Sort branches by commit date like lazygit

Use git for-each-ref with --sort=-committerdate to order branches by
last commit date (newest first), matching lazygit's default behavior.
Added e2e test with controlled commit dates to verify ordering.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

bb.edn

@@ -12,4 +12,8 @@
          e2e:setup {:doc "Setup standard e2e test repo"
                     :task (e2e/setup-test-repo)}
          e2e:setup-cursor {:doc "Setup cursor navigation test repo"
-                           :task (e2e/setup-cursor-test-repo)}}}
+                           :task (e2e/setup-cursor-test-repo)}
+         e2e:setup-branch-order {:doc "Setup branch order test repo"
+                                 :task (e2e/setup-branch-order-test-repo)}
+         e2e:cleanup-branch-order {:doc "Cleanup branch order test repo"
+                                   :task (e2e/cleanup-branch-order-test-repo)}}}

src/lazygitclj/git.clj

@@ -86,13 +86,23 @@
 ;; === Branches ===
 
 (defn branches
-  "Returns list of local branches."
+  "Returns list of local branches, sorted by last commit date (newest first).
+   This matches lazygit's default branch ordering."
   []
-  (->> (sh "git" "branch" "--format=%(refname:short)")
+  (->> (sh "git" "for-each-ref"
+           "--sort=-committerdate"
+           "--format=%(refname:short)"
+           "refs/heads/")
        lines))
 
-(defn remote-branches []
-  (->> (sh "git" "branch" "-r" "--format=%(refname:short)")
+(defn remote-branches
+  "Returns list of remote branches, sorted by last commit date (newest first).
+   This matches lazygit's default remote branch ordering."
+  []
+  (->> (sh "git" "for-each-ref"
+           "--sort=-committerdate"
+           "--format=%(refname:short)"
+           "refs/remotes/")
        lines))
 
 ;; === Actions ===

test/e2e.clj

@@ -75,6 +75,78 @@
    (println "Cursor test repo created at" repo-dir)
    repo-dir))
 
+(defn setup-branch-order-test-repo
+  "Setup test repo with branches having different commit dates to test sorting.
+   Creates branches in alphabetical order but with commits in reverse order,
+   so date-sorted results should differ from alphabetical.
+
+   Commit dates:
+   - main:         2024-01-04 (newest, so it appears first)
+   - gamma-branch: 2024-01-03
+   - beta-branch:  2024-01-02
+   - alpha-branch: 2024-01-01 (oldest)
+
+   Expected date-sorted order: main, gamma-branch, beta-branch, alpha-branch
+   Alphabetical order would be: alpha-branch, beta-branch, gamma-branch, main"
+  ([] (setup-branch-order-test-repo "/tmp/lazygitclj-e2e-branch-order"))
+  ([repo-dir]
+   (fs/delete-tree repo-dir)
+   (fs/create-dirs repo-dir)
+
+   ;; Initialize repo
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "init" "-b" "main")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "config" "user.email" "test@example.com")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "config" "user.name" "Test User")
+
+   ;; Initial commit on main (will be updated later with a specific date)
+   (spit (fs/file repo-dir "README.md") "# Branch Order Test\n")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "add" ".")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir :extra-env {"GIT_COMMITTER_DATE" "2024-01-04T10:00:00"}}
+          "git" "commit" "-m" "Initial commit" "--date=2024-01-04T10:00:00")
+
+   ;; Create branches with commits in specific order (oldest to newest):
+   ;; alpha-branch (oldest) -> beta-branch -> gamma-branch -> main (newest)
+   ;; This way, date-sorted order should be: main, gamma, beta, alpha
+   ;; while alphabetical would be: alpha, beta, gamma, main
+
+   ;; Create alpha-branch (oldest)
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "checkout" "-b" "alpha-branch")
+   (spit (fs/file repo-dir "alpha.txt") "alpha content\n")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "add" ".")
+   ;; Use GIT_COMMITTER_DATE to set specific commit times
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir :extra-env {"GIT_COMMITTER_DATE" "2024-01-01T10:00:00"}}
+          "git" "commit" "-m" "Add alpha" "--date=2024-01-01T10:00:00")
+
+   ;; Create beta-branch (middle)
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "checkout" "main")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "checkout" "-b" "beta-branch")
+   (spit (fs/file repo-dir "beta.txt") "beta content\n")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "add" ".")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir :extra-env {"GIT_COMMITTER_DATE" "2024-01-02T10:00:00"}}
+          "git" "commit" "-m" "Add beta" "--date=2024-01-02T10:00:00")
+
+   ;; Create gamma-branch
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "checkout" "main")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "checkout" "-b" "gamma-branch")
+   (spit (fs/file repo-dir "gamma.txt") "gamma content\n")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "add" ".")
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir :extra-env {"GIT_COMMITTER_DATE" "2024-01-03T10:00:00"}}
+          "git" "commit" "-m" "Add gamma" "--date=2024-01-03T10:00:00")
+
+   ;; Return to main
+   (shell {:dir repo-dir} "git" "checkout" "main")
+
+   (println "Branch order test repo created at" repo-dir)
+   (println "Expected date-sorted order: main, gamma-branch, beta-branch, alpha-branch")
+   repo-dir))
+
+(defn cleanup-branch-order-test-repo
+  "Clean up the branch order test repo."
+  ([] (cleanup-branch-order-test-repo "/tmp/lazygitclj-e2e-branch-order"))
+  ([repo-dir]
+   (fs/delete-tree repo-dir)
+   (println "Cleaned up" repo-dir)))
+
 (def tests
   "List of e2e test tapes."
   ["test/e2e/navigation.tape"
@@ -85,6 +157,7 @@
    "test/e2e/branches.tape"
    "test/e2e/branch-operations.tape"
    "test/e2e/branches-tabs.tape"
+   "test/e2e/branch-order.tape"
    "test/e2e/commits-tabs.tape"
    "test/e2e/stash-operations.tape"
    "test/e2e/stash-menu.tape"
@@ -127,5 +200,7 @@
     (case (first args)
       "setup" (setup-test-repo (or (second args) "/tmp/lazygitclj-e2e-test"))
       "setup-cursor" (setup-cursor-test-repo (or (second args) "/tmp/lazygitclj-e2e-cursor"))
+      "setup-branch-order" (setup-branch-order-test-repo (or (second args) "/tmp/lazygitclj-e2e-branch-order"))
+      "cleanup-branch-order" (cleanup-branch-order-test-repo (or (second args) "/tmp/lazygitclj-e2e-branch-order"))
       "run" (run-all)
       (run-all))))

