Linux

Choose a package for your distribution and processor: x86-64 or ARM64. GitComet requires Git 2.50 or newer and a graphical session for the desktop app.

apt (Debian/Ubuntu)

Use the official apt repository on Debian-based systems.

curl -fsSL https://apt.gitcomet.dev/gitcomet-archive-keyring.gpg | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/gitcomet-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null
curl -fsSL https://apt.gitcomet.dev/gitcomet.sources | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gitcomet.sources >/dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gitcomet

The official apt package declares its GUI runtime dependencies. For a manually downloaded tarball or binary on Debian, Ubuntu, or WSLg, install them separately:

sudo apt install libxcb1 libxkbcommon0 libxkbcommon-x11-0

AUR (Arch Linux)

Use the AUR on Arch-based systems.

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/gitcomet.git
cd gitcomet && makepkg -si

Package page:

• GitComet AUR package

GURU (Gentoo Linux)

Use GURU on Gentoo systems.

emerge --ask dev-vcs/gitcomet

Homebrew

The GitComet Homebrew cask installs the Linux AppImage and provides the gitcomet command:

brew tap auto-explore/gitcomet
brew install --cask gitcomet

If AppImages do not run on your system, choose apt, an AUR package, a .deb, or a release tarball instead.

Nix and NixOS

Run GitComet without installing it:

nix run nixpkgs#gitcomet

Or add it to your user profile:

nix profile install nixpkgs#gitcomet

On NixOS, add GitComet to your system configuration:

environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
  gitcomet
];

Apply the configuration with sudo nixos-rebuild switch. See the Nixpkgs package listing for package availability in your channel.

AppImage

You can also install GitComet manually using the Linux AppImage:

1. Download the .AppImage for your architecture from GitComet releases.
2. Make the file executable.
3. Run the AppImage.

chmod +x gitcomet-v*-linux-*.AppImage
./gitcomet-v*-linux-*.AppImage

Run these commands in the download directory with only the AppImage you intend to launch matching the pattern. Opening an AppImage directly does not add gitcomet to your PATH; use its full path for difftool and mergetool setup.

Debian package or release tarball

GitHub Releases also provides .deb packages and .tar.gz archives. Choose the Linux artifact for your architecture. Install a downloaded .deb with sudo apt install ./name-of-downloaded-file.deb, replacing the filename with the actual package name.

For a tarball, extract the archive and launch the gitcomet binary inside it. Install the runtime libraries above if you are using Debian or Ubuntu.

Wayland, X11, and WSLg

GitComet prefers Wayland and falls back to X11 when needed. Under WSL, use a WSLg session and install the Linux build and runtime libraries inside the distribution. A terminal-only WSL session does not provide the display required by the desktop app.

Verify

git --version
gitcomet --help

For an AppImage or extracted binary, use its actual path in place of gitcomet. Then launch the app and open a local repository to verify the graphical environment as well.