WasmOcular
Browser-native tool for mining and visualizing Git repository data, with no server and no installation required. Built as my master's thesis at TU Wien.
Why in the browser?
Repository mining tools normally mean a server, a database, and an installation guide. I wanted to see how far a single browser tab can go. WasmOcular lets researchers clone a Git repository, analyze it, and explore the results without installing anything — the entire tool is a static page.
How it works
The browser clones the repository with wasm-git, processes history with Gitoxide compiled to WASM, stores everything in DuckDB-WASM, and renders interactive dashboards on top. Apache Arrow moves the data between these components without copies. There is no backend; the whole pipeline runs client-side.
Technical choices
- wasm-git handles Git operations in the browser, so nothing is cloned server-side
- DuckDB-WASM runs the analytical SQL queries over repository history
- Apache Arrow transfers data between components zero-copy
- React renders the dashboards and visualizations
Where it landed
The finished prototype mines and visualizes real repositories entirely client-side, and the thesis behind it makes the case that WebAssembly is now mature enough for serious developer tooling in the browser.