gitko

Gitko is a fictional open-source distributed version control system designed to illustrate how a modern VCS can integrate project management features with Git-like workflows. It is built to interoperate with Git repositories while providing additional collaboration and governance tools.

The core concept of Gitko is to preserve the distributed, append-only history of commits and merges while offering an integrated issue tracker, code review, and build triggers within a single interface. Gitko uses a directed acyclic graph to record changes, similar to Git, with a pluggable storage backend and support for cryptographic signing of commits and tags.

It introduces a unified workflow that combines branch management with lightweight task boards, allowing teams to align code changes with milestones and sprints. The system provides a command-line interface modeled on Git commands, alongside a REST API and a web-based UI for browsing history, reviews, and CI status. Key features include atomic commits, signed commits, content-addressable storage, built-in code review workspaces, task and milestone links to commits, and project-level access controls. It supports push and pull workflows, remote repositories, and interoperability with existing Git remotes to fetch and push commits.

Gitko's development is community-driven, with governance designed to encourage transparent discussion, plugin extensions, and compatibility with common CI/CD pipelines. While not as widely adopted as Git, Gitko is presented as an experimental platform for teams seeking deeper integration between version control and project management.