Most merge conflicts start with two people in one file. gitby shows the whole team who holds what, hands files off cleanly, and puts chat, notes and git in one terminal window.
01
How it works
A claim keeps two people out of the same file. Four steps, all from the keyboard.
Files · terminal and dashboard
Press e. Your name lands on the file for everyone, in their terminal and on the dashboard, and the file stays read-only in their editor until you let go.
01 · claim
Press e on a file or a folder. Your name lands on it for the whole team, on this branch, until you release it or hand it off.
◆ @mark claimed index.html
Read more02 · see
The claim shows up in every teammate's file list at once, with your name on it. Nobody has to ask in chat who is in the file.
index.html claimed by @mark
Read more03 · read-only
While gitby runs, a file someone else holds is read-only in every editor, so nobody changes it by accident. gitby sets the file permissions your system already enforces.
Gitby: claimed by @mark. Request access to edit.
Read more04 · hand off
A teammate presses t to ask for the file. You press a to grant it or d to deny. Every request, grant and denial is recorded with who did it and when.
✓ request #12 granted
Read more02
The terminal app
Files, notes, a shell and your own layout, in one terminal window.
Pin a note to a path. Whoever opens it next reads it before they change anything.
Read more03
The dashboard
Every file with who holds it, the team's chat, the requests waiting on you, who is online and what each person holds. Drag the panes to the size you want.
Example data: four people on kronos-labs/web. Try the filters and tabs; nothing leaves the page.
The dashboard counts what Gitby saw: claims, handoffs, contention and conflicts prevented, with the paths that changed hands most. Your team's numbers, never your code.
Read more04
Agents
Coding agents connect to gitby over MCP and follow the same rules as people. An agent proposes a claim with a reason and waits for you to approve it on the Agents page, unless you run your agents in full access.
05
Get started
Run it, sign in, pick a repository, and you are in the file list. macOS, Linux and Windows.
curl -fsSL https://github.com/GITBY-SOFTWARE/downloads/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh01
Paste the line into a terminal and run it.
02
Run gitby. It opens sign-in if needed, then loads your teams.
03
gitby clones it, or uses the copy you already have, and opens the file list with everyone's claims on it.
04
Press e to claim a file, a folder or the whole repository, then o to open it in your editor.
06
Pricing
You pay per team, never per seat. Claims, notes, requests, and folder claims come with every plan.
Per team, per month
Larger teams
07
Questions
Sorted by what you are trying to do.
The basics
No. Your repositories stay on GitHub and you keep using git. gitby connects through your GitHub account and adds file claims, notes, presence, chat, and access requests on top.
gitby never stores your code. Pushes made through gitby pass through its push service on the way to GitHub, and the dashboard's diff view fetches changes from GitHub for your browser; neither keeps a copy. What gitby stores is coordination data: paths, claims, requests, notes, team membership, and activity. No file contents, diffs, note text, or chat text ever enter its statistics.
It changes the file permissions your operating system already enforces, so the rule works in any editor. A file someone else holds is read-only for you. By default every file you have not claimed is read-only too; a repository can instead be set to claim on edit, where files stay writable and a file is claimed as you edit it.
Day to day
They press t to ask for it. You can hand it off from the terminal or talk it through in chat first. Every request, grant, and denial is recorded with who did it and when.
Commit, push, branch switch, per-file sync with a merge step, revert, the commit graph, reflog, diffs, and worktrees are all in the gitby window, and a push is blocked before it leaves if it carries files you do not hold. A terminal tab is there for everything else.
It stays yours. A claim ends only when you release it, hand it off, or a team owner steps in. If you are away past the team's threshold the file list marks it stale so others know to ask.
What it measures
Team-level numbers: handoffs, hold times, contention, and stale claims. Durations are medians, never averages, and there are no per-person leaderboards. Your own per-person view is visible to you alone.
Strictly. A second person had to actually want a file you held, through a request, a second editor showing up, or a blocked push, and the file had to reach a commit with one holder first. A toast never counts. These counts are being validated against live teams before the dashboard shows them.
Plans
An agent connected over MCP claims, releases, and asks for takeovers exactly like a person, under your account. You approve each claim on the Agents page, unless you run your agents in full access. Agent support is in validation and is not sold on any plan yet.
Per team, flat, never per seat. Free covers 3 teammates and 2 repositories, and every plan includes claims, notes, and live sync. Paid plans raise the limits and add team chat: 5 teammates on Starter, 8 on Team, 20 on Team+, 50 on Enterprise.
Install gitby, open a repository, and press e to make your first claim.
macOS and Linux:
curl -fsSL https://github.com/GITBY-SOFTWARE/downloads/releases/latest/download/install.sh | shWindows, in PowerShell:
irm https://github.com/GITBY-SOFTWARE/downloads/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iexThen run gitby to sign in and choose a repository. An AI agent setting Gitby up for someone follows /get-started.md.