Accessing the git shell in GitX on OS X

Question

I know this sounds very basic, but I couldn't find where I can access the git shell in GitX.

A bonus question: Do I have to use the shell in order to clone a repo from GitHub?

Answer 1

In the menubar (GitX) you can enable gitx terminal usage.

See the user manual on Advance GitX usage.

Answer 2

I believe there is no "git shell" provided by GitX. It (the shell) is rather part of the Git installation (which included also GitK, similar to GitX)

The GitX User Manual mentions a "Enable Terminal Usage…" from GitX's menu, but that is only to launch GitX with the appropriate options in order to visualize a branch or another for instance.

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Note: any shell (Mac or Windows) with 'git' in the $PATH can be called a "git shell", in which you can execute "git" commands (git clone, git push, git show, ...)

But there is also, part of the Git distribution, a "git-shell" command, a non-interactive shell used as a login shell for SSH accounts you want to restrict to GIT pull/push access only. It permits execution only of server-side GIT commands implementing the pull/push functionality.

Both are not part of GitX.

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Regarding cloning, as mentioned here, you can clone with Git Gui:

even though the command line in a shell remains the straightforward option:

git clone repoURL