Beta · GitHub OAuth only · core features free Beta · GitHub OAuth only

Your GitHub network is already your contact list.

GitChat turns your mutual GitHub follows into conversations. Sign in with GitHub: those already on GitChat are ready to message, and you can invite the others. No new identity.

Your mutual follows on GitChat become conversations, with no request to accept.

Sign in with GitHub See how it works
  • No password
  • Revocable from GitHub

No password · revocable from GitHub

GitChat: a sidebar listing your mutual follows and a thread with a rich GitHub profile card

22

URL kinds that render as a card instead of a link

0

writes to your repositories

1 click

from a GitHub page to the matching channel

1 tap

to archive a thread that search still finds

Mutual follow decides who can message you

You can only be reached by developers you already follow back. Searching for your name opens no conversation: GitHub's follow graph is the allow list.

You can only be reached by developers you already follow back.

  • If you follow each other on GitHub and are both on GitChat, the conversation already exists. There is nothing to accept.
  • Not mutual yet? Send one contact request. They accept or decline, once.
  • Block, mute and privacy controls are in Settings.

What GitChat adds to a conversation

Threads that recognise GitHub URLs, channels scoped to a repo, and an extension for github.com.

Repo & org channels

A channel scoped to acme/sample-repo, open to people according to their GitHub permission on that repo, with no invite list to maintain.

Command palette

⌘K searches conversations, messages, people and repos from anywhere in the app. Escape closes it.

Mentions with autocomplete

Type @ and autocomplete suggests people from your mutual network. Mentions arrive in a dedicated view with their own unread count.

Bookmarks & history

Star a message to find it later. Archive a finished thread to take it out of the sidebar.

Synced GitHub teams

Paid orgs get their GitHub teams and contributors in channels automatically. Membership always follows the repo.

No writes to your code

GitChat reads your profile, follow graph and repository access. It does not push, comment or change anything. You can revoke it from GitHub at any time.

Rich previews

A pasted GitHub URL becomes a card

Profiles, issues, pull requests, files and articles render as cards inside the thread, with state, labels and diff stats. Everyone sees what you mean without leaving the conversation.

From sign-in to first message

Three steps, nothing to install.

1 OAuth

Authorize with GitHub

GitHub is the login, with no password and no separate account.

2 Network

Your contacts appear

GitChat syncs your follows and lists your mutual follows. Those on GitChat are ready to message, and you can invite the others.

3 Chat

Talk in context

Paste issues, PRs, files and links. They render as cards for every participant.

Chrome extension

The repo channel, in a side panel on github.com

Install the extension and a GitChat side panel appears on github.com. On a repo or an issue, the matching channel is one click away, with the same thread, people and rich cards.

  1. Install the extension Beta: download the .zip and load it in developer mode. Not on the Chrome Web Store yet.
  2. A GitChat tab appears on GitHub Next to Code, Issues and Pull requests.
  3. The side panel opens its channel Reply from the GitHub page.
Install the extension Manifest v3 · changes no repository

Every URL becomes a card

Twenty-two renderers. A pasted repo, issue, PR, file, profile, video, track or article shows up as a card.

  • Repository

    github.com/{owner}/{repo}

  • Issue

    …/issues/{n}

  • Pull request

    …/pull/{n}

  • User & org

    github.com/{login}

  • Issue / PR lists

    …/issues · …/pulls

  • File with preview

    …/blob/{branch}/{path}

  • Article & link

    any https:// URL

  • YouTube

    youtube.com · youtu.be

  • Spotify

    open.spotify.com/{type}/{id}

  • Files, media & GIFs

    image · video · audio · pdf

GitChat compared with the alternatives

Issue threads are permanent and public. Team chat is private but does not know your repo. GitChat is private and tied to GitHub.

GitChat compared with the alternatives GitChat Issue comments Generic team chat
Who can reach you Mutual follows only Anyone with a GitHub account Whoever the admin invited
Permanence Archive a thread when you are done Permanent and public Kept, but hard to find
Understands GitHub URLs 22 card renderers Only inside the same repo A title and a favicon
Channel membership Derived from repo permission Not a channel at all Managed by hand, falls out of sync
Identity Your GitHub account Your GitHub account A separate login to manage
Where it lives Side panel on github.com The issue page Another tab entirely
Security

We never write to your code

GitChat asks for the GitHub scopes that let it read your profile, organisations and repository access. It does not push, comment or change anything. Link previews refuse internal addresses (SSRF protection) and uploads are validated server-side. You can revoke access from GitHub.

  • user:email
  • read:org
  • repo

Read-only on GitChat's side

GitChat reads your profile, email, organisations and repository access, and changes no repository. GitHub has no read-only scope for private repositories, hence the repo scope.

SSRF-protected previews

Link fetching refuses internal and private address space.

Revocable tokens

The extension gets its own named token you can kill from Settings.

Strict uploads

The server validates MIME type and size. The app serves attachments itself.

Frequently asked questions

It removes cold outreach. GitHub already knows who you follow, and GitChat reuses that graph as the access rule instead of making you build another. To reach someone outside your mutual network, you send one contact request.

Your profile, email, organisations and repository access, to check your permission on each repo channel. This uses the repo scope, because GitHub has no read-only scope for private repositories. GitChat never writes to a repository. You can revoke access from your GitHub settings.

Direct conversations, private messages, contacts, notifications and repo channels are free. Paid plans add organisation features: per-repository conversation groups, synced GitHub teams and automatic contributor sync.

Archive a thread from its menu and it leaves the sidebar. Bookmarked messages stay reachable, and search still finds archived threads.

No, the web app is complete. The extension puts the matching channel in a side panel while you read code on github.com.

Your mutual follows are waiting Your mutual follows are waiting

Sign in with GitHub. Core features are free and GitChat never writes to your code.

Get started with GitHub