Wasm-git

(Wasm should be pronounced like awesome starting with a W — as stated in the WebAssembly Music talk at WebAssembly Summit 2020).

Git for Node.js and the browser, using libgit2 compiled to WebAssembly with Emscripten.

Imagine that every app you use kept a complete journal of your data: every change recorded, a backup on your own computer that is truly yours, and synchronization between your devices whenever you want it. Software developers have had exactly this for decades — the tool is called Git. Wasm-git brings that same engine to web applications: store user data locally in the browser with full change history, and push/pull to a remote when — and only when — the user chooses. The application doesn't need to expose any Git terminology: a single "synchronize data" button can do all of it behind the scenes.

Quick start

npm install wasm-git

The package ships prebuilt WebAssembly binaries in several variants (see Choosing a variant below). The easiest one to start with is the async variant, which runs on the browser main thread or in Node.js with plain async/await:

import initGit from 'wasm-git/lg2_async.js';

const lg = await initGit();
const FS = lg.FS;

// Git needs to know who you are before committing
FS.writeFile('/home/web_user/.gitconfig',
  '[user]\nname = Your Name\nemail = [email protected]');

// Create a repository, add a file, and commit
FS.mkdir('/myrepo');
FS.chdir('/myrepo');
await lg.callMain(['init', '.']);
FS.writeFile('data.json', JSON.stringify({ hello: 'world' }));
await lg.callMain(['add', 'data.json']);
await lg.callMain(['commit', '-m', 'first commit']);

Cloning and pushing over HTTP works the same way:

await lg.callMain(['clone', 'https://your-git-server.example.com/repo.git', 'repo']);
FS.chdir('repo');
// ...edit files, add, commit...
await lg.callMain(['push']);

When cloning from the browser, the git server must allow cross-origin requests (CORS) — or be served from the same origin. githttpserver is a ready-made reference server, and its live instance at https://wasm-git.petersalomonsen.com/ is an open playground where you can try cloning, editing, committing and pushing directly in the browser (please don't abuse it — it's there for you to test).

The files can also be loaded from public CDNs such as unpkg or jsDelivr (e.g. https://unpkg.com/wasm-git/lg2_async.js).

Choosing a variant

For browser persistence with the sync/async variants, mount IDBFS and call FS.syncfs — or use the OPFS variants, which persist through the filesystem itself with better performance and quota management.

Complete working examples for every variant are in the test folders:

• test for Node.js
• test-browser for the sync version in a web worker
• test-browser-async for the async version
• test-browser-opfs for the OPFS (pthreads/WASMFS) version
• test-browser-opfs-noniso for the SAB-free OPFS variants (ASYNCIFY + JSPI) and the runtime loader

Built with wasm-git

• Ariz-Portfolio — tracks crypto asset balances, profits and losses on the NEAR protocol blockchain. Uses wasm-git to store portfolio data with full change history on the user's own machine, and lets the user download a complete copy — history included — to their computer. Its optional cloud sync is end-to-end encrypted with encrypted-git-storage: repositories are encrypted before upload with keys only the user holds.
• Y42 — a data pipeline platform (DataOps) where every integration, model and dashboard is versioned in git. In the Data Council talk Using GIT as a NoSQL Database, Y42's founder Hung Dang explains that "under the hood we developed our own git client for the browser using wasm-git, which is a WebAssembly compiled version of libgit2" — and recommends checking out wasm-git at the end of the talk.
• WebAssembly Music — a music-making environment in the browser and wasm-git's original driving use case: compositions and instruments are stored and versioned locally, and synchronized with a remote when the user chooses. See it in action in this video playlist.
• AutoDev — an AI-native multi-agent development platform built on Kotlin Multiplatform: wasm-git is the git backend for its WebAssembly target, powering clone, log, diff and status in GitOperations.wasmJs.kt.
• githttpserver — a CORS-enabled git server you can host yourself, plus the browser playground at https://wasm-git.petersalomonsen.com/ showing basic operations: clone, edit, add, commit, push and pull.
• encrypted-git-storage — an addon that encrypts and decrypts repositories locally in the browser (AES-256-GCM); the server only ever sees ciphertext. Includes a remote helper for the native git client, so users can clone their own application data — decrypted, with full history — straight to their computer.

Wasm-git is also covered in the book Building and Deploying WebAssembly Apps (BPB Publications, 2025) by wasm-git author Peter Salomonsen.

