Smooth git handover with 'mob'.
- mob is an open source command line tool written in go
- mob is the fastest way to hand over code via git and feels ubersmooth
- mob supports remote mob or pair programming using screen sharing
- mob works on every platform, even Apple Silicon
- mob keeps your branches clean and only creates WIP commits on temporary wip branches
- mob supports multiple wip branches per base branch
- mob notifies you when it's time ⏱️ to handover
- mob can moo 🐄
- mob is even better when you follow its best practices
"Mob has allowed us to run fast-paced, engaging, and effective sessions by enabling sub-10-second handover times and otherwise getting out of the way. A simple but great tool!" — Jeff Langr, developer
"I love it, it is a quantum leap in our collaboration." — Vasiliy Sivovolov, Senior Software Engineer
"What a great tool to organise remote working." — Jennifer Gommans, IT Consultant
"I was recently introduced to mob.sh for remote pairing/mobbing collaboration and I absolutely love it. The timer feature is really a selling point for me. Kudos" — Fabien Illert, IT Consultant
The preferred way to install mob is as a binary via the provided install script:
# works for macOS, linux, and even on windows in git bash
curl -sL install.mob.sh | sh
On macOS via homebrew:
brew install remotemobprogramming/brew/mob
# upgrade to latest version
brew upgrade remotemobprogramming/brew/mob
On windows via Scoop:
scoop install mob
On Nix through the mob.nix expression like this mob = callPackage ./mob.nix {};
. To install and configure espeak-ng for text-to-spech support, pass withSpeech = true;
.
On Arch Linux via yay:
yay -S mobsh-bin
When you already have a working go environment with a defined GOPATH you can install latest via go install
:
With go < 1.16
go get github.com/remotemobprogramming/mob
go install github.com/remotemobprogramming/mob
go 1.16 introduced support for package@version syntax so you can install directly with:
go install github.com/remotemobprogramming/mob@latest
or pick a specific version:
go install github.com/remotemobprogramming/mob@v1.2.0
You only need three commands: mob start
, mob next
, and mob done
.
Switch to a separate branch with mob start
and handover to the next person with mob next
.
Repeat.
When you're done, get your changes into the staging area of the master
branch with mob done
and commit them.
mob enables a fast Git handover
Basic Commands:
start start mob session from base branch in wip branch
next handover changes in wip branch to next person
done squashes all changes in wip branch to index in base branch
reset removes local and remote wip branch
Basic Commands(Options):
start [<minutes>] Start a <minutes> timer
[--include-uncommitted-changes|-i] Move uncommitted changes to wip branch
[--branch|-b <branch-postfix>] Set wip branch to 'mob/<base-branch>/<branch-postfix>'
next
[--stay|-s] Stay on wip branch (default)
[--return-to-base-branch|-r] Return to base branch
[--message|-m <commit-message>] Override commit message
done
[--no-squash] Do not squash commits from wip branch
[--squash] Squash commits from wip branch
reset
[--branch|-b <branch-postfix>] Set wip branch to 'mob/<base-branch>/<branch-postfix>'
Experimental Commands:
squash-wip Combines wip commits in wip branch with subsequent manual commits to leave only manual commits.
! Works only if all wip commits have the same wip commit message !
[--git-editor] Not intended for manual use. Used as a non-interactive editor (GIT_EDITOR) for git.
[--git-sequence-editor] Not intended for manual use. Used as a non-interactive sequence editor (GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR) for git.
Timer Commands:
timer <minutes> start a <minutes> timer
start <minutes> start mob session in wip branch and a timer
Get more information:
status show the status of the current mob session
config show all configuration options
version show the version of mob
help show help
Other
moo moo!
Add --debug to any option to enable verbose logging
Examples:
# start 10 min session in wip branch 'mob-session'
mob start 10
# start session in wip branch 'mob/<base-branch>/green'
mob start --branch green
# handover code and return to base branch
mob next --return-to-base-branch
# squashes all commits and puts changes in index of base branch
mob done
# make a sound check
mob moo
- Say out loud
- Whenever you key in
mob next
at the end of your turn ormob start
at the beginning of your turn say the command out loud. - Why? Everybody sees and also hears who's turn is ending and who's turn has started.But even more important, the person who's turn is about to start needs to know when the previous person entered
mob next
so they get the latest commit via theirmob start
.