test/e2e/branch-order.tape

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+# VHS E2E test for lazygitclj - Branch ordering by commit date
+# Tests that branches are sorted by commit date (newest first) like lazygit
+#
+# Setup creates branches with specific commit dates:
+# - main:         2024-01-04 (newest)
+# - gamma-branch: 2024-01-03
+# - beta-branch:  2024-01-02
+# - alpha-branch: 2024-01-01 (oldest)
+#
+# Expected order in UI (by date): main, gamma-branch, beta-branch, alpha-branch
+# Alphabetical order would be: alpha-branch, beta-branch, gamma-branch, main
+
+Output test/e2e/output/branch-order.gif
+Output test/e2e/output/branch-order.ascii
+
+Require bb
+
+Set Shell "bash"
+Set FontSize 14
+Set Width 1000
+Set Height 600
+Set Framerate 10
+
+# Setup test repo with branches having different commit dates
+Type "cd /home/ajet/repos/lazygitclj && bb e2e:setup-branch-order"
+Enter
+Sleep 1s
+
+# Run lazygitclj in the test repo
+Type "cd /tmp/lazygitclj-e2e-branch-order && bb --config /home/ajet/repos/lazygitclj/bb.edn start"
+Enter
+Sleep 2s
+
+# Switch to Branches panel (panel 3)
+Type "3"
+Sleep 500ms
+
+# The branches panel should show branches in date order:
+# gamma-branch (newest), beta-branch, alpha-branch, main (oldest)
+# Take a moment to verify the order visually
+Sleep 2s
+
+# Navigate down through the branches to verify order
+Type "j"
+Sleep 300ms
+Type "j"
+Sleep 300ms
+Type "j"
+Sleep 300ms
+
+# Navigate back up
+Type "k"
+Sleep 300ms
+Type "k"
+Sleep 300ms
+Type "k"
+Sleep 300ms
+
+# Quit
+Type "q"
+Sleep 1s
+
+# Cleanup test repo
+Type "cd /home/ajet/repos/lazygitclj && bb e2e:cleanup-branch-order"
+Enter
+Sleep 500ms