OPFS usage example

The pthreads OPFS version must run in a Web Worker because it requires SharedArrayBuffer (for pthreads), which in turn requires Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin and Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: require-corp (or credentialless) HTTP headers.

worker.js (Web Worker):

// Import the OPFS-enabled wasm-git module
const lgMod = await import('./lg2_opfs.js');
const lg = await lgMod.default();
const FS = lg.FS;

// WASMFS doesn't pre-create /home/web_user like MEMFS
try { FS.mkdir('/home'); } catch(e) {}
try { FS.mkdir('/home/web_user'); } catch(e) {}
FS.writeFile('/home/web_user/.gitconfig',
  '[user]\n  name = Your Name\n  email = [email protected]');

// Create an OPFS-backed directory using the WASMFS OPFS backend
const backend = lg._lg2_create_opfs_backend();
const workingDir = '/opfs';
// Use ccall to marshal the JS string to a C pointer
lg.ccall('lg2_create_directory', 'number', ['string', 'number', 'number'],
         [workingDir, 0o777, backend]);

// Clone using absolute path to avoid CWD ambiguity with WASMFS
const repoDir = workingDir + '/myrepo';
lg.callMain(['clone', 'https://github.com/user/repo.git', repoDir]);

// Work around a WASMFS getcwd() bug: create a root symlink so the path
// returned by getcwd() resolves correctly for libgit2's repo discovery.
FS.symlink(repoDir, '/myrepo');
FS.chdir(repoDir);

// Re-set CWD before each callMain since WASMFS may reset it
FS.chdir(repoDir);
FS.writeFile('newfile.txt', 'Hello OPFS!');
FS.chdir(repoDir);
lg.callMain(['add', 'newfile.txt']);
FS.chdir(repoDir);
lg.callMain(['commit', '-m', 'Add new file']);
FS.chdir(repoDir);
lg.callMain(['push']);

postMessage({ done: true });

See test-browser-opfs/worker.js for a complete working example.

OPFS variants and the runtime loader

OPFS's open/dir/metadata operations (getFileHandle, getDirectoryHandle, removeEntry, entries, createSyncAccessHandle) are async-only. To call them from libgit2's synchronous file IO, wasm-git ships three OPFS builds that bridge async→sync in different ways:

(wasm sizes are for -O3 release builds and will drift; JSPI is the smallest because it needs no stack-rewriting instrumentation, ASYNCIFY the largest for the same reason.)

The pthreads build needs Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy / Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy headers (cross-origin isolation), which some hosts (e.g. NEAR web4) cannot set. The JSPI and ASYNCIFY builds are SAB-free: they persist to OPFS by suspending the wasm stack across the async OPFS calls, so they run with self.crossOriginIsolated === false. All three must run inside a Web Worker (OPFS sync access handles require one).

Runtime loader (lg2_opfs_auto.js)

lg2_opfs_auto.js picks the most optimal supported build at runtime and exposes a uniform git API over all three. Selection order:

1. pthreads when the page is cross-origin isolated (crossOriginIsolated === true and SharedArrayBuffer exists);
2. JSPI when available (WebAssembly.Suspending / WebAssembly.promising);
3. ASYNCIFY otherwise (universal fallback).

If OPFS itself is unavailable (navigator.storage.getDirectory missing, insecure context), selectOpfsVariant() returns null — fall back to the non-OPFS IDBFS build (lg2.js).

// inside a Web Worker (type: 'module')
import { loadOpfsGit, selectOpfsVariant } from './lg2_opfs_auto.js';

console.log(selectOpfsVariant());      // 'pthreads' | 'jspi' | 'asyncify' | null

const git = await loadOpfsGit({ user: 'Your Name', email: '[email protected]' });
console.log(git.variant);              // which build was loaded

await git.clone('https://example.com/repo.git', 'repo.git');
await git.writeFile('repo.git', 'a.txt', 'hello');
await git.addCommitPush('repo.git', 'a.txt', 'add a.txt');
console.log(git.readFile('repo.git', 'a.txt'));   // 'hello'

// After a reload, restore an existing repo from OPFS before using it:
await git.syncRepo('repo.git');

The detection helpers (detectOpfsEnvironment, selectOpfsVariant) are pure functions that accept an env object, so they can be unit-tested or forced (see test/opfs-detect.spec.js).

See test-browser-opfs-noniso/worker.js for a complete worker built on the loader.

