gitbackup-github-desktop

GitBackup — GitHub Repository Backup Desktop App

Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

GitBackup is an Electron + React desktop application that clones all your GitHub repositories locally and optionally uploads compressed .tar.gz archives to AWS S3 or Cloudflare R2. It supports incremental updates, scheduled backups, concurrent processing, and encrypted local settings storage.

Installation

Download Pre-built Binary

Download from Releases:

Platform	File
macOS	GitBackup-x.x.x.dmg
Windows	GitBackup-Setup-x.x.x.exe
Linux	GitBackup-x.x.x.AppImage

Prerequisite: Git must be installed and available in PATH.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/hiteshchoudhary/gitbackup.git
cd gitbackup
npm install

# Development with hot reload
npm run dev

# Package for current platform
npm run package

# Platform-specific builds
npm run package:mac
npm run package:win
npm run package:linux

GitHub Token Setup

1. Go to github.com/settings/tokens
2. Tokens (classic) → Generate new token (classic)
3. Select scopes: repo (full access) + read:org (for org repos)
4. Copy the token and paste into the app's Setup page

Fine-grained tokens also work — grant Repository access → All repositories.

Project Structure

gitbackup/
├── electron/                       # Main process (Node.js)
│   ├── main.ts                     # App window, tray, lifecycle
│   ├── preload.ts                  # Secure IPC bridge
│   ├── tray.ts                     # System tray icon
│   ├── ipc/                        # IPC handler modules
│   ├── services/
│   │   ├── github.service.ts       # GitHub API via Octokit
│   │   ├── git.service.ts          # Clone & fetch repos (simple-git)
│   │   ├── compress.service.ts     # tar.gz archiving
│   │   ├── cloud.service.ts        # S3/R2 uploads (AWS SDK v3)
│   │   ├── backup-orchestrator.ts  # Core backup pipeline
│   │   └── scheduler.service.ts    # Cron scheduling (node-cron)
│   └── store/store.ts              # Encrypted settings (electron-store)
└── src/                            # Renderer process (React 19)
    ├── pages/                      # Setup, Repos, Backup, Settings
    ├── components/                 # UI components
    └── hooks/                      # IPC & state hooks

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	Electron 35
Frontend	React 19 + Tailwind CSS
Language	TypeScript 5
Bundler	Vite 8
GitHub API	@octokit/rest
Git operations	simple-git
Cloud storage	AWS SDK v3 (S3-compatible)
Settings	electron-store (encrypted)
Scheduling	node-cron
Packaging	electron-builder

Core Services — Code Examples

GitHub Service (Octokit)

// electron/services/github.service.ts
import { Octokit } from "@octokit/rest";

export class GitHubService {
  private octokit: Octokit;

  constructor(token: string) {
    this.octokit = new Octokit({ auth: token });
  }

  async getAuthenticatedUser() {
    const { data } = await this.octokit.users.getAuthenticated();
    return data;
  }

  // Fetch all repos with pagination — handles 200-300+ repos
  async fetchAllRepositories(filters: RepoFilters): Promise<Repository[]> {
    const repos: Repository[] = [];

    if (filters.owned) {
      for await (const response of this.octokit.paginate.iterator(
        this.octokit.repos.listForAuthenticatedUser,
        { affiliation: "owner", per_page: 100 }
      )) {
        repos.push(...response.data);
      }
    }

    if (filters.organizations) {
      const orgs = await this.octokit.orgs.listForAuthenticatedUser();
      for (const org of orgs.data) {
        for await (const response of this.octokit.paginate.iterator(
          this.octokit.repos.listForOrg,
          { org: org.login, per_page: 100 }
        )) {
          repos.push(...response.data);
        }
      }
    }

    if (filters.starred) {
      for await (const response of this.octokit.paginate.iterator(
        this.octokit.activity.listReposStarredByAuthenticatedUser,
        { per_page: 100 }
      )) {
        repos.push(...response.data as any);
      }
    }

    return repos;
  }
}

Git Service (Clone & Fetch)

