00 / Open-source Git for AI coding agents.

Source control without another signup.

Ordinary Git. Ready for agents.

BitterGit gives every app a real Git repository from the start. Begin with ordinary Git—no GitHub account required—and keep the source cloneable, exportable, and compatible with standard tools.

The Apache-2.0 alpha is public today. Self-host it, or experience the integrated product in Bitter. Connect another provider later if it helps.

View source on GitHub Experience it in Bitter

Native gitClone, push, pull, branch, commit, and export with standard Git tools.

Open sourceThe Apache-2.0 server is public, self-hostable, and runnable today.

GitHub optionalConnect another provider when it helps, not before you can begin.

01 / Open-source alpha

Run the server yourself.

The public repository contains the server, documentation, security model, and an executable verification suite. It runs on macOS or Linux with Bun, Git, Bash, and curl.

This is alpha software, not a hardened public forge. Keep the demo path on loopback, use independent backups, and read the security model before a network deployment.

What ships todayApache-2.0

Git smart HTTP through standard Git plumbing.
Policy scoped read, write, and ref controls.
History checkpoints, diff, restore, and export.
Imports reviewed folder, zip, and Git sources.

Clone the source.

$git clone https://github.com/sheetgenius/bittergit.git

The public repository contains the Apache-2.0 server, documentation, security model, and executable verification gates.

Install and run.

$cd bittergit && bun install --frozen-lockfile && bun run dev

The local service starts on loopback with a demo UI. Network binds fail closed until strong, separate credentials are configured.

Run the full verification.

$scripts/verify.sh

The isolated suite exercises the current source-custody contracts, including stock Git behavior, checkpoints, restore, imports, and safety boundaries.

02 / Why BitterGit exists

A GitHub account should not be step zero.

Bitter is meant to remove the setup between an idea and a capable coding agent getting to work. If someone does not already use GitHub, sending them away to create and connect another account before the first repository exists is an avoidable obstacle.

A repository from the start

A Bitter app should begin with real source history already in place. The agent can work immediately, and the source remains yours to clone or export.

Ordinary Git underneath

BitterGit does not invent another version-control language. Existing Git tools keep working, while the service adds scoped access, checkpoints, restore, and receipts.

Providers when useful

GitHub, GitLab, and other source hosts can be imported or connected later. They remain useful integrations without becoming prerequisites for a first coding session.

03 / How it works

Create the repo. Let the agent work. Keep a way back.

BitterGit handles the source layer. The wider Bitter environment connects that source to the workspace, approved credentials, deploys, logs, support, and the rest of operating a real product.

Create or import.

Start blank, bring a folder or zip, or import a Git repository. BitterGit reviews the source shape before making it canonical.

Give the agent scoped access.

A workcell gets repository-scoped credentials and a normal Git remote without putting a token in the clone URL.

Checkpoint and restore.

Keep exact commits behind deploys, create restore candidates, and return to a known-good checkpoint when a change goes wrong.

Source-custody loop

App
  -> Repository
  -> Workcell
  -> Commit
  -> Checkpoint
  -> Deploy receipt / Restore

Hosted product direction

Hosted Bitter is designed to add account-backed setup, prepared workspaces, agent-run provenance, Grid verification, and operating receipts around the open-source source-custody server. Those wider services are not bundled here.

04 / What's inside

Boring Git. Useful custody.

The primitives are the ones developers and agents already know. BitterGit adds enough policy and history to keep the source controlled, recoverable, and tied to exact commits.

ProtocolGit smart HTTP through the system git-http-backend.

PolicyRepository-scoped read, write, and ref controls.

HistoryRef events, diff, checkpoints, restore, and export.

ImportsConservative folder, zip, and Git source review.

MirrorsOptional external source and mirror connections.

ReceiptsSource-linked records tied to exact commits.

IntegrationsOptional account, workcell, agent, secret, and deploy contracts.

HostingSelf-hostable; the operator controls access, storage, and backups.

05 / Who it's for

For anyone building with agents.

First-time builder

Start without another account.

You want to try agentic coding without stopping first to choose, create, and connect a separate source-hosting account.

Solo operator

Keep the source and the way back.

Your agent can move quickly, but you still need exact commits, checkpoints, restore, and an export path you control.

Agent platform team

Give workcells narrow Git access.

You need ordinary Git compatibility plus credentials, policy, and receipts shaped for short-lived agent sessions.

What BitterGit isn't

Not another GitHub clone. There are no stars, followers, or marketplace.
Not a project tracker or a social network.
Not a CI or deployment system.
Not an account, billing, or secret-value store.
Not a replacement for GitHub when GitHub is useful to you.

06 / Bitter

Experience BitterGit in Bitter.

Bitter gives you and your coding agent a prepared place to build, deploy, and operate a real product. BitterGit is the source layer inside that environment, so the repository is there when the work begins.

You can explore the wider product at bitter.sh. If you want the server itself, the Apache-2.0 source and local quick start are on GitHub.

Start with the source, or see how Bitter connects source custody to the rest of the agentic coding environment.

View source on GitHub Experience it in Bitter