Filesystem backends

Wasm-git supports multiple filesystem backends for different use cases:

MEMFS (Memory File System)

• Use case: In-memory storage, not persisted
• Build target: Default (./build.sh Release)
• Browser support: All browsers

IDBFS (IndexedDB File System)

• Use case: Browser persistent storage using IndexedDB
• Build target: Default (./build.sh Release)
• Browser support: All browsers with IndexedDB

NODEFS (Node.js File System)

• Use case: Node.js native filesystem access
• Build target: Default (./build.sh Release)
• Platform: Node.js only

OPFS (Origin Private File System)

• Use case: Modern browser persistent storage with better performance and quota management
• Browser support: Chrome 86+, Edge 86+, Firefox 111+, Safari 15.2+ (JSPI variant: Chromium-based browsers with JSPI)
• Advantages: Better performance and quota compared to IDBFS
• Requirements: Must run in a Web Worker (OPFS sync access handles require one)
• Three variants — see OPFS variants and the runtime loader:
  • pthreads / WASMFS (./build.sh Release-opfs → lg2_opfs.js): synchronous callMain; requires cross-origin isolation (Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin + Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: require-corp/credentialless) for SharedArrayBuffer.
  • JSPI (./build.sh Release-opfs-jspi → lg2_opfs_jspi.js): SAB-free; async callMain; smallest binary.
  • ASYNCIFY (./build.sh Release-opfs-async → lg2_opfs_async.js): SAB-free; async callMain; universal fallback, largest binary.
  • lg2_opfs_auto.js selects the best supported variant at runtime.

Building and developing

Compatibility

• libgit2: v1.9.4
• Emscripten: Pinned to 6.0.3
• Node.js: v18+
• Browsers: Modern browsers with WebAssembly support

Prerequisites

• Emscripten SDK (version 6.0.3)
• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• CMake
• Make

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/petersalomonsen/wasm-git.git
   cd wasm-git
   

2. Install and activate Emscripten

   git clone https://github.com/emscripten-core/emsdk.git
   cd emsdk
   ./emsdk install 6.0.3
   ./emsdk activate 6.0.3
   source ./emsdk_env.sh
   cd ..
   

3. Set up libgit2

   ./setup.sh
   

   This script downloads libgit2 v1.9.4 and applies necessary patches for WebAssembly compilation.

4. Build the project

   cd emscriptenbuild
   ./build.sh         # Debug build (smaller, for development)
   ./build.sh Release # Release build (optimized)
   

   For async versions (with Asyncify support):

   ./build.sh Debug-async   # Debug async build
   ./build.sh Release-async # Release async build
   

   For OPFS versions:

   ./build.sh Release-opfs       # pthreads / WASMFS OPFS build (needs COOP/COEP)
   ./build.sh Release-opfs-jspi  # SAB-free OPFS build using JSPI
   ./build.sh Release-opfs-async # SAB-free OPFS build using ASYNCIFY
   # (Debug-opfs, Debug-opfs-jspi and Debug-opfs-async also exist)
   

5. Install npm dependencies

   npm install
   

6. Run tests

   npm test                         # Run Node.js tests
   npm run test-browser             # Run browser tests (sync version)
   npm run test-browser-async       # Run browser tests (async version)
   npm run test-browser-opfs        # OPFS pthreads/WASMFS tests (cross-origin isolated)
   npm run test-browser-opfs-noniso # SAB-free OPFS tests (ASYNCIFY + JSPI, non-isolated)
   npm run test-opfs-detect         # Loader variant-detection unit tests
   npm run test-opfs-loader         # Multi-browser loader selection tests (Chromium/Firefox/WebKit)
   

Development Options

GitHub Codespaces

The easiest way to get started is using GitHub Codespaces. The repository includes a .devcontainer configuration that automatically sets up the complete development environment with all dependencies.

Local Development

The Github actions test pipeline shows all the commands needed for CI/CD and can be used as a reference for local setup.

Build Outputs

After building, you'll find the following files in emscriptenbuild/libgit2/examples/:

• lg2.js and lg2.wasm - Synchronous version
• lg2_async.js and lg2_async.wasm - Asynchronous version with Asyncify
• lg2_opfs.js and lg2_opfs.wasm - OPFS version with WASMFS + pthreads
• lg2_opfs_jspi.js and lg2_opfs_jspi.wasm - SAB-free OPFS version using JSPI
• lg2_opfs_async.js and lg2_opfs_async.wasm - SAB-free OPFS version using ASYNCIFY

The runtime loader lg2_opfs_auto.js (a hand-written module, not a build output) selects the best of the three OPFS builds at runtime — see OPFS variants and the runtime loader.

These files are also available from npm packages and CDNs for production use.

Troubleshooting

1. Build errors: Ensure the Emscripten environment is properly activated:

   source /path/to/emsdk/emsdk_env.sh
   

2. Test failures: Remove any stale test directories before running tests:

   rm -rf nodefsclonetest
   npm test
   

History

Wasm-git started in 2020, and getting libgit2 to run in a JavaScript environment required several fixes to Emscripten itself, all merged upstream that year: #10095, #10526, #10782 and #10669 (NODEFS support).