// electron/services/git.service.ts
import simpleGit, { SimpleGit } from "simple-git";
import path from "path";
import fs from "fs";

export class GitService {
  // Clone with all branches or fetch updates if already exists
  async backupRepository(
    repoUrl: string,
    backupPath: string,
    token: string
  ): Promise<void> {
    // Embed token in URL (cleaned after operation)
    const authenticatedUrl = repoUrl.replace(
      "https://",
      `https://x-access-token:${token}@`
    );

    const repoExists = fs.existsSync(path.join(backupPath, ".git"));

    if (repoExists) {
      // Incremental update — only fetch changes
      const git: SimpleGit = simpleGit(backupPath);
      await git.fetch(["--all", "--prune"]);
    } else {
      // First run — full clone with all branches
      fs.mkdirSync(backupPath, { recursive: true });
      const git: SimpleGit = simpleGit();
      await git.clone(authenticatedUrl, backupPath, ["--mirror"]);
    }

    // Remove token from remote URL after operation
    const git: SimpleGit = simpleGit(backupPath);
    await git.remote(["set-url", "origin", repoUrl]);
  }
}

Cloud Service (S3 / Cloudflare R2)

// electron/services/cloud.service.ts
import { S3Client, PutObjectCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";
import fs from "fs";

export interface CloudConfig {
  provider: "s3" | "r2";
  bucket: string;
  region?: string;         // AWS S3
  endpoint?: string;       // Cloudflare R2 endpoint
  accessKeyId: string;     // from env: process.env.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
  secretAccessKey: string; // from env: process.env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
}

export class CloudService {
  private client: S3Client;
  private bucket: string;

  constructor(config: CloudConfig) {
    this.bucket = config.bucket;
    this.client = new S3Client({
      region: config.region ?? "auto",
      endpoint: config.endpoint,       // Set for Cloudflare R2
      credentials: {
        accessKeyId: config.accessKeyId,
        secretAccessKey: config.secretAccessKey,
      },
    });
  }

  async uploadArchive(archivePath: string, key: string): Promise<void> {
    const fileStream = fs.createReadStream(archivePath);
    await this.client.send(
      new PutObjectCommand({
        Bucket: this.bucket,
        Key: key,              // e.g. "owner/repo-name.tar.gz"
        Body: fileStream,
        ContentType: "application/gzip",
      })
    );
  }
}

Compress Service

// electron/services/compress.service.ts
import tar from "tar";
import path from "path";

export class CompressService {
  async createArchive(
    sourceDir: string,
    outputPath: string
  ): Promise<string> {
    const archiveName = `${path.basename(sourceDir)}.tar.gz`;
    const archivePath = path.join(outputPath, archiveName);

    await tar.create(
      { gzip: true, file: archivePath, cwd: path.dirname(sourceDir) },
      [path.basename(sourceDir)]
    );

    return archivePath;
  }
}

Backup Orchestrator (Pipeline)

// electron/services/backup-orchestrator.ts
import pLimit from "p-limit";

export interface BackupOptions {
  repos: Repository[];
  backupPath: string;
  token: string;
  concurrency: number;       // 1-10
  cloudConfig?: CloudConfig;
  onProgress: (repoName: string, status: RepoStatus) => void;
}

export class BackupOrchestrator {
  async run(options: BackupOptions): Promise<void> {
    const limit = pLimit(options.concurrency);
    const gitService = new GitService();
    const compressService = new CompressService();
    const cloudService = options.cloudConfig
      ? new CloudService(options.cloudConfig)
      : null;

    const tasks = options.repos.map((repo) =>
      limit(async () => {
        const repoPath = path.join(
          options.backupPath,
          repo.owner.login,
          repo.name
        );

        try {
          options.onProgress(repo.full_name, { status: "cloning" });
          await gitService.backupRepository(
            repo.clone_url,
            repoPath,
            options.token
          );

          if (cloudService) {
            options.onProgress(repo.full_name, { status: "compressing" });
            const archivePath = await compressService.createArchive(
              repoPath,
              options.backupPath
            );

