What is Quay?
Quay is a macOS menu-bar app that keeps local folders in sync with GitHub repositories. Point it at a folder, connect a repo, and Quay handles staging, committing, pushing, and pulling with a single click — version control without the command line.
Under the hood
Quay is a thin layer on top of the local git binary. Each sync fetches from GitHub, fast-forward merges remote changes, stages local modifications, commits, and pushes. The repo on disk is a standard Git repo any other tool can work with.
Authentication uses GitHub's OAuth device flow or a personal access token, stored in the app's sandboxed container and never sent anywhere except GitHub.
Conflicts
Quay only fast-forward merges — it never creates merge commits silently. If local and remote have diverged, Quay stops and lets you choose how to resolve it: merge, rebase, save your work to a fresh branch, or reset to the GitHub version. No work is lost without your explicit decision.
Safety checks
Before pushing, Quay blocks files over 50 MB and common secrets (.env, .pem, .key). If either check fails, the sync is aborted until the files are removed or added to .gitignore.