- Whenever you key in
- Steal the screenshare
- After your turn, don't disable the screenshare. Let the next person steal the screenshare. (Requires a setting in Zoom)
- Why? This provides more calm (and less diversion) for the rest of the mob as the video conference layout doesn't change, allowing the rest of the mob to keep discussing the problem and finding the best solution, even during a Git handover.
- Share audio
- Share your audio when you share your screen.
- Why? Sharing audio means everybody will hear when the timer is up. So everybody will help you to rotate, even if you have missed it coincidentally or deliberately.
- Use a timer
- Always specify a timer when using
mob start
(for a 5 minute timer usemob start 5
) - Why? Rotation is key to good pair and mob programming. Just build the habit right from the start. Try to set a timer so everybody can have a turn at least once every 30 minutes.
- Always specify a timer when using
- Set up a global shortcut for screensharing
- Set up a global keyboard shortcut to start sharing your screen. In Zoom, you can do this via Zoom > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts. More tips on setting up Zoom for effective screen sharing.
- Why? This is just much faster than using the mouse.
- Set your editor to autosave
- Have your editor save your files on every keystroke automatically. IntelliJ products do this automatically. VS Code, however, needs to be configured via "File > Auto Save toggle".
- Why? Sometimes people for get to things, for example saving their files. With autosave, any change you'd done in the repository will be handed over via
mob next
.
There are two Arch packages in the AUR:
- mobsh-bin: uses the binary from the upstream release.
- mobsh: compiles sources from scratch (and runs tests) locally.
Example installation using AUR helper yay
:
yay -S mobsh-bin
# OR
yay -S mobsh
To get the timer to play "mob next" on your speakers when your time is up, you'll need an installed speech engine. Install that on Debian/Ubuntu/Mint as follows:
sudo apt-get install espeak-ng-espeak mbrola-us1
Create a little script in your $PATH
called say
with the following content:
#!/bin/sh
espeak -v us-mbrola-1 "$@"
Show your current configuration with mob config
:
MOB_REMOTE_NAME=origin
MOB_WIP_COMMIT_MESSAGE=mob next [ci-skip] [ci skip] [skip ci]
MOB_REQUIRE_COMMIT_MESSAGE=false
MOB_VOICE_COMMAND=say "%s"
MOB_NOTIFY_COMMAND=/usr/bin/osascript -e 'display notification "%s"'
MOB_NEXT_STAY=true
MOB_START_INCLUDE_UNCOMMITTED_CHANGES=false
MOB_WIP_BRANCH_QUALIFIER=
MOB_WIP_BRANCH_QUALIFIER_SEPARATOR=-
MOB_DONE_SQUASH=true
MOB_TIMER=
Override default value permanently via environment variables:
export MOB_NEXT_STAY=true
Override default value just for a single call:
MOB_NEXT_STAY=true mob next
Propose your change in an issue or directly create a pull request with your improvements.
# PROJECT_ROOT is the root of the project/repository
cd $PROJECT_ROOT
git version # >= 2.17
go version # >= 1.14
go build # builds 'mob'
./create-testbed # creates test assets
go test # runs all tests
go test -run TestDetermineBranches # runs the single test named 'TestDetermineBranches'
# run tests and show test coverage in browser
go test -coverprofile=cover.out && go tool cover -html=cover.out
- mob is a thin wrapper around git.
- mob is not interactive.
- mob owns its wip branches. It will create wip branches, make commits, push them, but also delete them.
- mob requires the user to do changes in non-wip branches.
- mob provides a copy'n'paste solution if it encounters an error.
- mob relies on information accessible via git.
- mob provides only a few environment variables for configuration.
- mob only uses the Go standard library and no 3rd party plugins.
- INNOQ
- BLUME2000
- REWE Digital
- And probably many others who shall not be named.
Developed and maintained by Dr. Simon Harrer.
Contributions and testing by Jochen Christ, Martin Huber, Franziska Dessart, Nikolas Hermann and Christoph Welcz. Thank you!
Logo designed by Sonja Scheungrab.
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