Show HN: FromGtoG 8 – Cross-platform desktop tool to batch backup ALL Git repos

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I'm excited to announce the release of FromGtoG 8.1.1! This application is an essential cross-platform desktop utility for developers.

The initial idea focused only on cloning from GitHub to Gitea. Following a rapid evolution of features, FromGtoG is now a powerful, full-fledged tool for batch cloning and secure migration between multiple platforms.

The application currently supports robust two-way cloning and backup across:

• GitHub
• Gitea
• GitLab
• Local file systems (supporting Local ↔ Remote cloning).

FromGtoG goes beyond simple batch operations, offering advanced filtering and performance capabilities:

• Detailed Logging: Produces a comprehensive log file that allows you to analyze the application's work in detail, ensuring that every necessary repository was successfully cloned and verified.
• Rate Limit Prevention: Features an optional setting to define a time interval between cloning calls to prevent being banned or rate-limited by the remote server. This is especially useful for sequential (non-multi-threaded) operations.
• Multi-Threading: Utilizes multi-threading to parallelize the cloning process across multiple CPU cores, maximizing speed and efficiency on modern hardware.
• Precise Repository Filtering: Select exactly which repositories to clone based on their status or type:
  • Private Repos
  • Public Repos
  • Organization Repos
  • Starred Repos
  • Forked Repos
  • Archived Repos (Clones repositories archived on platforms like GitHub or Gitea, crucial for complete backups and long-term storage.)
• Granular Control:
  • Easily filter out specific repositories you do not wish to clone from the batch operation.
  • Clone only the repositories listed in a file, allowing developers to manage migration pipelines using external lists.

FromGtoG is built for maximum accessibility and stability, with dedicated support for major operating systems and architectures:

• Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, and Linux (available as Snap and .deb package).
• Architectures: amd64 (standard x86/Intel/AMD) and arm64 (Apple Silicon/ARM Linux).

Since publishing version 3.0 just a few months ago, I realized a significant code rewrite was necessary to ensure the application remains maintainable and easy to understand as it grows. This rewrite led us to the current, stable version, 8.1.1.

To achieve the best possible structural integrity and to allow for future feature expansion, I implemented extensive use of several Software Design Patterns. These patterns ensure better modularity and long-term stability:

• Composite Pattern: Used for robust and flexible user input validation, ensuring data integrity across all platforms.
• Abstract Factory: Manages flexible connections with different Git platform APIs (GitHub, Gitea, GitLab).
• Strategy: Enables dynamic switching of the cloning and migration logic (e.g., handling Local-to-Remote operations).
• Singleton: Ensures efficient, centralized resource management.

Currently, the application is able to clone:

• from GitHub to GitHub\Gitea\Local\Gitlab
• from Gitea to GitHub\Gitea\Local\Gitlab
• from Gitlab to GitHub\Gitea\Local\Gitlab
• from Local to GitHub\Gitea\Local\Gitlab (copies only git repositories, other directories are skipped)

Further features

• granular cloning filter
• multi-threading
• logging (log file)
• customizable waiting time between 2 cloning processes
• delete all repositories from:
  • from GitHub
  • from Gitea
  • from Gitlab

• Download MacOS AMD64 installer - just install the .pkg file (allow third party execution before). Note: for copy/paste actions, please use Control + C and Control + V (I will enable Command + C and Command + V in the future.)
• Download MacOS ARM64 Installer

• Download Windows AMD64 installer - just install the .exe file and start cloning.
• Download Windows ARM64 installer - just install the .exe file and start cloning.

• Install from Ubutnu AMD64/ARM64 Snapstore - or execute sudo snap install fromgtog in order to install the application.
• Download Ubuntu AMD64 package - in order to install the .deb package execute sudo dpkg -i fromgtog_8.1.1_amd64.deb
• Download Ubuntu ARM64 package - in order to install the .deb package execute sudo dpkg -i fromgtog_8.1.1_arm64.deb

JDK 21, Intellij UI Designer (plugin for Intellij), Slf4J, Lombok, Apache Commons, JSON.

• 2025/10/12
  • added the following GitHub Workflows in order to build executables of FromGtoG for each platform:
    • Linux (.deb)
      • amd64
      • arm64
    • MacOS (.pkg)
      • amd64
      • arm64
    • Windows (.msi)
      • amd64
      • arm64
• 2025/10/10
  • user input validation feature (composite pattern + factory pattern in order to make the code more readable) -> " Fianlly!" (:
  • currently validation feature is compatible only with Linux paths (not tested on other Operative Systems) -> I still need to complete it in order to make it cross platform
  • view tokens as password (****)
  • update log level to info -> "Fianlly!" (:
  • exclude repo names feature
  • clone only repo names stored in a file feature
• 2025/10/07
  • refactor: remove useless code - now we have auto-closable resource so it is not necessary to close them manually
  • show version number on the title bar
• 2025/10/06 - Today I applied few small improvements to the application. In particular:

  • I fixed an issue related to the Executor Service

  • I updated those parts of the code that allow to keep the total number of cloned repositories at the end of cloning process.

  • I fixed the "final status message". Now, if at least one git clone operation failed, FromGtoG will show a final error message.

    Because the improvements are not super important and because the release process on all platforms requires some time, I will release the new version of FromGtoG only on the Ubuntu App Center.

    About 2-3 days ago I played with Java Virtual Threads. I wanted to decrease the cloning process time. I succeeded to get a few seconds less than Platform Threads. Because the improvement was not significant (there is a bottleneck in an external library), I decided to avoid to include this new feature into FromGtoG application.

• 2025/06/23 - I discovered that FromGtoG .deb package was not working on Debian 10. I rebuilt the package on Debian 10. So, now it should work on both Ubuntu latest and Debian 10. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please ping me if you find a bug ( open an issue on GitHub or contact me). The v. 7.0.0 should work now also on Debian 10. You can download it from here.
• fixed the windows/linux and macOS packaging - now it is possible to clone from GitHub. The absence of the jdk.crypto.ec and java.security.sasl imports in the --add-modules option, prevented the SSL connections, so the clone process failed, in particular for GitHub (which uses SSL).

It is necessary to install Xcode Command Line Tools before.

It is necessary to install Wix Toolset before.

• Ubuntu 25.04
• Debian 10
• Windows 11
• MacOS

If you find this project helpful, consider sponsoring me 💚