Making cgit Pretty
Previously I wrote about how to install and configure cgit on Debian. If you have followed that short guide you now have a kick ass cgit install running on your server. So whats next? A bare cgit installation is pretty dull and there are some neat built in features that should be enabled for an optimal user experience. Open up /etc/cgitrc and made the following additions.
Configure Default README
You can set the default README for all repos by adding the following line.readme=master:README.md
This will tell cgit to look for the README.md file in your master branch for the default README for a given project.
Add an about filter
You can add an about filter which will add the about tab to your projects and display the README file configured in the previous step.about-filter=/usr/lib/cgit/filters/about-formatting.sh
Assuming that you have a README.md file in your master branch you will now see it in the about tab of your project.
Enable Syntax Highlighting
This is a no brainer. Adding syntax highlighting makes your code easier to look at on the website. This takes a few steps. First install the highlight package withsudo apt-get install highlight
. Next, open up/usr/lib/cgit/filters/syntax-highlighting.sh
and uncomment the last line that reads exec highlight --force -f -I -O xhtml -S "$EXTENSION" 2>/dev/null
Next, open up your stylesheet which should be found inusr/share/cgit/cgit.css
and add the following sections.
# Style definition file generated by highlight 2.4.8, http://www.andre-simon.de/ table.blob .num { color:#2928ff; } table.blob .esc { color:#ff00ff; } table.blob .str { color:#ff0000; } table.blob .dstr { color:#818100; } table.blob .slc { color:#838183; font-style:italic; } table.blob .com { color:#838183; font-style:italic; } table.blob .dir { color:#008200; } table.blob .sym { color:#000000; } table.blob .kwa { color:#000000; font-weight:bold; } table.blob .kwb { color:#830000; } table.blob .kwc { color:#000000; font-weight:bold; } table.blob .kwd { color:#010181; }# Style definition file generated by highlight 3.13, http://www.andre-simon.de/
body.hl { background-color:#e0eaee; } pre.hl { color:#000000; background-color:#e0eaee; font-size:10pt; font-family:‘Courier New’,monospace;} .hl.num { color:#b07e00; } .hl.esc { color:#ff00ff; } .hl.str { color:#bf0303; } .hl.pps { color:#818100; } .hl.slc { color:#838183; font-style:italic; } .hl.com { color:#838183; font-style:italic; } .hl.ppc { color:#008200; } .hl.opt { color:#000000; } .hl.ipl { color:#0057ae; } .hl.lin { color:#555555; } .hl.kwa { color:#000000; font-weight:bold; } .hl.kwb { color:#0057ae; } .hl.kwc { color:#000000; font-weight:bold; } .hl.kwd { color:#010181; }
source-filter=/usr/lib/cgit/filters/syntax-highlighting.sh
repo.url=my-repo repo.path=/srv/git/my-repo.git repo.readme=master:README.rst repo.about-filter=/usr/lib/cgit/filters/about-formatting.sh repo.desc=The best repo ever repo.owner=Your Name
Thank you for reading! Share your thoughts with me on bluesky, mastodon, or via email.
Check out some more stuff to read down below.
Most popular posts this month
- 2024
- Reinstalling Windows at 1am
- SQLite DB Migrations with PRAGMA user_version
- My Custom Miniflux CSS Theme
- How to Disable Wayland in Debian Testing
Recent Favorite Blog Posts
This is a collection of the last 8 posts that I bookmarked.
- Give Your Spouse the Gift of a Couple's Email Domain from mtlynch.io
- Skip the Next iPhone from Articles on Jose M.
- Have smart glasses finally hit an inflection point? from The Torment Nexus
- The McPhee method from the jsomers.net blog
- Pluralistic: LLMs are slot-machines (16 Aug 2025) from Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
- Pluralistic: Bluesky creates the world's weirdest, hardest-to-understand binding arbitration clause (15 Aug 2025) from Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
- Just a Little More Context Bro, I Promise, and It’ll Fix Everything from Jim Nielsen’s Blog
- The Futzing Fraction from Deciphering Glyph
Articles from blogs I follow around the net
Futureverse announces restructuring two years after raising $54 million
In 2023, there was no shortage of buzzy press coverage for Futureverse, which promised to build a metaverse and gaming-focused blockchain. They partnered with Ready Player One author Ernest Cline to build the "Readyverse". Th…
via Web3 is Going Just Great September 30, 2025New site, kinda
If you’re reading this blog using RSS or via email (when I remember to send the content via email), you likely didn’t notice it. And if you’re reading my blog in the browser but are not a sharp observer, chances are, you also didn’t notice it. A n…
via Manuel Moreale — Everything Feed September 30, 2025Pluralistic: Announcing the Enshittification tour (30 Sep 2025)
Today's links Announcing the Enshittification tour: Come say hi, why dontcha? Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: HP defeat device; It Gets Better; OPM hack endangers CIA in Beijing; Self-driving cars crash. Upcoming appearance…
via Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow September 30, 2025Generated by openring