GitHub and AI help
GitHub
When a repository has a remote on github.com, GitHub appears in the rail. Gitkeen needs a token to reach GitHub. It looks for one in this order:
GITHUB_TOKENin the environment.- A token saved in Settings, under GitHub.
- The sign-in of the GitHub CLI, if you ran
gh auth login.
A fine-grained token needs access to the repository, Pull requests (read and write), and Commit statuses and Actions (read). The token stays in Gitkeen’s backend. The page in the browser only learns whether there is one.
| Where | What it shows or does |
|---|---|
| GitHub panel | The pull requests (open, closed or all), each with its branches, author, age and checks. Click one to open it on GitHub. |
| GitHub panel, New pull request for … | Opens a pull request from the current branch into the default branch. The title and description start from the branch’s commits, and it can be a draft. |
| Branches panel | A dot next to each branch that is on GitHub: green when its checks passed, red when one failed, and amber while they run. |
| Commit details | Each check of the selected commit, with a link to it. |
Push the branch, with every commit, before you open a pull request for it. GitHub makes the pull request from what it has.
AI help
Gitkeen can ask an AI model for help. Add an Anthropic or OpenAI key in Settings (the sparkle button in the title bar), or use a model that runs on your own computer in LM Studio or Ollama. A local model sends nothing off your computer. When no model is set up, none of these buttons appear.
When more than one is set up, the one marked In use answers. Press Use this on another to switch. Gitkeen remembers the choice. If the chosen one stops running or loses its key, the next one that works is used instead.
| Where | What it does |
|---|---|
| Commit panel, the sparkle button | Writes a commit subject from the staged change, following the repository’s commit rules. |
| Commit details, Explain this commit | Says what the commit changed and why it probably matters. |
| Merge editor, Explain this conflict | Says what each side tried to do, and what a good resolution keeps. |
| Compare view, Explain how they differ | Says what each branch did after the two split. |
| A warning dialog, Explain in plain words | Says what the operation will do, what could be lost, and how to undo it. |
| Console, Explain this error | Says why a command failed. |
Each explanation names the model that wrote it. It can be wrong, so read it as a second opinion. Asking for one never changes the repository.
Keys are stored in ~/.config/gitkeen/config.json, readable only by you, and
never sent to the browser. A key in the environment (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY,
OPENAI_API_KEY) is used before a saved one.