• The project focuses on browsing and metadata indexing; it does not provide built-in advanced access controls or user management, so deployments often require a reverse proxy or external auth for protection.
• Newly initialized bare repositories without refs may not appear until refs are packed or at least one commit exists.

rgit is a pragmatic, performance-oriented repository browser for users who need a fast, minimal web UI for bare Git storage. It is particularly suitable when low overhead and fast listing/loading of large repositories are required.