Top 5 Must-Try GitHub Extensions to Boost Your Workflow
Sumonta Saha Mridul
Posted on August 7, 2024
📃 GitHub is an essential tool for developers, but sometimes its interface can be limiting when you're managing large projects or multiple repositories. Fortunately, there are several browser extensions that can enhance your GitHub experience by adding useful features and streamlining your workflow.
❓ Here, we'll explore five must-try extensions that can help you get the most out of GitHub, whether you're tracking repository sizes, downloading specific files, or improving your code navigation and review process.
1️⃣ GitHub Repo Size: Show Size Summaries of GitHub Repos
🔗 Extension Link: GitHub Repo Size - Chrome Web Store
Do you want to know the size of a GitHub repository without cloning it first? This extension is here to help! With it, you can:
- 🔍 View the total size of repositories.
- 📁 See the sizes of all individual folders and files.
- 🔑 Access your own private repositories' size information.
This handy tool provides a summary of the repository's size and contents directly from its home page, so you don't need to download anything.
Note: For Private Repository, you have to give access using GitHub token
2️⃣ GitZip: Download Specific Files or Folders from GitHub
🔗 Extension Link: GitZip for Github - Chrome Web Store
Tired of downloading an entire GitHub project just for a few files or folders you need?
GitZip is here to simplify the process. This tool allows you to select specific sub-directories and files from a GitHub repository, create a ZIP file, and download it directly.
Why Use GitZip?
- You can download only the files or folders you need without downloading the entire project.
How to Use GitZip?
- Browse Any GitHub Repository Page:
- Navigate to the repository you want to download files from.
- Two Ways to Download:
Choose the Items:
- Double-click on the items or check the checkbox in front of them.
- Click the download button at the bottom-right corner of the page. In the Context Menu:
- Click "GitZip Download" > "Whole Repository" or "Current Folder" to download entire sections.
- Hover over an item and click "GitZip Download" > "Selected Folder/File" to choose specific files or folders.
- After selecting items (as in step 2.1.1), click "GitZip Download" > "Checked Items."
- See the Progress:
- A progress dashboard will appear, showing the download status. Wait for the browser to trigger the download.
- Get the ZIP File:
- Once the process is complete, you'll have a ZIP file containing only the items you've selected.
GitZip makes it easy to download just the parts of a GitHub repository that you need, saving you time and bandwidth.
3️⃣ Material Icons for GitHub
🔗 Extension Link: Material Icons for GitHub - Chrome Web Store
Enhance your file browsing experience on websites like GitHub, Azure, and Bitbucket by replacing default icons with Visual Studio Code's Material Icon Theme icons. This extension pulls icons and replacement lists directly from the open-source vscode-material-icon-theme.
Features:
- Consistent Visuals: Use the same icons in your code editor and on sites like GitHub for seamless navigation.
- Quick Identification: Easily identify file types, configuration files, and project scaffolding at a glance.
- Open Source: Based on the popular Visual Studio Code extension, ensuring a wide range of icons and regular updates.
Simplify and streamline your workflow with a unified icon theme across your development tools and platforms.
4️⃣ Octo Tree - GitHub code tree
🔗 Extension Link: Octo Tree - Chrome Web Store
Boost your GitHub experience with this powerful browser extension designed to enhance code review and exploration.
Features:
- Fast IDE-like Code Tree: Navigate your codebase with an efficient, IDE-like file explorer.
- Quick Search in Tree Format: Easily search and locate files, issues, and more in a structured tree view.
- Bookmarking: Save and manage bookmarks for repositories, issues, pull requests, and files for quick access.
- Private Repository Access: Securely work with both public and private repositories.
- High Performance: Optimized for speed and efficiency, capable of handling repositories of any size without lag.
Enhance your productivity and streamline your workflow with GitHub on Steroids.
5️⃣ Refined GitHub
🔗 Extension Link: Refined GitHub - Chrome Web Store
Refined GitHub simplifies the GitHub interface and adds over 200 useful features to improve your workflow.
Highlights:
- Linkify References: Automatically convert issue/PR references and URLs in code into clickable links.
- Visible Whitespace: Display whitespace characters for better code readability.
- Tab Size Adjustment: Reduce tab size to 4 spaces for consistency.
- Merge Conflict Fixers: Resolve merge conflicts with a single click.
- Reaction Avatars: View avatars of users who reacted to comments.
- Revert Changes: Easily revert all changes to a file in a PR with one click.
- Build Status Icons: Display build/CI status icons next to the repository name.
- Markdown Source View: Add a button to view the source of Markdown files.
- File-Specific PRs: Show pull requests that affect the current file.
- Highlight Key Comments: Emphasize the most useful comments in discussions.
- Git Tag Inclusion: Show the first Git tag a merged PR was included in.
- Changelog Links: Provide links to automatic changelogs for each tag/release.
- 404 Page Enhancements: Suggest possible related pages and alternatives on 404 pages.
- Repository Age: Display the age of the repository in the sidebar.
And so much more! Explore the website for a complete list of features.
More GitHub Extensions:
For even more options, explore a collection of awesome browser extensions for GitHub and discover more ways to enhance your development process.
🔗 Extensions Link: A collection of awesome browser extensions for GitHub.
These five extensions provide a variety of features that enhance your GitHub experience, making it more efficient and enjoyable. From managing repository sizes to customizing the interface, these tools offer something for every developer. Be sure to check out each one and see how they can fit into your workflow.
If you found these suggestions helpful, be sure to follow me for more insights and recommendations. You can also check out my GitHub profile to see what I'm working on. I’d love to hear about your favorite GitHub extensions, so feel free to share them in the comments!
Posted on August 7, 2024
Join Our Newsletter. No Spam, Only the good stuff.
Sign up to receive the latest update from our blog.