Table of contents

• What is Sapling?
• Key features of Sapling
• Key features of Graphite's CLI
• When to choose Sapling
• When to choose Graphite's CLI
• Similarities
• Differences at a glance
• Conclusion
• Frequently asked questions

Sapling and Graphite's CLI both tackle the same modern developer pain point: managing stacked changes in Git. While Sapling is a full-fledged source control system originally designed at Meta to address massive monorepo challenges, Graphite builds on top of Git itself, offering a lightweight but powerful workflow layer.

Both tools make it easier to create, iterate, and submit stacks of commits for review, but they serve slightly different audiences and use cases. Let's break down how they compare.

What is Sapling?

Sapling is a source control system developed at Meta, designed to emphasize usability and scalability. Its system is both familiar to Git and Mercurial users and is engineered to simplify workflows such as working with stacks of commits and recovering from errors. It is especially effective in large monorepo environments and has the capability to scale to tens of millions of files, commits, and branches.

Key features of Sapling

• Intuitive UI: Sapling introduces a user-friendly interface that scales well for large repositories, making development workflows such as committing, amending, and pushing changes straightforward.

• Git integration: It supports interactions with Git repositories, enabling developers to work seamlessly with GitHub and other Git hosting services.

• Stacking work: Sapling simplifies the process of stacking, iterating, and submitting code changes for review. It aims to eliminate the complexities associated with branching in Git.

• Smartlog: A central feature that provides a clear and concise view of the local repository, showing not-yet-pushed commits, important branches, and the relationship between commits.

Key features of Graphite's CLI

• Git-first approach: Unlike Sapling, Graphite doesn't replace Git—it enhances it. All commands are Git-compatible, making adoption smooth without learning a new VCS.

• Stack-focused workflow: Graphite specializes in stacked diffs and pull requests. It offers powerful commands for splitting, reordering, and rebasing commits, reducing friction when submitting multiple PRs.

• Tight GitHub integration: Graphite's CLI is tightly integrated with GitHub, automating the process of pushing stacks, creating draft PRs, and syncing with reviews.

• Collaboration-oriented: Graphite's workflow is designed around modern team practices, including continuous integration hooks, PR automation, and smooth rebasing against main branches.

When to choose Sapling

• You want a source control system that goes beyond Git and Mercurial in scalability.
• You value safety features like first-class undo and commit hiding/unhiding.
• You prefer a dedicated UI (smartlog) to visualize and manage commit stacks.

Sapling shines where scale and safety matter most. It is purpose-built for Meta’s scale and may feel like overkill for smaller teams, but its speed and clarity in handling complex histories are unmatched.

When to choose Graphite's CLI

• You want to stay within Git but improve how you handle stacked changes.
• Your team is deeply invested in GitHub workflows and PR-based reviews.
• You prefer a lightweight layer that doesn't require switching source control systems.
• You want automation around PR creation, rebasing, and syncing with CI.

Graphite makes Git feel like a modern developer experience without forcing a migration. It’s particularly strong for small to mid-sized teams and any developer who wants stacked diffs but doesn’t need a new VCS.

Similarities

• Both simplify stacked development.
• Both reduce the complexity of rebasing and amending commits.
• Both aim to speed up iteration and review.

Differences at a glance

Conclusion

Sapling and Graphite both modernize the developer workflow around stacked changes, but they come from different philosophies. Sapling reimagines source control for extreme scale and error recovery, while Graphite elevates Git with a practical, GitHub-native workflow for PR-driven teams.

If your team struggles with Git's complexity in large repos, Sapling might be the better fit. If you want to supercharge your GitHub workflow without leaving Git behind, Graphite's CLI is a strong choice.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sapling?

Sapling is a source control system developed at Meta (formerly Facebook) to address the challenges of managing massive monorepos with tens of millions of files and commits. It's designed to be more scalable and user-friendly than traditional Git, with features like smartlog visualization and automatic commit stacking.

How does Sapling compare to Git?

While Git is a distributed version control system, Sapling is a complete source control management system that includes its own storage format and algorithms. Sapling can interoperate with Git repositories but offers additional features like better visualization, automatic restacking, and enhanced safety features for large-scale development.

Can I use Sapling with GitHub?

Yes, Sapling supports Git integration, allowing you to work with GitHub repositories. You can push and pull changes, create pull requests, and collaborate with teams using GitHub workflows while benefiting from Sapling's enhanced features.

Should I choose Sapling or Graphite CLI?

Choose Sapling if:

• You work with massive monorepos (millions of files)
• You want a complete replacement for Git with enhanced safety features
• You prefer a dedicated UI for commit visualization
• You're willing to learn a new source control system

Choose Graphite CLI if:

• You want to enhance your existing Git workflow
• Your team is deeply integrated with GitHub
• You prefer a lightweight tool that doesn't replace Git
• You want to maintain compatibility with existing Git tools and workflows

Is Sapling suitable for small teams?

Sapling is designed for large-scale development and may be overkill for small teams. The learning curve and complexity might not justify the benefits for smaller repositories. Graphite CLI is often a better choice for small to medium-sized teams that want to improve their Git workflow without switching source control systems.