diff --git a/git/git_client.cpp b/git/git_client.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17eacd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/git/git_client.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+#include "git_client.h"
+#include "update.h"
+
+#include <QRegularExpression>
+#include <QDebug>
+#include <QDir>
+
+GitClient::GitClient(QString const &workingDirectory, QString const &branchName)
+  : m_workingDirectory(workingDirectory)
+  , m_branchName(branchName) {
+}
+
+void GitClient::setWorkingDirectory(QString const &workingDirectory) {
+    m_workingDirectory = workingDirectory;
+}
+
+QString GitClient::workingDirectory() const {
+    return m_workingDirectory;
+}
+
+void GitClient::setBranchName(QString const &branchName) {
+    m_branchName = branchName;
+}
+
+QString GitClient::branchName() const {
+    return m_branchName;
+}
+
+std::optional<QString> GitClient::gitCloneRepository(QString const &repPath) {
+    QString gitCommand("git clone ");
+    gitCommand += repPath;
+    Command c(gitCommand);
+    if (c.execute(m_workingDirectory)) {
+        QString result = c.getCommandResult();
+        if (!result.isEmpty()) {
+            // Cloning into 'customer_281'...\n
+            static QRegularExpression re("(^\\s*Cloning\\s+into\\s+[']\\s*)(.*)(\\s*['].*$)");
+            QRegularExpressionMatch match = re.match(result);
+            if (match.hasMatch()) {
+                if (re.captureCount() == 3) { // start with full match (0), then the other 3 matches
+                    return match.captured(2);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return std::nullopt;
+}
+
+bool GitClient::gitCheckout(QString const &branchName) {
+    QString gitCommand("git checkout ");
+    gitCommand += branchName;
+    Command c(gitCommand);
+    return c.execute(m_workingDirectory);
+}
+
+std::optional<QString> GitClient::gitCloneBranch(QString const &repPath,
+                                                 QString const &branchName) {
+    if (std::optional<QString> rep = gitCloneRepository(repPath)) {
+        QDir wd(m_workingDirectory);
+        if (wd.cd(rep.value())) {
+            m_workingDirectory = wd.absolutePath();
+            if (gitCheckout(branchName)) {
+                return branchName;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return std::nullopt;
+}
+
+std::optional<QStringList> GitClient::gitDiff(QString const &commits) {
+    // 409f198..6c22726
+    QString gitCommand("git diff --compact-summary ");
+    gitCommand += commits;
+
+    Command c(gitCommand);
+    if (c.execute(m_workingDirectory)) {
+        QString s = c.getCommandResult().trimmed();
+        QStringList lines = Update::split(s, '\n');
+        QStringList fileNames;
+        // each line has the format "etc/psa_config/DC2C_print01.json | 1 +
+        // or the format            "etc/psa_config/DC2C_print01.json (new) | 1 +
+        // the filenames are relativ to the repository
+        for (int i = 0; i < lines.size(); ++i) {
+            int newIndex = lines.at(i).indexOf("(new)");
+            if (newIndex != -1) {
+                QString fileName = lines.at(i).mid(0, newIndex).trimmed();
+                fileNames << fileName;
+            } else {
+                int pipeIndex = lines.at(i).indexOf('|');
+                if (pipeIndex != -1) {
+                    QString fileName = lines.at(i).mid(0, pipeIndex).trimmed();
+                    fileNames << fileName;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if (!fileNames.isEmpty()) {
+            return fileNames;
+        }
+    }
+    return std::nullopt;
+}
+
+std::optional<QString> GitClient::gitFetch() {
+    Command c("git fetch");
+    if (c.execute(m_workingDirectory)) {
+        QString s = c.getCommandResult().trimmed();
+        QStringList lines = Update::split(s, '\n');
+        if (!lines.empty()) {
+            // 409f198..6c22726  zg1/zone1  -> origin/zg1/zone1
+            static QRegularExpression re("(^\\s*)([0-9A-Fa-f]+..[0-9A-Fa-f]+)(.*$)");
+            QRegularExpressionMatch match = re.match(lines.last());
+            if (match.hasMatch()) {
+                if (re.captureCount() == 3) { // start with full match (0), then the other 3 matches
+                    return match.captured(2);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return std::nullopt;
+}
+
+bool GitClient::gitFetchAndDiff() {
+    if (gitFetch()) {
+        QString gitCommand("git diff --compact-summary HEAD..FETCH_HEAD");
+        Command c(gitCommand);
+        return c.execute(m_workingDirectory);
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+bool GitClient::gitPull() {
+    Command c("git pull");
+    return c.execute(m_workingDirectory);
+}
+
+std::optional<QStringList> GitClient::gitMerge() {
+    Command c("git merge");
+    if (c.execute(m_workingDirectory)) {
+        QString s = c.getCommandResult();
+        QStringList lst = Update::split(s, '\n');
+        return lst;
+    }
+    return std::nullopt;
+}
diff --git a/git/git_client.h b/git/git_client.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63f446e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/git/git_client.h
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#ifndef GIT_CLIENT_H_INCLUDED
+#define GIT_CLIENT_H_INCLUDED
+
+
+#include <optional>
+
+#include "process/command.h"
+
+
+class GitClient {
+    QString m_workingDirectory;
+    QString m_branchName;
+
+    std::optional<QString> gitCloneRepository(QString const &repPath);
+    bool gitCheckout(QString const &branchName);
+
+  public:
+    explicit GitClient(QString const &workingDirectory = QCoreApplication::applicationDirPath(),
+                       QString const &branchName = "master");
+
+    void setWorkingDirectory(QString const &workingDirectory);
+    QString workingDirectory() const;
+    void setBranchName(QString const &branchName);
+    QString branchName() const;
+
+    std::optional<QString> gitCloneBranch(QString const &repPath, QString const &branchName);
+
+    std::optional<QString> gitFetch();
+    bool gitFetchAndDiff();
+    bool gitPull();
+    std::optional<QStringList> gitDiff(QString const &commit);
+    std::optional<QStringList> gitMerge();
+};
+
+#endif // GIT_CLIENT_H_INCLUDED