What is hub?

Hub is a command-line wrapper around Git that adds shortcuts and GitHub integration to make working with repositories faster and less repetitive. Instead of typing out full GitHub URLs or remembering complex Git commands, you can use shorter, smarter versions that hub expands automatically. For example, typing git clone schacon/ticgit instantly becomes the full clone command pointing to that user's repository on GitHub. The tool works by intercepting your Git commands and enhancing them with GitHub awareness. When you type a GitHub shorthand like a username or repo name, hub converts it into the proper Git command with the full URL. It also adds entirely new commands that don't exist in regular Git, like git fork to fork a repository directly from the command line, git pull-request to open a pull request without leaving your terminal, and git browse to open the repository page in your browser. Some commands are especially clever: git cherry-pick can take a GitHub pull request URL and automatically fetch and apply that code, or git checkout can check out a pull request as a local branch. Hub is useful for anyone working with GitHub repositories regularly, developers, teams, and open-source contributors who want a faster workflow. Instead of juggling multiple Git remotes, copy-pasting URLs, or switching to a web browser to create a fork or pull request, you stay in the terminal and let hub handle the repetitive parts. The tool is transparent too: all normal Git commands still work exactly as before, so there's no learning curve for existing Git users. Setup is straightforward. Hub is typically aliased as git itself, so you don't need to remember a new command name, you just type git as usual and get extra powers. It handles authentication with GitHub through OAuth tokens, and works with both regular GitHub and GitHub Enterprise if your organization uses that. The project is written in Go, so it's a single compiled binary with no dependencies beyond Git itself.