            options.onProgress(repo.full_name, { status: "uploading" });
            await cloudService.uploadArchive(
              archivePath,
              `${repo.owner.login}/${repo.name}.tar.gz`
            );
          }

          options.onProgress(repo.full_name, { status: "done" });
        } catch (error) {
          options.onProgress(repo.full_name, {
            status: "error",
            error: (error as Error).message,
          });
        }
      })
    );

    await Promise.all(tasks);
  }
}

Scheduler Service

// electron/services/scheduler.service.ts
import cron from "node-cron";

export type ScheduleFrequency = "daily" | "weekly" | "monthly";

export class SchedulerService {
  private task: cron.ScheduledTask | null = null;

  schedule(
    frequency: ScheduleFrequency,
    time: string,             // "HH:MM" format
    callback: () => void
  ): void {
    this.stop();

    const [hour, minute] = time.split(":").map(Number);

    const cronExpressions: Record<ScheduleFrequency, string> = {
      daily:   `${minute} ${hour} * * *`,
      weekly:  `${minute} ${hour} * * 0`,
      monthly: `${minute} ${hour} 1 * *`,
    };

    this.task = cron.schedule(cronExpressions[frequency], callback);
  }

  stop(): void {
    this.task?.stop();
    this.task = null;
  }
}

Encrypted Settings Store

// electron/store/store.ts
import Store from "electron-store";

interface AppSettings {
  githubToken: string;
  backupPath: string;
  concurrency: number;
  schedule?: {
    enabled: boolean;
    frequency: "daily" | "weekly" | "monthly";
    time: string;
  };
  cloud?: {
    provider: "s3" | "r2";
    bucket: string;
    region?: string;
    endpoint?: string;
    accessKeyId: string;
    secretAccessKey: string;
  };
}

export const store = new Store<AppSettings>({
  encryptionKey: "your-app-encryption-key", // electron-store encrypts at rest
  defaults: {
    githubToken: "",
    backupPath: "",
    concurrency: 3,
  },
});

// Usage
store.set("githubToken", token);
store.get("backupPath");
store.set("cloud", {
  provider: "r2",
  bucket: process.env.R2_BUCKET_NAME!,
  endpoint: process.env.R2_ENDPOINT!,
  accessKeyId: process.env.R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID!,
  secretAccessKey: process.env.R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY!,
});

IPC Bridge (Preload → Renderer)

// electron/preload.ts
import { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } from "electron";

contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld("electronAPI", {
  // GitHub
  validateToken: (token: string) =>
    ipcRenderer.invoke("github:validate-token", token),
  fetchRepos: (filters: RepoFilters) =>
    ipcRenderer.invoke("github:fetch-repos", filters),

  // Backup
  startBackup: (options: BackupOptions) =>
    ipcRenderer.invoke("backup:start", options),
  onProgress: (callback: (data: ProgressEvent) => void) =>
    ipcRenderer.on("backup:progress", (_event, data) => callback(data)),

  // Settings
  getSettings: () => ipcRenderer.invoke("settings:get"),
  saveSettings: (settings: Partial<AppSettings>) =>
    ipcRenderer.invoke("settings:save", settings),

  // Folder picker
  selectFolder: () => ipcRenderer.invoke("dialog:select-folder"),
});

// src/hooks/useBackup.ts — React renderer side
import { useState } from "react";

export function useBackup() {
  const [progress, setProgress] = useState<Record<string, RepoStatus>>({});

  const startBackup = async (repos: Repository[]) => {
    // Listen for per-repo progress events
    window.electronAPI.onProgress((data) => {
      setProgress((prev) => ({
        ...prev,
        [data.repoName]: data.status,
      }));
    });

    await window.electronAPI.startBackup({
      repos,
      concurrency: 5,
    });
  };

  return { startBackup, progress };
}

Configuration Reference

Setting	Description	Default
githubToken	PAT with repo + read:org scopes	—
backupPath	Local directory for cloned repos	—
concurrency	Parallel repo operations (1–10)	3
schedule.frequency	daily / weekly / monthly	—
schedule.time	Time in HH:MM format	—
cloud.provider	s3 or r2	—
cloud.bucket	S3/R2 bucket name	—
cloud.region	AWS region (S3 only)	us-east-1
cloud.endpoint	Custom endpoint (R2: https://<id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com)	—

