Developer documentation

Getting started

Install Glimpse and open your first review.

Glimpse turns Git changes into a browser-based review. Inspect split or unified diffs, leave inline comments, and pass feedback to your coding agent. The viewer runs from a single Go binary; it does not require a hosted account.

Install

Install with Go 1.26.1 or newer:

go install github.com/smeltery/glimpse@latest

Or download a macOS or Linux archive for your architecture from GitHub releases. Extract it and put glimpse on your PATH. Git is required. GitHub PR workflows also require an authenticated gh CLI.

Your first review

Run inside a Git repository:

glimpse
glimpse main
glimpse HEAD~3
glimpse main..feature

With no refs, Glimpse combines staged and unstaged changes. Untracked files are not part of a Git diff. The browser opens automatically; use --no-open on a headless machine. The first available port starts at 5391.

flowchart LR
  A[Git repository] --> B[Glimpse CLI]
  B --> C[Browser diff]
  C --> D[Inline comments]
  D --> E[Your coding agent]
  E --> A

Next steps

CLI reference: commands, refs, and flags.
Review workflows: agents, project trees, and GitHub PRs.
Local API: read diffs and manage review comments.
Development: Flox, Bun, checks, and releases.

Troubleshooting

Run glimpse list to find running instances. A second invocation in the same repository reuses an existing instance; use --new to replace it when you need a fresh diff. If a port is occupied, choose --port 5400.

If glimpse is not found after installation, add your Go binary directory (usually $(go env GOPATH)/bin) to PATH. The server currently listens on all network interfaces without authentication. Use it on a trusted machine/network, not as a public hosted service.