Preview. These maps are our reading of public sources and haven't been checked with the projects' maintainers yet.
Version control beyond git
New version control systems and forges, many designed with AI agents in mind.
21 projects86% active57% build on a shared standardMapped 2026-10-25
What they agree on
- Is it actively maintained? active (90% of 21)
- Can it run entirely on your own device or infrastructure, without the maker's servers? yes (80% of 20)
- Who is it for? developers (90% of 21)
- Can you commit, branch, and read history with no network connection? yes (94% of 18)
- What is the basic unit of history? (pick the most specific that applies) snapshots (commits) with no identity that survives a rewrite (75% of 20)
- What size of project is it designed for? ordinary source repositories (75% of 20)
What they argue about
How is the main thing licensed?
How is it mainly sustained?
Do you need an account to use it?
Which shared standard or format does it mainly build on?
How does it relate to git repositories?
Where does the authoritative copy of a project live?
Is it designed with AI coding agents in mind?
Which layer of the stack does it mainly replace?
Are stacked changes (a chain of dependent changes reviewed separately) a first-class workflow?
How are merge conflicts mainly handled?
Is code review part of the product?
Projects
| Project | Status | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor Origin | Active | Cursor's hosted git forge 'for the agentic era': git-compatible repos, PRs with Code Tours, GitHub sync, and cloud agents and automations t… |
| Darcs | Maintenance | The original patch-theory DVCS (2003), written in Haskell; inspired Pijul and jj's conflict model. |
| DeltaDB (Zed) | Active | Zed Industries' operation-based version control that records fine-grained 'deltas' with stable identities alongside the agent conversations… |
| Diversion | Active | Proprietary cloud-native version control for large repos and binary assets, aimed at game development; Unreal/Unity integrations, bidirecti… |
| Forgejo | Active | Community-governed self-hosted forge (hard fork of Gitea) under Codeberg e.V.; working on ActivityPub/ForgeFed federation. |
| Fossil | Active | Single-binary DVCS from the SQLite author with built-in wiki, tickets, forum, chat, and web UI. Autosync by default; history is never rewri… |
| Game of Trees (Got) | Active | OpenBSD-developed VCS that uses the git repository format, prioritizing simplicity; includes gotd server and gotwebd web front end; a hosti… |
| git-branchless | Active | Suite of git extensions for a branchless, patch-stack workflow: smartlog, undo, restack, in-memory rebases, revsets; aimed at monorepo-scal… |
| GitButler | Active | Git-based version control client (desktop GUI plus 'but' CLI) with parallel and stacked branches, unlimited undo, conflicted commits, and f… |
| Gitea | Active | Lightweight self-hosted forge (git hosting, review, packages, CI) with commercial Gitea Cloud and Gitea Enterprise from CommitGo. |
| Grace | Active | Centralized, cloud-native VCS (Orleans, Azure, Aspire) by a single author: every change stored as an event, 'promotions' instead of merges,… |
| Graphite | Acquired | Stacked pull requests on top of GitHub: a CLI and VS Code extension to create stacks, a review UI and PR inbox, a stack-aware merge queue,… |
| Jujutsu (jj) | Active | Git-compatible VCS with a mutable working-copy commit, stable change IDs, an operation log with undo, automatic rebasing of descendants, an… |
| Lore (Epic Games) | Active | Epic Games' centralized, content-addressed VCS for code plus large binary assets (chunked storage, on-demand hydration, sparse workspaces);… |
| Mercurial | Active | Long-running distributed VCS (2005), extensible in Python with Rust speedups; changeset evolution and topics add safe history rewriting. Ba… |
| Pijul | Active | Distributed VCS based on a theory of patches: independent changes commute, conflicts are first-class and resolved by a change of their own.… |
| Radicle | Active | Open-source peer-to-peer code collaboration stack built on git: issues, patches, and review stored as signed collaborative objects in git,… |
| Sapling | Active | Meta's source control client (evolved from Mercurial) focused on usability and scale: smartlog, stacks, undo, Interactive Smartlog UI. Work… |
| Sturdy | Quiet | Real-time code collaboration platform that hid push/pull/stash behind a higher-level workflow, usable on top of GitHub or standalone; cloud… |
| Tangled | Active | Social coding platform on the AT Protocol (Bluesky's network): repos on self-hostable 'knots', CI on 'spindles', stacked pull requests via… |
| zz | Active | Collaboration layer for open source where humans and AI agents work as peers: hosted git repos, a protocol for posting, claiming, reviewing… |
Where they meet
Not mapped yet.
Follow
RSS for this community: projects added, status changes, and later polls and discussions.
Follow the whole community: OPML of every project's own release feed (where we found one) · OPML of every project's Poll Position feed.
The poll
Every project above was answered against these questions. Core questions are shared by all communities; the rest are this community's own.
- Is it actively maintained? core
active · active, but changed direction (pivot, fork, or rename) · maintenance or slowing · dormant, sunsetting, or archived - How is the main thing licensed? core
permissive open source (MIT/Apache/BSD) · copyleft or source-available with restrictions · open parts around a closed core · proprietary or closed source - How is it mainly sustained? core
individual side project, no revenue · individual with revenue (paid app, tier, ads, or donations) · community, foundation, or research · company with a paid product, tier, or ads · company or startup with a free product (no revenue yet) · big company side project - Can it run entirely on your own device or infrastructure, without the maker's servers? core
yes · yes, but it calls a third-party service you choose (your own API key or account) · partly (some features need the maker's servers) · no, it needs the maker's servers · not applicable - Do you need an account to use it? core
no account · optional account · account required - Who is it for? core
developers · non-developers · both - Is there public evidence it's built with AI coding agents? core
yes, the repo shows it (agent instruction files or agent co-authored commits) · yes, the maker says so · no public evidence - Which shared standard or format does it mainly build on? core
git (repository format and protocol) · GitHub pull requests (via the GitHub API) · AT Protocol · none of these (its own format or interface) · not applicable - How does it relate to git repositories? value
built on git: reads and writes git repositories directly · own storage format, with two-way git interop · own storage format, one-time import or no git interop - Where does the authoritative copy of a project live? value
every clone is a full peer; servers are optional · one central server per project (hosted or self-hosted) · a network of federated or peer-to-peer servers - Can you commit, branch, and read history with no network connection? value
yes · partly · no - Is it designed with AI coding agents in mind? value
yes, agents are a primary design target · it adds AI features, but is not designed around agents · no - Which layer of the stack does it mainly replace? approach
the version control system itself · the git client and local workflow, on top of git · the forge layer (hosting, review, or merging) · version control and hosting together, as one system - What is the basic unit of history? (pick the most specific that applies) approach
snapshots (commits) with no identity that survives a rewrite · patches that commute · changes with stable IDs that survive rewrites (even if stored as commits) · fine-grained operations or events - Are stacked changes (a chain of dependent changes reviewed separately) a first-class workflow? approach
yes, the workflow is built around stacks · available, but not the main workflow · no - How are merge conflicts mainly handled? approach
first-class: a conflict can be recorded and resolved later · must be resolved before the merge or commit completes · avoided or resolved automatically by default (CRDTs or merge rules) - What size of project is it designed for? approach
very large monorepos or large binary assets · ordinary source repositories - Is code review part of the product? approach
yes, it has its own review interface · no, it hands off to an external forge's review (e.g. GitHub pull requests) · no review workflow
Sources
Picked by hand (Phase 0); see the case study entry 'Whose communities?'.
55 sources across 21 projects, read on 2026-10-25. Each project page lists its own. Poll version: core-v4.