Managing Your Preferences

🕒 Updated 2 days ago

👤 By .git Core Team

💬 12 Comments

Customize your .git experience to match your workflow. You can manage preferences through the Dashboard UI, the CLI, or by editing your local .gitrc configuration file. Preferences are synced across devices when you're signed in.

Overview #

.git preferences are organized into five main categories. Each category controls specific aspects of the platform's behavior, from editor settings to notification rules and deployment strategies.

🎨

Interface & Theme

Control visual appearance, density, font size, and accessibility options.

⚙️

Editor & Tools

Set default editor, merge tool, terminal emulator, and keybindings.

🔔

Notifications

Configure alerts for deployments, reviews, mentions, and system events.

🔒

Security & Privacy

Manage 2FA, session timeouts, IP allowlists, and data retention.

Configuration Methods #

There are three ways to manage your preferences. Changes made via CLI or config file take precedence over UI settings.

ℹ️

Preference Priority Order

CLI flags > .gitrc file > Dashboard UI > Global defaults. When conflicts occur, the higher priority source wins.

1. Dashboard UI

Navigate to Settings > Preferences in your account dashboard. Changes are saved automatically and synced in real-time.

2. CLI Commands

Use the git pref command family to set, get, and list preferences from your terminal.

bash

# Set a preference
git pref set theme dark
git pref set editor vscode
git pref set notifications.email true

# View current value
git pref get theme
# → dark

# List all preferences
git pref list

# Reset to default
git pref unset editor

3. Config File (`.gitrc`)

Create or edit ~/.gitrc for persistent, version-controllable configuration.

yaml

# ~/.gitrc
interface:
  theme: "dark"
  density: "compact"
  font-size: 14
  sidebar: true

editor:
  default: "vscode"
  merge-tool: "kdiff3"
  line-numbers: true

notifications:
  email: true
  slack: "#deployments"
  push: false
  digest: "weekly"

deploy:
  auto-preview: true
  regions: ["us-east-1", "eu-west-1"]
  strategy: "blue-green"

Available Preferences #

Below is a comprehensive list of all configurable preferences, their types, and default values.

Key	Type	Default	Description	Status
`theme`	string	`system`	UI theme (light, dark, system)	Optional
`editor`	string	`native`	Default editor for commits and reviews	Optional
`notifications.email`	boolean	`true`	Receive email alerts	Optional
`notifications.slack`	string	`null`	Slack channel for alerts (e.g., `#deploys`)	Optional
`deploy.auto-preview`	boolean	`true`	Auto-create preview URLs on push	Default On
`security.2fa`	boolean	`false`	Require two-factor authentication	Required*
`git.init.default-branch`	string	`main`	Default branch name for new repos	Optional

* Required for team and enterprise accounts.

Notification Settings #

Fine-tune which events trigger notifications. You can manage these in the dashboard or via config.

Email Notifications Receive alerts via email for deployments, reviews, and mentions.

Slack Integration Post deployment and review updates to Slack channels.

Push Notifications Browser and mobile push notifications for critical events.

Weekly Digest Summarize activity and metrics in a weekly email report.

Troubleshooting #

⚠️

Config Syntax Errors

Ensure your .gitrc file uses valid YAML syntax. Indentation matters. Use git pref validate to check for errors before deploying changes.

Common Issues

✓
Preferences not syncing
Try running git pull --prefs or sign out and back in to force a sync.
✓
Theme not applying
Clear browser cache or ensure theme is set to a valid value: light, dark, or system.
✓
CLI overrides ignored
CLI flags always take precedence. Remove the flag if you want config file settings to apply.

Next Steps #

→ Environment Variables

Learn how to configure sensitive data and runtime variables securely.

→ Team Settings

Manage permissions, roles, and shared preferences for your team.