Cloudflare R2 vs AWS S3 Configuration

// AWS S3
const s3Config: CloudConfig = {
  provider: "s3",
  bucket: process.env.S3_BUCKET!,
  region: process.env.AWS_REGION ?? "us-east-1",
  accessKeyId: process.env.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID!,
  secretAccessKey: process.env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY!,
};

// Cloudflare R2 — uses S3-compatible API
const r2Config: CloudConfig = {
  provider: "r2",
  bucket: process.env.R2_BUCKET!,
  endpoint: `https://${process.env.CF_ACCOUNT_ID}.r2.cloudflarestorage.com`,
  accessKeyId: process.env.R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID!,
  secretAccessKey: process.env.R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY!,
};

Repository Filters

interface RepoFilters {
  owned: boolean;          // Repos you own
  organizations: boolean;  // Repos in your orgs
  starred: boolean;        // Repos you've starred
  forked: boolean;         // Forked repos
  collaborator: boolean;   // Repos you collaborate on
}

// Example: back up only owned + org repos
const filters: RepoFilters = {
  owned: true,
  organizations: true,
  starred: false,
  forked: false,
  collaborator: false,
};

Repo Storage Layout

~/GitBackup/
├── hiteshchoudhary/
│   ├── gitbackup/        # Mirror clone (all branches)
│   ├── project-a/
│   └── project-b/
├── some-org/
│   └── org-repo/
└── archives/             # .tar.gz files (if cloud upload enabled)
    ├── hiteshchoudhary/
    │   ├── gitbackup.tar.gz
    │   └── project-a.tar.gz
    └── some-org/
        └── org-repo.tar.gz

Common Patterns

Adding a New IPC Handler

// electron/ipc/backup.handler.ts
import { ipcMain } from "electron";
import { BackupOrchestrator } from "../services/backup-orchestrator";

export function registerBackupHandlers(mainWindow: BrowserWindow) {
  ipcMain.handle("backup:start", async (_event, options: BackupOptions) => {
    const orchestrator = new BackupOrchestrator();

    await orchestrator.run({
      ...options,
      onProgress: (repoName, status) => {
        // Send progress back to renderer
        mainWindow.webContents.send("backup:progress", { repoName, status });
      },
    });
  });
}

Adding a New Settings Page (React)

// src/pages/Settings.tsx
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";

export default function Settings() {
  const [settings, setSettings] = useState<AppSettings | null>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    window.electronAPI.getSettings().then(setSettings);
  }, []);

  const handleSave = async () => {
    await window.electronAPI.saveSettings(settings!);
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <label>Concurrency (1-10)</label>
      <input
        type="number"
        min={1}
        max={10}
        value={settings?.concurrency ?? 3}
        onChange={(e) =>
          setSettings((s) => ({ ...s!, concurrency: Number(e.target.value) }))
        }
      />
      <button onClick={handleSave}>Save</button>
    </div>
  );
}

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
git: command not found	Install Git and ensure it's in system PATH
Token validation fails	Confirm repo + read:org scopes are granted
macOS "app can't be opened"	Right-click → Open to bypass Gatekeeper
Windows Defender warning	Click "More info" → "Run anyway"
Rate limit errors (large accounts)	Reduce concurrency to 1–2; app handles pagination automatically
R2 upload 403 errors	Verify CF_ACCOUNT_ID in endpoint URL and correct R2 API token permissions
Incremental fetch not working	Ensure backupPath still contains .git directory
Scheduled backup not triggering	Keep app running in system tray (don't fully quit)

Development Tips

# Run dev server (Vite + Electron with hot reload)
npm run dev

# Type-check without building
npx tsc --noEmit

# Build renderer only
npx vite build

# Inspect electron-store saved data location
# macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/GitBackup/config.json
# Windows: %APPDATA%\GitBackup\config.json
# Linux: ~/.config/GitBackup/config.json