TurtleGit user manual plan
The user guide will follow the organization and terminology of the TortoiseGit manual, with original TurtleGit macOS screenshots and instructions adapted to Finder, macOS permissions, menu placement and keyboard shortcuts. This plan does not claim the guide or full port is finished. Engineering inventories and parity evidence remain separate.
| Chapter group | TurtleGit content to cover |
|---|---|
| Introduction and installation | What TurtleGit does, Git prerequisites, distribution, Finder extension activation |
| Basic concepts | Repositories, working tree, index/staging, commits, branches and remotes |
| Daily use | Open/clone/create, overlays/status, commit and partial staging, log, diff, Pull/Fetch/Push |
| Branching and history | Branch/tag, Switch/Checkout, merge, Rebase, cherry-pick, revert/reset and conflict resolution |
| Advanced work | Stash, submodules, worktrees, patch workflows, hooks, signing and credentials |
| Settings | General, Appearance/colors, Git/remotes, tools, Finder menus and saved data |
| Reference and troubleshooting | Dialog options, native shortcuts, recovery, permissions, runtime/authentication and limitations |
For each implemented workflow, show its real dialog, explain options and results, and include recovery steps that were verified against Git. Document unsupported features explicitly. Use macOS shortcut names and screenshots, and retain useful upstream vocabulary so users can move between the two applications.
Use upstream material as a reference, preserving attribution/license requirements for anything reused. Do not copy Windows instructions or screenshots into the Mac manual as though they describe TurtleGit behavior. Published pages should describe the shipped behavior; engineering parity documents track what still needs work.
The Edit Notes guide now documents that implemented workflow and its recovery behavior. Its macOS screenshots remain pending.
The Revert from Log guide now covers the single-revision and merge-parent workflow. Displayed screenshots and remaining workflows are pending.
The Cherry Pick guide documents selected commit plans, merge-parent prompts, attribution and recovery. Displayed macOS screenshots remain pending.
The Getting started chapter now covers opening/cloning, checked-file commits, staging and inspecting history. It links existing native captures with their checkpoint limits; it does not complete the remaining chapters.
Finder command and Settings ownership acceptance
Use a signed App Group build and one app process; close it after this grouped
section. Record selected paths and check repository/working/index bytes where
applicable. The Core/menu receiver checkpoint is in
qa/finder-command-handoffs-2026-10-12.json; it does not certify these gestures.
- Open Sync from Finder's first-level menu and verify branch/remote/dialog handoffs, then confirm it is absent during merge and bisect. Close each child afterward.
- Blame a tracked file; verify its selected path and saved detection preferences. Check conflict editing for text/image paths and a multiple-file source selection.
- Compare a file with two path-history commits separated by unrelated commits: the base must be its second history entry and the destination current working bytes. Verify staged/index/HEAD preservation and meaningful insufficient-history feedback. Compare a directory and change revisions/options; its scope and patch must exclude similarly named siblings throughout reloads.
- At a registered submodule root, normal Log must show the child's history; Show log of this folder must authorize the parent and show the parent's gitlink path. Recheck stale registration and a child-only sandbox grant.
- Cmd-comma and repeated Finder Settings requests must reuse the native window. Close/Cancel and reopen to verify fresh drafts/cache/transaction and child cleanup.
- Finder Settings in a different known repository must authorize/adopt that target. Outside/empty requests must use Global Settings and suppress Local/project/Remote without altering the active repository. Dirty/busy context switches must retain the old context and provide feedback, rather than discard edits.
- Invoke Help/About outside Git and from bare-root menus. Verify the website and native fork/license/artwork panel, cold-launch delivery, themes and keyboard focus.
- Verify source alternative-tool modifiers and signed App Store execution separately.
Finder LFS and Send Mail acceptance
Run this section with one signed app process and close it afterward. The private native receiver is a partial proof; real Finder/sandbox gestures remain open.
- Verify the LFS marker gate and outer/inner clauses for a tracked file, multiple tracked files, versioned folder, untracked path, bare root and linked worktree. Check default nesting, first-level placement, Shift-only policy, exclusions and icon suppression. Menu construction must not query remote ownership.
- Remove/change an indexed target after opening the menu: preflight must reject invalid paths before server commands. Check staged deletions, literal Unicode, tabs/newlines and similarly named directories. Use a controlled LFS endpoint.
- Verify standalone cold-launch progress and an owned-sheet launch. Cancel/Force retry must retain captured targets and completed results; Close must clean up once and refresh the right repository. Check the successful-lock Pull handoff and global Quit guards, then close every child/result.
- Open Send Mail on a patch file outside Git and on an extended-menu ordinary file. Opening/Cancel must not submit, change the active checkout or delete source files. Check mixed selections, requested order and original capture versus later Finder changes. Verify local first-file sender identity and global no-repository identity.
- In the sandbox, reuse grants and authorize missing files/folders/root as needed. Check a symlink target outside the selected folder, stale roots and discovered roots outside the grant. An owned global context must not become a fake bookmark.
- From outside-repository mail, Review/Apply must choose and authorize the target working repository. Test cancellation, owner close/late replies, wrong/bare root, blocked controls during discovery and retained patch-file grants. Pure non-Git directory review/application remains unfinished rather than certified here.
- Exercise mail-client privacy/Apple Events and controlled SMTP delivery separately from this opening/Cancel check. Verify settings/cancellation/progress lifetime under the signed App Store configuration.
The Moving and copying guide covers native drop choices, Move/Rename, Copy/Add collision/repository handling and clipboard recovery. New receiving-sheet screenshots and physical/signed acceptance remain pending.
The Reverting working files guide covers the baseline, Trash recovery, protected-step cancellation, Retry and captured close policy.
The Issue tracker provider guide documents the native association/editor and embedded catalog/Commit flow. Its new macOS screenshots, third-party provider ecosystem and physical/signed acceptance remain pending.
The SVN authentication guide covers native credentials, certificate decisions and client-certificate selection. Public/signed/physical acceptance and full certificate-viewer controls remain pending.